Hidden Attributes

[dimitri-yatsenko]

Feature Request

Problem

Implement support for hidden attributes. These attributes will be prefixed with an underscore and not displayed. DataJoint may store metadata like creation timestamps, usernames, etc in the hidden attributes. U

Requirements

• DataJoint will support hidden attributes in tables. Any attribute whose name begins with a _ will not be displayed and will not appear as part of the reverse-engineered table definition.
• DataJoint declaration will allow declaring such attributes for internal purposes but the user API will be prohibited (by default) from using them.
• Hidden attributes will not participate in joins.
• Hidden attributes will not be included in results of user queries

Justification

• The singleton tables in Tables whose primary keys have zero attributes #113 will be supported by a hidden attribute
• Automated metadata such timestamps, data versions, checksums, and usernames will use hidden attributes

[CBroz1]

Hi @dimitri-yatsenko - What protections did you have in mind when you envisioned that the user API would prohibit using hidden attributes? How would a super user circumvent this protection?