[FEATURE] Pipeline/Training Manifest for descriptions

[BryonLewis]

Gathering some requirements and ideas for a structure to hold the json pipelines as well as the possibly the training configs for the system

My guess at requirements:

• Having categories to subdivide pipelines/training configurations into different sections
• Being able to merge with user trained pipelines as their own category
• Having descriptions for each pipeline/config eventually including user trained ones
  • This includes what the input is, what it does, what the output looks like
• Ability to show/hide pipelines/training configs easily in the list (either through a setting or file on the web version). Also need a way to update it without requiring a full redeploy if possible.
• pipeline input tag, lets us know that it expects some sore of csv input into the system

[BryonLewis]

Categories:

• Detectors
• Trackers
• Training - all training is a different input with the input_folder list and other slight differences
• Utilities
• User

Each pipeline/training config:

• Name - display name
• filename - filename/location in the /opt/noaa/viame/pipelines
• Description - we may want a more structure object here
• requires_input - [boolean] if it requires input
• tags - [array] array of tags which can be used to filter visible pipelines. Stuff like sefsc

Description:

• Brief text description
• Input - what it expects for input. Video/image-list, types of detections if it only expects single detections or tracks for training with types
• Output - Detections/Tracks or trained pipeline that produces detections/tracks or something else?

[BryonLewis]

I made a very horrible attempt here:

{
    "argumentTypes": {
        "kwiverPipeline": {
            "platforms": ["web", "desktop"],
            "supports": [
                "image-sequence",
                "video"
            ],
            "arguments": {
                "global": {
                    "pipeline": {
                        "arg": "-p {pipeline}",
                        "type": "pipe"
                    },
                    "input_file": {
                        "type": "txt",
                        "description": "Either list of images for the folder or a single input video file",
                        "arg": "-s input:video_filename={input_file}",
                    },
                    "detector_output_file": {
                        "arg": "-s detector_writer:file_name={detector_output_file}",
                        "description": "Output for the detections"
                    },
                    "track_output_file": {
                        "type": "viame_csv",
                        "arg": "-s track_writer:file_name={track_output_file}",
                    }
                },
                "video": {
                    "video_reader": {
                        "arg": "-s input:video_reader:type=vidl_ffmpeg",
                        "description": "additional input required for video reading",
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "kwiverPipelineInput": {
            "platforms": ["web", "windows", "linux", "mac"],
            "supports": [
                "image-sequence"
            ], //Right now it only works on image sequences
            "arguments": {
                "global": {
                    "detection_input_file":{
                        "arg": "-s detection_reader:file_name={detection_input_file}",
                        "type": "viame_csv"
                    },
                    "track_input_file": {
                        "arg": "-s track_reader:file_name={track_input_file}",
                        "type": "viame_csv"
                    }        
                }
            }
        },
        "kwiverTraining": {
            "platforms": ["web", "desktop"],
            "supports": [
                "image-sequence",
                "video"
            ],
            "arguments": {
                "global": {
                    "input_folder_file_list": {
                        "arg": "-il {input_folder_file_list}",
                        "type":"txt",
                        "description":"List of folders and/or videos used for training inputs",
                    },
                    "input_ground_truth_list": {
                        "arg": "-it {input_ground_truth_list}",
                        "description": "List of the groundTruth viame_csv files for each item in the folder_file_list"
                    },
                    "training_configuration_file": {
                        "arg": "-c {training_configuration_file}",
                        "type": "conf"
                    },
                    "prevent_interrruptions": {
                        "arg": "--no-query",
                        "description": "Argument to prevent training from needing user input"
                    }
                },
                "desktop": {
                    "no-adv-prints": {
                        "arg": "--no-adv-prints",
                        "description": "Changes console logging style for windows"
                    },
                    "no-embedded-pipe": {
                        "arg": "--no-embedded-pipe",
                        "description": "Desktop requirement to train pipelines properly."
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "Pipes": [
        {
            "name": "Generic Tracker",
            "filename": "tracker_generic.pipe",
            "backend": "kwiver", // Future other backend pipes that can be run
            "argumentTypes": [
                "kwiverPipeline"
            ],
            "description": "Generic tracker which returns tracks with confidence.  Maybe some more about the system",
            "types": [
                "vertebrate",
                "invertebrate"
            ], //These might not match up but you get the idea
            "category": "Trackers", // Trackers | Detectors | Training | Utilities
            "tags": [
                "generic",
                "tracker"
            ], // Hopefully used in the future for filtering like removing 'netharn' or 'local' or 'svm',
            "requirements": {
                "gpu": false,
                "gpuMinMemoryGBs": "1" // 0 is obviously who cares
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "User Input Detections Tracker",
            "filename": "tracker_track_user_selections.pipe",
            "backend": "kwiver", // Future other backend pipes that can be run
            "argumentTypes": [
                "kwiverPipeline",
                "kwiverPipelineInput"
            ], //It takes both the kwiverPipeline and kwiverPipelineInput args
            "description": "Provide detections on first frame of objects to produce tracking results",
            "types": [], // None for this pipeline
            "category": "Utilities", // I don't know if this is a utility or not
            "tags": [
                "input",
                "tracker"
            ], // Hopefully used in the future for filtering like removing 'netharn' or 'local' or 'svm',
            "requirements": {
                "gpu": true,
                "gpuMinMemoryGBs": "1", //Optional 0 is obviously who cares
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "Train Netharn Cascade",
            "filename": "train_netharn_cascade.viame_csv.conf",
            "backend": "kwiver", // Future other backend pipes that can be run
            "argumentTypes": [
                "kwiverTraining"
            ],
            "description": "Takes input detections and trains a model of the corresponding types",
            "types": [], 
            "category": "Training", // I don't know if this is a utility or not
            "tags": [
                "training",
                "netharn",
                "cascade",
                "viame_csv"
            ], 
            "requirements": {
                "gpu": true,
                "gpuMinMemoryGBs": "2", //Optional
            }
        }
    ]
}

