Calling method for every class instance in array (Matlab) - arrays

I'm new to Matlab and I was told, that it is faster to use dot operator instead of for loop when performing the same operation on array.
Example:
A = 1:200
A = A .* 10;
Instead of:
A = 1:200
for i = 1:200
A(i) = A(i) * 10;
end
I have created an multi-dimensional array of Objects (the objects are instances of class I created). Is it possible to call the same method with the same arguments on all instances without using the for loop?
I have tried this 3 approaches, but they don't work (A is three-dimensional array):
A(:,:,:).methodName(argument1, argument2);
A.methodName(argument1, argument2);
A..methodName(argument1, argument2);

You should be able to call your method using the 'functional form'
methodName(A, argument1, argument2)
However, 'methodName' will need to handle the fact that you've passed an array of object. Here's a simple example
classdef Eg
properties
X
end
methods
function obj = Eg( arg )
if nargin == 0
% Default-constructor required
arg = [];
end
obj.X = arg;
end
function x = maxX( objs )
% collect all 'X' values:
xVals = [objs.X];
% return the max
x = max( xVals(:) );
end
end
methods ( Static )
function testCase()
% Just a simple test case to show how this is intended to work.
for ii = 10:-1:1
myObjArray(ii) = Eg(ii);
end
disp( maxX( myObjArray ) );
end
end
end
If possible, it's better (in MATLAB) to have fewer objects storing larger arrays, rather than lots of small objects.

Related

Array subsetting in Julia

With the Julia Language, I defined a function to sample points uniformly inside the sphere of radius 3.14 using rejection sampling as follows:
function spherical_sample(N::Int64)
# generate N points uniformly distributed inside sphere
# using rejection sampling:
points = pi*(2*rand(5*N,3).-1.0)
ind = sum(points.^2,dims=2) .<= pi^2
## ideally I wouldn't have to do this:
ind_ = dropdims(ind,dims=2)
return points[ind_,:][1:N,:]
end
I found a hack for subsetting arrays:
ind = sum(points.^2,dims=2) .<= pi^2
## ideally I wouldn't have to do this:
ind_ = dropdims(ind,dims=2)
But, in principle array indexing should be a one-liner. How could I do this better in Julia?
The problem is that you are creating a 2-dimensional index vector. You can avoid it by using eachrow:
ind = sum.(eachrow(points.^2)) .<= pi^2
So that your full answer would be:
function spherical_sample(N::Int64)
points = pi*(2*rand(5*N,3).-1.0)
ind = sum.(eachrow(points.^2)) .<= pi^2
return points[ind,:][1:N,:]
end
Here is a one-liner:
points[(sum(points.^2,dims=2) .<= pi^2)[:],:][1:N, :]
Note that [:] is dropping a dimension so the BitArray can be used for indexing.
This does not answer your question directly (as you already got two suggestions), but I rather thought to hint how you could implement the whole procedure differently if you want it to be efficient.
The first point is to avoid generating 5*N rows of data - the problem is that it is very likely that it will be not enough to generate N valid samples. The point is that the probability of a valid sample in your model is ~50%, so it is possible that there will not be enough points to choose from and [1:N, :] selection will throw an error.
Below is the code I would use that avoids this problem:
function spherical_sample(N::Integer) # no need to require Int64 only here
points = 2 .* pi .* rand(N, 3) .- 1.0 # note that all operations are vectorized to avoid excessive allocations
while N > 0 # we will run the code until we have N valid rows
v = #view points[N, :] # use view to avoid allocating
if sum(x -> x^2, v) <= pi^2 # sum accepts a transformation function as a first argument
N -= 1 # row is valid - move to the previous one
else
rand!(v) # row is invalid - resample it in place
#. v = 2 * pi * v - 1.0 # again - do the computation in place via broadcasting
end
end
return points
end
This one is pretty fast, and uses StaticArrays. You can probably also implement something similar with ordinary tuples:
using StaticArrays
function sphsample(N)
T = SVector{3, Float64}
v = Vector{T}(undef, N)
n = 1
while n <= N
p = rand(T) .- 0.5
#inbounds v[n] = p .* 2π
n += (sum(abs2, p) <= 0.25)
end
return v
end
On my laptop it is ~9x faster than the solution with views.

