Parameters - hierarchical parameter sets

We consider it to be best practice to cleanly separate the parameters of a model from the model itself. At the least, parameters should be defined in a separate section at the start of a file. Ideally, they should be defined in a separate file entirely. This makes version control easier, since the model code typically changes less often than the parameters, and makes it easier to track a simulation project, since the parameter sets can be stored in a database, displayed in a GUI, etc.

The Parameters package provides Python classes to make it easier to work with parameter sets for complex models. In particular it provides tools for

• working with parameters for models that have a deep hierarchical structure;
• specifying that a parameter value should be drawn from a random distribution;
• specifying a range of values, for example for performing a sensitivity analysis;
• specifying the physical dimensions and range of permissible values of parameters;
• defining and iterating over multiple points in a parameter space;
• validation of parameter sets against a pre-defined schema.

Contents:

• Installation
• Parameters
• Parameter sets
• Parameter spaces
• Validation
• Release notes
• Reference
• How to contribute

Note

Parameters was previously part of the NeuroTools package, but is now developed and distributed separately.