HERD in NWBFile schema (#646)

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Ryan Ly <rly@lbl.gov>
Co-authored-by: Ben Dichter <ben.dichter@gmail.com>

Author: 4 people

core/nwb.file.yaml

@@ -268,6 +268,10 @@ groups:
         date made, injection location, volume, etc.
       quantity: '?'
     groups:
+    - name: external_resources
+      neurodata_type_inc: HERD
+      doc: This is the HERD structure for this specific NWBFile, storing the mapped external resources.
+      quantity: "?"
     - neurodata_type_inc: LabMetaData
       doc: Place-holder than can be extended so that lab-specific meta-data can be
         placed in /general.

docs/format/source/format_release_notes.rst

@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
 Release Notes
 =============
 
-Upcoming
---------
+2.10.0 (Upcoming)
+---------------------
+
+Major changes
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+- Added support for an optional ``HERD`` object at ``/general/external_resources``.
 
 Minor changes
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
@@ -15,22 +19,21 @@ Minor changes
 - Expanded documentation for the ``Subject`` 'age' dataset, including details on ISO 8601 Duration format and 
   age range representation.
 
-
 2.9.0 (June 26, 2025)
 ---------------------
 
 Major changes
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-- Deprecated ``Device.model_number``, ``Device.model_name``, ``Device.manufacturer``. Use 
-  ``Device.model`` link and new ``DeviceModel`` neurodata type instead. The old ``Device.model_name`` 
+- Deprecated ``Device.model_number``, ``Device.model_name``, ``Device.manufacturer``. Use
+  ``Device.model`` link and new ``DeviceModel`` neurodata type instead. The old ``Device.model_name``
   corresponds to the new ``DeviceModel.name``. (#608)
 - Added ``DeviceModel`` neurodata type to represent the model of a device instead of a specific instance of a device.
   This deduplicates information when a session involves multiple instances of the same device model, and it helps
   combine data across sessions and experiments when the model is the same.
   See https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/nwb-schema/issues/607 for details. (#608)
-- Added ``BaseImage`` and ``ExternalImage`` as new neurodata types. The first so both ``Image`` and ``ExternalImage`` 
+- Added ``BaseImage`` and ``ExternalImage`` as new neurodata types. The first so both ``Image`` and ``ExternalImage``
   can inherit from it. The second to store external images (#604, #623, #627)
-- Changed ``NWBFile.electrodes`` from a generic ``DynamicTable`` with added columns to a new ``ElectrodesTable`` 
+- Changed ``NWBFile.electrodes`` from a generic ``DynamicTable`` with added columns to a new ``ElectrodesTable``
   neurodata type that extends ``DynamicTable`` with added columns. (#539, #624)
 - Changed ``DecompositionSeries.bands`` from a generic ``DynamicTable`` with added columns to a new ``FrequencyBandsTable``
   neurodata type that extends ``DynamicTable`` with added columns. (#610)