# Indexing and Slicing¶

DALI data nodes can be indexed and sliced using familiar Python syntax for array indexing x[sel] where x is a DALI data node and sel is the selection. The selection can be an index or a slice.

## Indexing¶

The simplest case is scalar indexing with a constant index:

images = fn.decoders.image(...)
sizes = fn.sizes(images)  # height, width, channels

height = sizes[0]
width  = sizes[1]


The snippet above extracts the width and height from a 3-element tensor representing image size.

Note

The batch dimension is implicit and cannot be indexed. In this example, the indices are broadcast to the whole batch. See Indexing with run-time values for per-sample indexing.

See fn.permute_batch() for an operator which can access data from a different sample in the batch.

## Indexing from the end¶

Negative indices can be used to index the tensor starting from the end. The index of -1 denotes the last element:

channels = sizes[-1]   # channels go last
widths = sizes[-2]     # widths are the innermost dimension after channels


## Indexing with run-time values¶

Indexing with a constant is often insufficient. With DALI, you can use a result of other computations to access tensor elements. In the example below, we use a run-time defined index to access an element at a random position within a tensor:

raw_files = fn.readers.file(...)
length = fn.shapes(raw_files)[0]

# calculate a random index from 0 to file_length-1
random_01 = fn.random.uniform(range=(0, 1))  # random numbers in range [0..1)
index = fn.floor(random_01 * length)  # calculate indices from [0..length)
index = fn.cast(index, dtype=dali.types.INT64)  # cast the index to integer - required for indexing

# extract a random byte
random_byte = raw_files[index]


Here, a byte at random index will be extracted from each sample. index is a data node which represents a batch of scalar values, one per sample. Each of these values is used as the index for the respective sample in raw_files.

Note

The index must be a result of a CPU operator.

## Slicing¶

To extract multiple values (or slices), the Python list slicing systax can be used:

header = raw_files[:16]  # extract 16-byte headers from files in the batch


If the start of the slice is omitted, the slice starts at 0. If the end is omitted, the slice ends at the end of given axis. Negative indices can be used for both start and end of the slice. Either end can be a constant, a run-time value (a DataNode) or can be skipped.

## Multidimensional selection¶

For multidimensional data, you can specify multiple, comma-separated selections. If a selection is an index, the corresponding dimension is removed from the output:

images = fn.decoders.image(jpegs, device="mixed")  # RGB images in HWC layout
red =   images[:,:,0]
green = images[:,:,1]
blue =  images[:,:,2]


The red, green, blue are 2D tensors.

Slicing keeps the sliced dimensions even if the length of the slice is 1:

green_with_channel = images[:,:,1:2]  # the last dimension is kept


When indexing and slicing multidimensional data, the trailing dimenions can be omitted. This is equivalent to passing a full-range slice to all trailing dimensions:

wide = letterboxed[20:-20,:,:]   # slice height, keep width and channels
wide = letterboxed[20:-20,:]     # this line is equivalent to the previous one
wide = letterboxed[20:-20]       # ...and so is this one


Note

See also fn.crop() and fn.slice() for operations tailored for image processing.

## Strided slices¶

Indexing with a custom step is not implemented.

A special value dali.newaxis can be used as an index. This value creates a new dimension of size 1 in the output:

trailing_channel = grayscale[:,:,dali.newaxis]


## Layout specifiers¶

DALI tensors can have a layout specifier which affects how the data is interpreted by some operators - typically, an image would have "HWC" layout.

When applying a scalar index to an axis, that axis is removed from the output along with the layout name for this axis:

image = ...             # layout HWC
first_row = image[0]    # layout WC
last_col = image[:,-1]  # layout HC
red = image[:,:,0]      # layout HW


A name can be added to the newly created dimension by passing it to dali.newaxis:

image = ... # layout is HWC
single_frame_video = image[dali.newaxis("F")]  # layout is FHWC