The MNIST database is a database of handwritten digits, which consists of a
training set of 60,000 examples, and a test set of 10,000 examples. It was
made available by Yann Le Cun and Corinna Cortes (`MNIST database
<http://yann.lecun.com/exdb/mnist/>`_). The data was originally extracted
from a larger set made available by `NIST <http://www.nist.gov/>`_, before
being size-normalized and centered in a fixed-size image (28x28 pixels).
The MNIST_ database is a database of handwritten digits, which consists of a training set of 60,000 examples, and a test set of 10,000 examples.
It was made available by Yann Le Cun and Corinna Cortes.
The data was originally extracted from a larger set made available by NIST_, before being size-normalized and centered in a fixed-size image (28x28 pixels).
The actual raw data for the database should be downloaded from the `original
website <http://yann.lecun.com/exdb/mnist/>`_. This package only contains
the `Bob <http://www.idiap.ch/software/bob/>`_ accessor methods to use this
database directly from python.
This package only contains the Bob_ accessor methods to use this database directly from Python.
It does not contain the original raw data files, which need to be obtained through the link above.
You would normally not install this package unless you are maintaining it. What
you would do instead is to tie it in at the package you need to **use** it.
There are a few ways to achieve this:
Installation
------------
To install this package -- alone or together with other `Packages of Bob <https://github.com/idiap/bob/wiki/Packages>`_ -- please read the `Installation Instructions <https://github.com/idiap/bob/wiki/Installation>`_.
For Bob_ to be able to work properly, some dependent packages are required to be installed.
Please make sure that you have read the `Dependencies <https://github.com/idiap/bob/wiki/Dependencies>`_ for your operating system.
1. You can add this package as a requirement at the ``setup.py`` for your own
or to your Buildout ``.cfg`` file, if you prefer it that way. With this
method, this package gets automatically downloaded and installed on your
working environment, or
Documentation
-------------
For further documentation on this package, please read the `Stable Version <http://pythonhosted.org/bob.db.mnist/index.html>`_ or the `Latest Version <https://www.idiap.ch/software/bob/docs/latest/bioidiap/bob.db.mnist/master/index.html>`_ of the documentation.
For a list of tutorials on this or the other packages ob Bob_, or information on submitting issues, asking questions and starting discussions, please visit its website.
2. You can manually download and install this package using commands like
``easy_install`` or ``pip``.
.. _bob: https://www.idiap.ch/software/bob
.. _mnist: http://yann.lecun.com/exdb/mnist
.. _nist: http://www.nist.gov
The package is available in two different distribution formats:
1. You can download it from `PyPI <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/bob.db.mnist>`_, or
2. You can download it in its source form from `its git repository
<https://github.com/bioidiap/bob.db.mnist>`_.
The database raw files must be installed somewhere in your environment.
You can mix and match points 1/2 above based on your requirements. Here
are some examples:
Modify your setup.py and download from PyPI
===========================================
That is the easiest. Edit your ``setup.py`` in your satellite package and add
the following entry in the ``install_requires`` section (note: ``...`` means
`whatever extra stuff you may have in-between`, don't put that on your
script)::
install_requires=[
...
"bob.db.mnist",
],
Proceed normally with your ``bootstrap/buildout`` steps and you should be all
set. That means you can now import the namespace ``bob.db.mnist`` into your scripts.
Modify your buildout.cfg and download from git
==============================================
You will need to add a dependence to `mr.developer
<http://pypi.python.org/pypi/mr.developer/>`_ to be able to install from our
git repositories. Your ``buildout.cfg`` file should contain the following
In this case, this should return two :py:class:`numpy.ndarray`\s:
1. `images` contain the raw data (60,000 samples of dimension 784 [28x28 pixels images])
2. `labels` are the corresponding classes (digits 0 to 9) for each of the 60,000 samples
If you don't have the data installed on your machine, you can also use the following set of commands that will:
1. first look for the database in the ``bob/db/mnist`` subdirectory and use it if is available
2. automatically download it from Yann Lecun's website into a temporary folder that will be erased when the destructor of the :py:class:`bob.db.mnist.Database` is called.
3. automatically download it into the provided directory that will **not** be deleted.
.. code-block:: py
>>> import bob.db.mnist
>>> db = bob.db.mnist.Database() # Check for the data files locally, and download them if required
