add auxiliar method, not sort by default

src/pynwb/ndx_binned_spikes/__init__.py

@@ -186,19 +186,21 @@ def __init__(self, **kwargs):
         name = kwargs.pop("name")
         super().__init__(name=name)
 
-        # # Sort the data by the timestamps
-        # timestamps = kwargs["timestamps"]
-        # event_indices = kwargs["event_indices"]
-        # data = kwargs["data"]
+        timestamps = kwargs["timestamps"]
+        event_indices = kwargs["event_indices"]
+        data = kwargs["data"]
 
-        # sorted_indices = np.argsort(timestamps)
-        # data = data[:, sorted_indices, :]
-        # timestamps = timestamps[sorted_indices]
-        # event_indices = event_indices[sorted_indices]
+        assert data.shape[1] == timestamps.shape[0], "The number of timestamps must match the second axis of data."
+        assert event_indices.shape[0] == timestamps.shape[0], "The number of timestamps must match the event_indices."
 
-        # kwargs["data"] = data
-        # kwargs["timestamps"] = timestamps
-        # kwargs["event_indices"] = event_indices
+        # Assert timestamps are monotonically increasing
+        if not np.all(np.diff(kwargs["timestamps"]) >= 0):
+            error_msg = (
+                "The timestamps must be monotonically increasing and the data and event_indices "
+                "must be sorted by timestamps. Use the `sort_data_by_timestamps` method to do this "
+                "automatically before passing the data to the constructor."
+            )
+            raise ValueError(error_msg)
 
         for key in kwargs:
             setattr(self, key, kwargs[key])
@@ -220,12 +222,12 @@ def get_timestamps_for_stimuli(self, event_index):
         return timestamps
 
     @staticmethod
-    def sort_data_by_time(
+    def sort_data_by_timestamps(
         data: np.ndarray,
         timestamps: np.ndarray,
         event_indices: np.ndarray,
     ) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, np.ndarray, np.ndarray]:
-        
+
         sorted_indices = np.argsort(timestamps)
         data = data[:, sorted_indices, :]
         timestamps = timestamps[sorted_indices]

src/pynwb/tests/test_aggregated_binned_aligned_spikes.py

@@ -74,11 +74,22 @@ def setUp(self):
     def test_constructor(self):
         """Test that the constructor for AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes sets values as expected."""
 
-        data, timestamps, event_indices = AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes.sort_data_by_time(
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes(
+                bin_width_in_milliseconds=self.bin_width_in_milliseconds,
+                milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin=self.milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin,
+                data=self.data,
+                timestamps=self.timestamps,
+                event_indices=self.event_indices,
+            )
+
+
+        data, timestamps, event_indices = AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes.sort_data_by_timestamps(
             self.data,
             self.timestamps,
             self.event_indices,
         )
+
         aggregated_binnned_align_spikes = AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes(
             bin_width_in_milliseconds=self.bin_width_in_milliseconds,
             milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin=self.milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin,
@@ -104,12 +115,19 @@ def test_constructor(self):
 
     def test_get_single_event_data_methods(self):
 
+
+        data, timestamps, event_indices = AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes.sort_data_by_timestamps(
+            self.data,
+            self.timestamps,
+            self.event_indices,
+        )
+
         aggregated_binnned_align_spikes = AggregatedBinnedAlignedSpikes(
             bin_width_in_milliseconds=self.bin_width_in_milliseconds,
             milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin=self.milliseconds_from_event_to_first_bin,
-            data=self.data,
-            timestamps=self.timestamps,
-            event_indices=self.event_indices,
+            data=data,
+            timestamps=timestamps,
+            event_indices=event_indices,
         )
 
         data_for_stimuli_1 = aggregated_binnned_align_spikes.get_data_for_stimuli(event_index=0)