Is an eager-graph compatible same code solution possible? - tensorflow

I am trying to write code that is eager and graph compatible. However, there is very little information online for how to do this, being a literal footnote on TensorFlow's website. Furthermore, what they have wrote is confusing, saying:
The same code written for eager execution will also build a graph during graph execution. Do this by simply running the same code in a new Python session where eager execution is not enabled.
This implies that a same code solution is possible, where the only change required is the addition or removal of tf.enable_eager_execution().
Currently I use tf.keras to define my model and tf.data for my input pipeline. However, many eager operations don't work in graph, with the opposite also being true.
For example, I keep track of my number of epochs using tf.train.Checkpoint(). In eager mode, after restoring I can access it using epochs.numpy() to assign its value to a local variable. However, this does not work with graphs, which instead would require sess.run(epochs) due to the values not being defined during execution.
Again, to compute my gradients in eager I need to use some form of autograd, in my case tf.GradientTape(). This is not compatible with graphs, as "tf.GradientTape.gradients() does not support graph control flow."
I see that tfe.py_func exists, but once again, this only works when eager is not enabled, thus not helping for this problem.
So how do I make a same code solution, when it seems that many aspects of eager and graph directly conflict with each other?

Related

Programmatic Hyperparameter Tuning for TensorFlow Object Detection API

I am using the TF Object Detection API. I have a custom data set. I am training using SLURM jobs and calling the API scripts from within there. I am looking to try and tune hyperparameters found in the pipeline.config files. Unfortunately, in the documentation, this kind of process is not outlined. It seems like the process is to either use the sample configs or tune the hyperparameters by hand.
Tuning by hand is somewhat feasible, for example adjusting for two parameters for three values (batch size and steps) results in nine different .configs, but adding another hyperparameter to that boosts it up to twenty-seven files I need to keep track of. This does not seem like a good way to do it, particularly because it limits the values I can try and is clumsy.
It seems like there are libraries out there that hook into Keras and other more high-level frameworks, but I have found nothing that looks like it can take the results of the Object Detection API and actually optimize it.
Is it possible to do this with a pre-built library I don't know about? I would like to avoid having to edit the API implementation or coding this myself to minimize errors.

How to map words to vocabulary index in TF 2.0 without eager execution

I have a Keras model that trains find when eager mode is on (TF 2.1.0). One of my features is a string that I need to map to its corresponding vocabulary index. However, with eager execution disabled, I cannot find a neat way to do this.
I was initially using tft.apply_vocabulary, which used to work fine but fails without eager execution. I also tried tf.lookup.StaticVocabularyTable:
table = tf.lookup.StaticVocabularyTable(TextFileIdTableInitializer('item_vocab.txt'), 1)
out = table.lookup(input_strings)
which (with eager mode off) fails with:
tensorflow.python.framework.errors_impl.FailedPreconditionError: Table not initialized.
[[{{node transformer/hash_table_Lookup_1/hash_table_Lookup/LookupTableFindV2}}]]
I am able to run the table's _initialize method in a tf.Session, but that feels like too much work for such a common task and is not TF2.0 compatible.
So, how do you map strings to integer indexes from a vocab file without eager execution?
Why not eager?
I have the impression that graph mode training has wider support (e.g. multi-gpu training) and better performance and I'm trying to make sure my code works with eager mode disabled, so that I can eventually tunr it off when I'm done developing. Is that a sensible goal?

How to use tf.layers classes instead of functions

It seems that tf.Layer modules come in two flavours: functions and classes. I normally use the functions directly (e.g, tf.layers.dense) but I'd like to know how to use classes directly (tf.layers.Dense). I've started experimenting with the new eager execution mode in tensorflow and I think using classes are going to be useful there as well but I haven't seen good examples in the documentation. Is there any part of TF documentation that shows how these are used?
I guess it would make sense to use them in a class where these layers are instantiated in the __init__ and then they're linked in the __call__ method when the inputs and dimensions are known?
Are these tf.layer classes related to tf.keras.Model? Is there an equivalent wrapper class for using tf.layers?
Update: for eager execution there's tfe.Network that must be inherited. There's an example here
tf.layers and tf.keras.layer classes are generally interchangeable and in fact at head (and thus by the next release - 1.9), the former actually inherits from the latter.
TensorFlow is moving towards consolidating on tf.keras APIs for constructing models as that makes state ownership more explicit (e.g., parameters are "owned" by the Layer object, as opposed to the functional style where all model parameters are put in a "collection" associated with the complete graph). This style works well for both eager execution and graph construction (support for eager execution is improving with every release). I'd recommend using tf.keras.layers and tf.keras.Model.
Some examples that you may find useful:
MNIST in the tensorflow/models repository
The programmer's guide
Other eager execution samples (where the exact same model definition works for both graph execution and eager execution).
Not all existing TensorFlow examples have been moved to this style, but they slowly will.
Hope that helps.

executing multiple models in tensorflow with a single session

I'm trying to run several models of neural networks in tensorflow in parallel, each model is independent of the rest. It is necessary to create a session for each of the executions I launch with tensorflow or I could reuse the same session for each of the models ?. Thank you
A session is linked to a specific Tensorflow Graph instance. If you want to have one session for all, you need to put all your models in the same graph. This may cause you naming problems for tensors and is IMO generally a bad idea (you should keep things that are not related to each other separate).
Having everything in the same graph also raises your model's resources requirements (you always load everything even if you run only a sub-graph), which is another reason to split things in independent graphs. With independent graphs, you'll have to use multiple sessions.

Why is TensorFlow while_loop node required?

Why does the basic static, compiled computation graph structure of TF (as opposed to a dynamic graph) necessitate a dedicated while loop node and doesn't enable the use "regular" Python control flow expressions?
Thanks.
TensorFlow builds the computational graph and makes it static (unchangeable) for efficiency. Once it's finalized, telling the TensorFlow graph to do something is like sending some input to a separate program which you can no longer change besides passing in different inputs. So the TensorFlow graph at that point has no knowledge of the Python control flow. It just runs when called. Because of this, it needs to explicitly know ahead of time where you want to add in a while loop inside the TensorFlow graph. You can however, still use Python control flow and just call the TensorFlow graph as though it were a specific function.