Create a 2D list with variable length [torch]

I want to create a 2D list that can have elements of variable lengths inside, for example, if I have a 10x10 list in MATLAB, I can
define it with:
z = cell(10,10)
and start assigning some elements by doing this:
z{2}{3} = ones(3,1)
z{1}{1} = zeros(100,1)
z{1}{2} = []
z{1}{3} = randn(20,1)
...
What is the optimal way to define such empty 2D list in torch? Moreover, is there a way to exploit the tensor structure to do this?
In python, I can do something along this to define an empty 10x10 2D list:
z = [[None for j in range(10)] for i in range(10)]
My best guess for torch is doing something like
z = torch.Tensor(10,10)
for i=1,10 do
for j=1,10 do
z[{{i},{j}}] = torch.Tensor()
end
end
but, this does not work, and defining a tensor inside a tensor seems like a bad idea ...
This is a follow up to the question asked here (however in the link it is asked in python): Create 2D lists in python with variable length indexed vectors
From the documentation I've read, tensors only support primitive numeric data types. You won't be able to use tensor for your intended usage. Leverage tables.
local function makeMatrix(initialVal, ...)
local isfunc = type(initialVal) == "function"
local dimtable = {...}
local function helper(depth)
if depth == 0 then
return isfunc and initialVal() or initialVal
else
local plane = {}
for i = 1, dimtable[depth] do
plane[i] = helper(depth-1)
end
return plane
end
end
return helper(#dimtable)
end
p = makeMatrix(0, 2, 3, 5) -- makes 3D matrix of size 2x3x5 with all elements initialized to 0
makeMatrix(torch.Tensor, m ,n)
Answer from Torch's Google Group forums. Agreeing that tables is the solution:
z = {}
for i=1,10 do
z[i] = {}
for j=1,10 do
z[i][j] = torch.Tensor()
end
end

How to store value of inner for loop in nested for loop in an array in Matlab?

pvec = 1:3;
for i = 1:3
p=pvec(i);
for m = 1:p
erfun=erfc(5/(2*sqrt(p-m)));
suma(m) = sum(erfun)
end
end
I want to save sum of all values of erfun for every p i.e I want to have 3 values in final array but every value in the array should be sum of all the values of erfun for one p.
Similar questions have been addressed but I could not apply them in my case.
Minimal fix method (to your own code)
The following modification to your code will yield your requested results
suma = zeros(3,1);
pvec = 1:3;
for i = 1:3
p=pvec(i);
for m = 1:p
erfun=erfc(5/(2*sqrt(p-m)));
suma(i) = suma(i) + erfun; %// <-- modified here
end
end
Where I've also included suma = zeros(3,1), which I assume that you also have in your code (however not shown in your question); pre-allocating suma with sufficient entries.
Alternative method (arrayfun)
Another solution, you can make use of the arrayfun command to get rid of the inner for loop:
suma = zeros(1,3);
pvec = 1:3;
for i = 1:3
p=pvec(i);
suma(i) = sum(arrayfun(#(x) erfc(5/(2*sqrt(p-x))), 1:p));
end
Alternative method #2 (arrayfun)
An even more condensed solution, including also the purpose of the outer for loop in your arrayfun call:
suma = arrayfun(#(x) ...
sum(erfc(5./(2*sqrt(kron(x, ones(1,x-1)) - 1:(x-1))))), pvec)
Here we've made use of the kron command, which will be implicitly used in the arrayfun command above as follows
kron(1, []) = [] %// empty array
kron(2, [1]) = 2
kron(3, [1 1]) = [3 3]
and used the fact that erfc addition from 1/sqrt(0) is always 0 (i.e., erfc(Inf) = 0, and hence we needn't evaluate the case m=p as it yields no addition to our sum).
Result
All of the above methods yield the result
suma =
0
0.0004
0.0128

How to remove all 'nil' values from an array?

