Add target_tables argument to DynamicTable.__init__

[rly]

Motivation

In a previous PR, we added the ability to specify the target table for a pre-defined DynamicTableRegion column in DynamicTable.__init__ but this was only in generated subclasses of DynamicTable. This functionality works well, but could be useful to build in to DynamicTable in case users want to write their own custom subclass of DynamicTable and want to reuse this generic behavior (such as in pynwb and in extensions). Though in PyNWB, we often have a more specific constructor argument for this: https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/pynwb/blob/dev/src/pynwb/misc.py#L160 and some hacky code in add_row to handle setting the target table when the first row is added: https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/pynwb/blob/dev/src/pynwb/misc.py#L207

So I moved the functionality from the custom class generator for generated DynamicTable subclasses to the base DynamicTable itself.

This also has the benefit of fixing #970 when there are multiple chains of hierarchy below DynamicTable. Fixes #970.

We can optionally adjust pynwb to reuse this behavior in the Units table and elsewhere.

How to test the behavior?

pytest

Checklist

• Did you update CHANGELOG.md with your changes?
• Have you checked our Contributing document?
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[codecov]

Codecov Report

All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests ✅

Comparison is base (afd1882) 88.57% compared to head (94a10dc) 88.58%.

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##              dev     #971      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   88.57%   88.58%   +0.01%     
==========================================
  Files          45       45              
  Lines        9400     9395       -5     
  Branches     2673     2673              
==========================================
- Hits         8326     8323       -3     
+ Misses        759      758       -1     
+ Partials      315      314       -1     

Files	Coverage Δ
src/hdmf/common/io/table.py	79.71% <100.00%> (-4.13%)	⬇️
src/hdmf/common/table.py	86.38% <100.00%> (+0.44%)	⬆️

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[oruebel]

Overall, the approach looks fine to me. However, the specific use I think may be a bit tricky to understand at first, so I think we should make sure to clearly define when to use target_table vs. when to use the columns argument of DynamicTable.__init__.

[rly]

Thanks for the quick review!

[oruebel]

Thanks for the clarifications in the text. The PR looks good to me.