Glossary ======== .. glossary:: node The basic building block of a pipeline. A small, configurable unit that produces, consumes, transforms, or controls data. See the :doc:`Node Catalog `. pipeline The running graph of nodes. Started with ``python -m thalamus.pipeline`` (or ``thalamus.task_controller``). node widget The custom configuration UI that appears for a selected node when its settings are richer than a few inline properties. subscription The link by which a consumer/transformer receives a producer's data. You "subscribe" a consumer (e.g. STORAGE2) to the nodes whose data it should act on. capture file (``.tha``) Thalamus's recording format: a flat, append-only sequence of length-prefixed ``StorageRecord`` protobuf messages. See :doc:`concepts`. span Within an analog record, a named slice of the flat ``data`` array that maps a range of samples to one channel. hydrate Convert a ``.tha`` capture into a single HDF5 file for analysis, with ``python -m thalamus.hydrate``. steady clock The monotonic nanosecond time base Thalamus stamps records with. It measures intervals precisely but is **not** a wall-clock date (use a WALLCLOCK node to anchor to absolute time). task One behavioral trial paradigm run by the :doc:`Task Controller ` (e.g. a delayed reach). task cluster A weighted group of tasks the Task Controller samples from to schedule trials. subject view / operator view The two windows of behavioral tools: the **subject view** shows what the subject sees; the **operator view** adds operator-only overlays and controls. pin In :doc:`Eye Calibration ` Angular-Scaling mode, a control point that sets the gaze scale/rotation at a particular direction. plugin A native (C/C++/Rust) shared library that adds a node type to the pipeline via the :doc:`plugin API `.