I have an array of objects (or just numbers), and I have another array which contains all the objects that should not be removed from the first array in any circumstances. It looks something like this:
-- Array of objects (just numbers for now)
Objects = {}
-- Array of objects that should always stay in the 'Objects' array
DontDestroyThese = {}
-- Populate the arrays
Objects[#Objects+1] = 1
Objects[#Objects+1] = 2
Objects[#Objects+1] = 3
Objects[#Objects+1] = 4
Objects[#Objects+1] = 5
DontDestroyThese[#DontDestroyThese+1] = 2
DontDestroyThese[#DontDestroyThese+1] = 5
Now, I have a method called destroy() that should remove all objects from the Objects array except those included in the DontDestroyThese array. The method looks something like this:
function destroy()
for I = 1, #Objects do
if(DontDestroyThese[Objects[I]] ~= nil) then
print("Skipping " .. Objects[I])
else
Objects[I] = nil
end
end
end
However, as the result, the Objects array now contains nil values here and there. I'd like to remove these nils so that the Objects array would consist only of the numbers that were left there after calling destroy(). How do I do that?
The most efficient way is probably to create a new table to hold the result. Trying to move values around in the array is likely to have a higher overhead than simply appending to a new table:
function destroy()
local tbl = {}
for I = 1, #Objects do
if(DontDestroyThese[Objects[I]] ~= nil) then
table.insert(tbl, Objects[I])
end
end
Objects = tbl
end
This method also means you don't have to deal with altering the contents of the table/array you're iterating over.
I think the solution is much simpler. To remove any nils ('holes' in your array), all you need to do is iterate your table using pairs(). This will skip over any nils returning only the non-nil values that you add to a new local table that is returned in the end of the 'cleanup' function. Arrays (tables with indices from 1..n) will remain with the same order. For example:
function CleanNils(t)
local ans = {}
for _,v in pairs(t) do
ans[ #ans+1 ] = v
end
return ans
end
Then you simply need to do this:
Objects = CleanNils(Objects)
To test it:
function show(t)
for _,v in ipairs(t) do
print(v)
end
print(('='):rep(20))
end
t = {'a','b','c','d','e','f'}
t[4] = nil --create a 'hole' at 'd'
show(t) --> a b c
t = CleanNils(t) --remove the 'hole'
show(t) --> a b c e f
local function remove(t, pred)
for i = #t, 1, -1 do
if pred(t[i], i) then
table.remove(t, i)
end
end
return t
end
local function even(v)
return math.mod(v, 2) == 0
end
-- remove only even numbers
local t = remove({1, 2, 3, 4}, even)
-- remove values you want
local function keep(t)
return function(v)
return not t[v]
end
end
remove(Objects, keep(DontDestroyThese))

assigning multiple structures to an array of structures in matlab

I have a function newPartical that randomizes a structure:
function partical = newPartical(b)
partical.a = rand;
partical.b = b;
end
I want to make an array of structures, and I want each structure in the array to be randomized. can I do this without a for loop?
You may use iterative functions like arrayfun and cellfun. These take a function itself as input (via a function handle) and a range of values for each input of the passed function. The output is an array or cell array, where each entry is a single result of the function.
particleHandle = #particle;
c = arrayfun ( particleHandle , 1:100 );
In this case, c is a 1x100 struct array with fields: a b
Sample results I obtained include:
c(1).a = 0.5496
c(1).b = 1
c(2).a = 0.9575
c(2).b = 2
c(3).a = 0.9649
c(3).b = 3
Depending on what you are doing, this may or may not provide significant improvements in speed. For instance, running these two operations:
timeStartArrayFun = tic;
c = arrayfun ( particleHandle , 1:1000 );
timeStopArrayFun = toc ( timeStart );
timeStartFor = tic;
for ( ii = 1 : 1000 )
d ( ii ) = particle ( ii );
end
timeStopFor = toc ( timeStartFor );
The results are timeStartArrayFun == 0.0201 and timeStartFor == 0.2090. You obtain an ~10X speed increase...not bad at all.

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