Module Bigarray.Genarray

module Genarray: sig .. end
type ('a, 'b, 'c) t
The type Genarray.t is the type of big arrays with variable numbers of dimensions. Any number of dimensions between 1 and 16 is supported.

The three type parameters to Genarray.t identify the array element kind and layout, as follows:
  • the first parameter, 'a, is the OCaml type for accessing array elements (float, int, int32, int64, nativeint);
  • the second parameter, 'b, is the actual kind of array elements (float32_elt, float64_elt, int8_signed_elt, int8_unsigned_elt, etc);
  • the third parameter, 'c, identifies the array layout (c_layout or fortran_layout).
For instance, (float, float32_elt, fortran_layout) Genarray.t is the type of generic big arrays containing 32-bit floats in Fortran layout; reads and writes in this array use the OCaml type float.
 
val create : ('a, 'b) Bigarray.kind ->
'c Bigarray.layout -> int array -> ('a, 'b, 'c) t
Genarray.create kind layout dimensions returns a new big array whose element kind is determined by the parameter kind (one of float32, float64, int8_signed, etc) and whose layout is determined by the parameter layout (one of c_layout or fortran_layout). The dimensions parameter is an array of integers that indicate the size of the big array in each dimension. The length of dimensions determines the number of dimensions of the bigarray.

For instance, Genarray.create int32 c_layout [|4;6;8|] returns a fresh big array of 32-bit integers, in C layout, having three dimensions, the three dimensions being 4, 6 and 8 respectively.

Big arrays returned by Genarray.create are not initialized: the initial values of array elements is unspecified.

Genarray.create raises Invalid_argument if the number of dimensions is not in the range 1 to 16 inclusive, or if one of the dimensions is negative.
 
val num_dims : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> int
Return the number of dimensions of the given big array.
 
val dims : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> int array
Genarray.dims a returns all dimensions of the big array a, as an array of integers of length Genarray.num_dims a.
 
val nth_dim : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> int -> int
Genarray.nth_dim a n returns the n-th dimension of the big array a. The first dimension corresponds to n = 0; the second dimension corresponds to n = 1; the last dimension, to n = Genarray.num_dims a - 1. Raise Invalid_argument if n is less than 0 or greater or equal than Genarray.num_dims a.
 
val kind : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> ('a, 'b) Bigarray.kind
Return the kind of the given big array.
 
val layout : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> 'c Bigarray.layout
Return the layout of the given big array.
 
val get : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> int array -> 'a
Read an element of a generic big array. Genarray.get a [|i1; ...; iN|] returns the element of a whose coordinates are i1 in the first dimension, i2 in the second dimension, ..., iN in the N-th dimension.

If a has C layout, the coordinates must be greater or equal than 0 and strictly less than the corresponding dimensions of a. If a has Fortran layout, the coordinates must be greater or equal than 1 and less or equal than the corresponding dimensions of a. Raise Invalid_argument if the array a does not have exactly N dimensions, or if the coordinates are outside the array bounds.

If N > 3, alternate syntax is provided: you can write a.{i1, i2, ..., iN} instead of Genarray.get a [|i1; ...; iN|]. (The syntax a.{...} with one, two or three coordinates is reserved for accessing one-, two- and three-dimensional arrays as described below.)
 
val set : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> int array -> 'a -> unit
Assign an element of a generic big array. Genarray.set a [|i1; ...; iN|] v stores the value v in the element of a whose coordinates are i1 in the first dimension, i2 in the second dimension, ..., iN in the N-th dimension.

The array a must have exactly N dimensions, and all coordinates must lie inside the array bounds, as described for Genarray.get; otherwise, Invalid_argument is raised.

If N > 3, alternate syntax is provided: you can write a.{i1, i2, ..., iN} <- v instead of Genarray.set a [|i1; ...; iN|] v. (The syntax a.{...} <- v with one, two or three coordinates is reserved for updating one-, two- and three-dimensional arrays as described below.)
 
val sub_left : ('a, 'b, Bigarray.c_layout) t ->
int -> int -> ('a, 'b, Bigarray.c_layout) t
Extract a sub-array of the given big array by restricting the first (left-most) dimension. Genarray.sub_left a ofs len returns a big array with the same number of dimensions as a, and the same dimensions as a, except the first dimension, which corresponds to the interval [ofs ... ofs + len - 1] of the first dimension of a. No copying of elements is involved: the sub-array and the original array share the same storage space. In other terms, the element at coordinates [|i1; ...; iN|] of the sub-array is identical to the element at coordinates [|i1+ofs; ...; iN|] of the original array a.

