Storages are basically a way for Lua to access memory of a C pointer
or array. Storages can also map the contents of a file to memory.
A Storage is an array of basic C types. For arrays of Torch objects,
use the Lua tables.
Several Storage classes for all the basic C types exist and have the
following self-explanatory names: ByteStorage, CharStorage, ShortStorage,
IntStorage, LongStorage, FloatStorage, DoubleStorage.
Note that ByteStorage and CharStorage represent both arrays of bytes. ByteStorage represents an array of
unsigned chars, while CharStorage represents an array of signed chars.
Conversions between two Storage type might be done using copy:
x = torch.IntStorage(10):fill(1)
y = torch.DoubleStorage(10):copy(x)Classical storages are serializable. Storages mapping a file are also serializable, but will be saved as a normal storage. High-level serialization commands are described in the serialization section.
An alias torch.Storage() is made over your preferred Storage type,
controlled by the
torch.setdefaulttensortype
function. By default, this "points" on torch.DoubleStorage.
Returns a new Storage of type TYPE. Valid TYPE are Byte, Char, Short,
Int, Long, Float, and Double. If size is given, resize the
Storage accordingly, else create an empty Storage.
Example:
-- Creates a Storage of 10 double:
x = torch.DoubleStorage(10)The data in the Storage is uninitialized.
The optional second argument ptr is a number whose value is a
pointer to a memory chunk of size size*sizeof(TYPE) (for example coming from the
torch.data()
method). The caller remains responsible of the memory chunk and must ensure it remains stable as the storage only keeps a pointer to it (the memory is not copied and will not be freed at storage deletion).
table is assumed to be a Lua array of numbers. The constructor returns a new storage of the specified TYPE,
of the size of the table, containing all the table elements converted
Example:
> = torch.IntStorage({1,2,3,4})
1
2
3
4
[torch.IntStorage of size 4]Returns a new Storage of type TYPE, which is a view on the first argument. The first argument must be of the same type TYPE. An optional offset can be provided (defaults to 1). An optional size can also be provided to restrict the size of the new storage (defaults to storage:size()-(offset-1)).
Example:
-- Creates a Storage of 10 double:
> x = torch.DoubleStorage(10)
-- Creates a view on this Storage, starting at offset 3, with a size of 5:
> y = torch.DoubleStorage(x, 3, 5)
-- Modifying elements of y will modify x:
> x:fill(0)
> y:fill(1)
> print(x)
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
[torch.DoubleStorage of size 10]Returns a new kind of Storage which maps the contents of the given
filename to memory. Valid TYPE are Byte, Char, Short, Int, Long,
Float, and Double. If the optional boolean argument shared is true,
the mapped memory is shared amongst all processes on the computer.
When shared is true, the file must be accessible in read-write mode. Any
changes on the storage will be written in the file. The changes might be written
only after destruction of the storage.
When shared is false (or not provided), the file must be at least
readable. Any changes on the storage will not affect the file. Note:
changes made on the file after creation of the storage have an unspecified
effect on the storage contents.
If size is specified, it is the size of the returned
Storage (in elements). In this case, if shared is false then the file must
already contain at least
size*(size of TYPE)bytes. If shared is true then the file will be created if necessary, and
extended if necessary to that many bytes in length.
If size is not specified then the size of the returned
Storage will be
(size of file in byte)/(size of TYPE)elements provided a non empty file already exists.
If sharedMem is true then, the file will be created (or mapped) from the shared
memory area using shm_open(). On Linux systems
this is implemented at /dev/shm partition on RAM for interprocess communication.
Example:
$ echo "Hello World" > hello.txt
$ lua
Lua 5.1.3 Copyright (C) 1994-2008 Lua.org, PUC-Rio
> require 'torch'
> x = torch.CharStorage('hello.txt')
> = x
72
101
108
108
111
32
87
111
114
108
100
10
[torch.CharStorage of size 12]
> = x:string()
Hello World
> = x:fill(42):string()
************
>
$ cat hello.txt
Hello World
$ lua
Lua 5.1.3 Copyright (C) 1994-2008 Lua.org, PUC-Rio
> require 'torch'
> x = torch.CharStorage('hello.txt', true)
> = x:string()
Hello World
> x:fill(42)
>
$ cat hello.txt
************Returns the number of elements in the storage. Equivalent to size().
Returns or set the element at position index in the storage. Valid range
of index is 1 to size().
Example:
x = torch.DoubleStorage(10)
print(x[5])Copy another storage. The types of the two storages might be different: in that case
a conversion of types occur (which might result, of course, in loss of precision or rounding).
This method returns self, allowing things like:
x = torch.IntStorage(10):fill(1)
y = torch.DoubleStorage(10):copy(x) -- y won't be nil!Fill the Storage with the given value. This method returns self, allowing things like:
x = torch.IntStorage(10):fill(0) -- x won't be nil!Resize the storage to the provided size. The new contents are undetermined.
This function returns self, allowing things like:
x = torch.DoubleStorage(10):fill(1)
y = torch.DoubleStorage():resize(x:size()):copy(x) -- y won't be nil!Returns the number of elements in the storage. Equivalent to #.
This function is available only on ByteStorage and CharStorage.
This method resizes the storage to the length of the provided
string str, and copy the contents of str into the storage. The NULL terminating character is not copied,
but str might contain NULL characters. The method returns the Storage.
> x = torch.CharStorage():string("blah blah")
> print(x)
98
108
97
104
32
98
108
97
104
[torch.CharStorage of size 9]This function is available only on ByteStorage and CharStorage.
The contents of the storage viewed as a string are returned. The string might contain
NULL characters.
> x = torch.CharStorage():string("blah blah")
> print(x:string())
blah blahStorages are reference-counted. It means that each time an object (C or the Lua state) need to keep a reference over a storage, the corresponding storage reference counter will be increased. The reference counter is decreased when the object does not need the storage anymore.
These methods should be used with extreme care. In general, they should never be called, except if you know what you are doing, as the handling of references is done automatically. They can be useful in threaded environments. Note that these methods are atomic operations.
Increment the reference counter of the storage.
Decrement the reference counter of the storage. Free the storage if the counter is at 0.