[subdavis]

This is a little heavier than I think we need right now. I'm worried that this may be over-engineered, but I'm certain that this change takes complexity represented in code and moves that complexity into a configuration scheme.

I'd rather deal with complexity in code because I think TypeScript is safer and more expressive than JSON, and provides better tools to manage that complexity. We can also absorb changes much more easily in code.

It also has a few features that control things we don't support (and have no plan to support).

My proposal would be to...

• Cut out argumentTypes schema, and express these entirely in code. I'm fine with keeping the argumentTypes pipeline parameter, but I'd rather that be a statically defined function than something with dynamic behavior driven by JSON.
  • What I mean by this is that, in desktop native code, argumentTypes[].kwiverPipelineInput would correspond to a function that applies the proper arguments to the kwiver input command (and generates the input, and whatever else) rather than having that read more fine-grained config from a schema. This is basically what we already do, but broken out into coarse-grained groups of arguments instead of this fine-grained config-driven approach.
• Cut out Pipes[].requirements, as we have no current plan to support the use of that information. CPU-only pipelines and memory management aren't in our backlog. It doesn't hurt to have these, so I'm don't feel as strongly, but at first glance, it seems a bit YAGNI.
• Add a version field. If there's anything I've learned about json schemas, it's that everything needs a version field.

The rest of the pipes schema looks great. tags, types, etc. are all awesome. I'd like to follow up about some external factors, like were to look for this file.

This isn't a total rejection of argumentTypes, but I don't think there's a strong case for them yet. This could be broken into multiple parts, where we first implement argumentTypes in TS, then later, if that choice appears to be causing problems, we migrate that complexity into config.

What do you think?

[BryonLewis]

I think my goal was just to have argumentTypes defined someplace that was a union between different sets of arguments for pipes, datatypes (video/image-sequence) and platforms (web/dekstop) without having to look through each individual pipe for their parameters. It living in the TS and Python backends I think is a better as long as we have some good documentation for what each type is expecting/requires.

[f4str]

@subdavis seems to be completed, can you verify?

[subdavis]

That PR was related, but does not fix the actual topic of this PR. We still have a lot of work to do to come up with a way to reliably describe the configurations available in DIVE.

[readicculus]

@subdavis Just want to add some thoughts to the code vs. json schema discussion.
I don't have input on the specifics of implementation besides just mentioning that I think it would be useful to consider how custom pipelines specific to a group or project fit in. Looking at the add-on packages now available in VIAME I think its clear that there is a need for projects to be able to use their own pipelines with these interfaces and a good argument to be made for a way for people to have custom pipelines in DIVE. Though this is not totally within the subject of this issue I think it could be useful to consider in this work as it could make it easier/harder for more support of custom pipelines to be added in the future.
A few notes:

• I recall chatting with Matt D a while ago and hearing something about working on a standard package format to bundle pipelines and models. If that were to exist, would be useful if it could be supported in dive. I'm only bringing this up because it seems like it could be a consideration in how you all go about implementing this and maybe Matt has some input based on successes/mistakes made with this in View and SEAL.
• I like that in VIEW and SEAL that if a pipeline is in the viame/configs/pipelines/embedded_single(or dual)_stream folder that it will show up in the GUI. Obviously those are embedded only and DIVE is not using embedded so this json/code schema would serve a similar purpose to the embedded adapters.
• I don't think checks need to be strict on your end, its totally on the developer of the pipeline if things crash because of their custom pipeline, and they should be the ones ensuring that inputs/outputs are in line with what DIVE allows for.
  • Seems fair to require a custom pipeline to abide by strict input/output process names/types(--settings names) - obviously dive can't work with every combination of inputs/outputs but just making it easier to add a custom detector with input image, output viame detections/track csv would be useful. I think this is mostly what is already supported now by the DIVE pipelines.
• In general the defining pipelines as code vs a json schema my only concern is if it is defined in code that it may be harder for people with custom pipelines to update their dive install. Would be nice if it was made so that if I have custom pipelines and I want to update my DIVE install, that I can then just copy some folder with my pipeline files/models into the new install and have it be somewhat easy to copy/paste my pipeline definition(be it code or a json schema) into the new DIVE. Having a single schema file-per-pipeline would make this easier.

Just some thoughts. Even though we're moving towards running pipelines elsewhere I do thing there is benefit to having some of our pipelines in DIVE and I imagine other groups with VIAME add-ons may feel similarly if not now, then likely at some point.

Edit: Also I'm only talking about processing pipelines like detectors, trackers, etc... not training pipelines