Genarray.sub_left applies only to big arrays in C layout. Raise Invalid_argument if ofs and len do not designate a valid sub-array of a, that is, if ofs < 0, or len < 0, or ofs + len > Genarray.nth_dim a 0.
 
val sub_right : ('a, 'b, Bigarray.fortran_layout) t ->
int -> int -> ('a, 'b, Bigarray.fortran_layout) t
Extract a sub-array of the given big array by restricting the last (right-most) dimension. Genarray.sub_right a ofs len returns a big array with the same number of dimensions as a, and the same dimensions as a, except the last dimension, which corresponds to the interval [ofs ... ofs + len - 1] of the last dimension of a. No copying of elements is involved: the sub-array and the original array share the same storage space. In other terms, the element at coordinates [|i1; ...; iN|] of the sub-array is identical to the element at coordinates [|i1; ...; iN+ofs|] of the original array a.

Genarray.sub_right applies only to big arrays in Fortran layout. Raise Invalid_argument if ofs and len do not designate a valid sub-array of a, that is, if ofs < 1, or len < 0, or ofs + len > Genarray.nth_dim a (Genarray.num_dims a - 1).
 
val slice_left : ('a, 'b, Bigarray.c_layout) t ->
int array -> ('a, 'b, Bigarray.c_layout) t
Extract a sub-array of lower dimension from the given big array by fixing one or several of the first (left-most) coordinates. Genarray.slice_left a [|i1; ... ; iM|] returns the 'slice' of a obtained by setting the first M coordinates to i1, ..., iM. If a has N dimensions, the slice has dimension N - M, and the element at coordinates [|j1; ...; j(N-M)|] in the slice is identical to the element at coordinates [|i1; ...; iM; j1; ...; j(N-M)|] in the original array a. No copying of elements is involved: the slice and the original array share the same storage space.

Genarray.slice_left applies only to big arrays in C layout. Raise Invalid_argument if M >= N, or if [|i1; ... ; iM|] is outside the bounds of a.
 
val slice_right : ('a, 'b, Bigarray.fortran_layout) t ->
int array -> ('a, 'b, Bigarray.fortran_layout) t
Extract a sub-array of lower dimension from the given big array by fixing one or several of the last (right-most) coordinates. Genarray.slice_right a [|i1; ... ; iM|] returns the 'slice' of a obtained by setting the last M coordinates to i1, ..., iM. If a has N dimensions, the slice has dimension N - M, and the element at coordinates [|j1; ...; j(N-M)|] in the slice is identical to the element at coordinates [|j1; ...; j(N-M); i1; ...; iM|] in the original array a. No copying of elements is involved: the slice and the original array share the same storage space.

Genarray.slice_right applies only to big arrays in Fortran layout. Raise Invalid_argument if M >= N, or if [|i1; ... ; iM|] is outside the bounds of a.
 
val blit : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> unit
Copy all elements of a big array in another big array. Genarray.blit src dst copies all elements of src into dst. Both arrays src and dst must have the same number of dimensions and equal dimensions. Copying a sub-array of src to a sub-array of dst can be achieved by applying Genarray.blit to sub-array or slices of src and dst.
 
val fill : ('a, 'b, 'c) t -> 'a -> unit
Set all elements of a big array to a given value. Genarray.fill a v stores the value v in all elements of the big array a. Setting only some elements of a to v can be achieved by applying Genarray.fill to a sub-array or a slice of a.
 
val map_file : Unix.file_descr ->
?pos:int64 ->
('a, 'b) Bigarray.kind ->
'c Bigarray.layout -> bool -> int array -> ('a, 'b, 'c) t
Memory mapping of a file as a big array. Genarray.map_file fd kind layout shared dims returns a big array of kind kind, layout layout, and dimensions as specified in dims. The data contained in this big array are the contents of the file referred to by the file descriptor fd (as opened previously with Unix.openfile, for example). The optional pos parameter is the byte offset in the file of the data being mapped; it defaults to 0 (map from the beginning of the file).

If shared is true, all modifications performed on the array are reflected in the file. This requires that fd be opened with write permissions. If shared is false, modifications performed on the array are done in memory only, using copy-on-write of the modified pages; the underlying file is not affected.

Genarray.map_file is much more efficient than reading the whole file in a big array, modifying that big array, and writing it afterwards.

To adjust automatically the dimensions of the big array to the actual size of the file, the major dimension (that is, the first dimension for an array with C layout, and the last dimension for an array with Fortran layout) can be given as -1. Genarray.map_file then determines the major dimension from the size of the file. The file must contain an integral number of sub-arrays as determined by the non-major dimensions, otherwise Failure is raised.

If all dimensions of the big array are given, the file size is matched against the size of the big array. If the file is larger than the big array, only the initial portion of the file is mapped to the big array. If the file is smaller than the big array, the file is automatically grown to the size of the big array. This requires write permissions on fd.

Array accesses are bounds-checked, but the bounds are determined by the initial call to map_file. Therefore, you should make sure no other process modifies the mapped file while you're accessing it, or a SIGBUS signal may be raised. This happens, for instance, if the file is shrinked.