Reference for ultralytics/data/augment.py

class BaseTransform:
    """
    Base class for image transformations.

    This is a generic transformation class that can be extended for specific image processing needs.
    The class is designed to be compatible with both classification and semantic segmentation tasks.

    Methods:
        __init__: Initializes the BaseTransform object.
        apply_image: Applies image transformation to labels.
        apply_instances: Applies transformations to object instances in labels.
        apply_semantic: Applies semantic segmentation to an image.
        __call__: Applies all label transformations to an image, instances, and semantic masks.
    """

    def __init__(self) -> None:
        """Initializes the BaseTransform object."""
        pass

    def apply_image(self, labels):
        """Applies image transformations to labels."""
        pass

    def apply_instances(self, labels):
        """Applies transformations to object instances in labels."""
        pass

    def apply_semantic(self, labels):
        """Applies semantic segmentation to an image."""
        pass

    def __call__(self, labels):
        """Applies all label transformations to an image, instances, and semantic masks."""
        self.apply_image(labels)
        self.apply_instances(labels)
        self.apply_semantic(labels)

class Compose:
    """Class for composing multiple image transformations."""

    def __init__(self, transforms):
        """Initializes the Compose object with a list of transforms."""
        self.transforms = transforms if isinstance(transforms, list) else [transforms]

    def __call__(self, data):
        """Applies a series of transformations to input data."""
        for t in self.transforms:
            data = t(data)
        return data

    def append(self, transform):
        """Appends a new transform to the existing list of transforms."""
        self.transforms.append(transform)

    def insert(self, index, transform):
        """Inserts a new transform to the existing list of transforms."""
        self.transforms.insert(index, transform)

    def __getitem__(self, index: Union[list, int]) -> "Compose":
        """Retrieve a specific transform or a set of transforms using indexing."""
        assert isinstance(index, (int, list)), f"The indices should be either list or int type but got {type(index)}"
        index = [index] if isinstance(index, int) else index
        return Compose([self.transforms[i] for i in index])

    def __setitem__(self, index: Union[list, int], value: Union[list, int]) -> None:
        """Retrieve a specific transform or a set of transforms using indexing."""
        assert isinstance(index, (int, list)), f"The indices should be either list or int type but got {type(index)}"
        if isinstance(index, list):
            assert isinstance(
                value, list
            ), f"The indices should be the same type as values, but got {type(index)} and {type(value)}"
        if isinstance(index, int):
            index, value = [index], [value]
        for i, v in zip(index, value):
            assert i < len(self.transforms), f"list index {i} out of range {len(self.transforms)}."
            self.transforms[i] = v

    def tolist(self):
        """Converts the list of transforms to a standard Python list."""
        return self.transforms

    def __repr__(self):
        """Returns a string representation of the object."""
        return f"{self.__class__.__name__}({', '.join([f'{t}' for t in self.transforms])})"

class BaseMixTransform:
    """
    Class for base mix (MixUp/Mosaic) transformations.

    This implementation is from mmyolo.
    """

    def __init__(self, dataset, pre_transform=None, p=0.0) -> None:
        """Initializes the BaseMixTransform object with dataset, pre_transform, and probability."""
        self.dataset = dataset
        self.pre_transform = pre_transform
        self.p = p

    def __call__(self, labels):
        """Applies pre-processing transforms and mixup/mosaic transforms to labels data."""
        if random.uniform(0, 1) > self.p:
            return labels

        # Get index of one or three other images
        indexes = self.get_indexes()
        if isinstance(indexes, int):
            indexes = [indexes]

        # Get images information will be used for Mosaic or MixUp
        mix_labels = [self.dataset.get_image_and_label(i) for i in indexes]

        if self.pre_transform is not None:
            for i, data in enumerate(mix_labels):
                mix_labels[i] = self.pre_transform(data)
        labels["mix_labels"] = mix_labels

        # Update cls and texts
        labels = self._update_label_text(labels)
        # Mosaic or MixUp
        labels = self._mix_transform(labels)
        labels.pop("mix_labels", None)
        return labels

    def _mix_transform(self, labels):
        """Applies MixUp or Mosaic augmentation to the label dictionary."""
        raise NotImplementedError

    def get_indexes(self):
        """Gets a list of shuffled indexes for mosaic augmentation."""
        raise NotImplementedError

    def _update_label_text(self, labels):
        """Update label text."""
        if "texts" not in labels:
            return labels

        mix_texts = sum([labels["texts"]] + [x["texts"] for x in labels["mix_labels"]], [])
        mix_texts = list({tuple(x) for x in mix_texts})
        text2id = {text: i for i, text in enumerate(mix_texts)}

        for label in [labels] + labels["mix_labels"]:
            for i, cls in enumerate(label["cls"].squeeze(-1).tolist()):
                text = label["texts"][int(cls)]
                label["cls"][i] = text2id[tuple(text)]
            label["texts"] = mix_texts
        return labels

class Mosaic(BaseMixTransform):
    """
    Mosaic augmentation.

    This class performs mosaic augmentation by combining multiple (4 or 9) images into a single mosaic image.
    The augmentation is applied to a dataset with a given probability.

    Attributes:
        dataset: The dataset on which the mosaic augmentation is applied.
        imgsz (int, optional): Image size (height and width) after mosaic pipeline of a single image. Default to 640.
        p (float, optional): Probability of applying the mosaic augmentation. Must be in the range 0-1. Default to 1.0.
        n (int, optional): The grid size, either 4 (for 2x2) or 9 (for 3x3).
    """

    def __init__(self, dataset, imgsz=640, p=1.0, n=4):
        """Initializes the object with a dataset, image size, probability, and border."""
        assert 0 <= p <= 1.0, f"The probability should be in range [0, 1], but got {p}."
        assert n in {4, 9}, "grid must be equal to 4 or 9."
        super().__init__(dataset=dataset, p=p)
        self.dataset = dataset
        self.imgsz = imgsz
        self.border = (-imgsz // 2, -imgsz // 2)  # width, height
        self.n = n

    def get_indexes(self, buffer=True):
        """Return a list of random indexes from the dataset."""
        if buffer:  # select images from buffer
            return random.choices(list(self.dataset.buffer), k=self.n - 1)
        else:  # select any images
            return [random.randint(0, len(self.dataset) - 1) for _ in range(self.n - 1)]

    def _mix_transform(self, labels):
        """Apply mixup transformation to the input image and labels."""
        assert labels.get("rect_shape", None) is None, "rect and mosaic are mutually exclusive."
        assert len(labels.get("mix_labels", [])), "There are no other images for mosaic augment."
        return (
            self._mosaic3(labels) if self.n == 3 else self._mosaic4(labels) if self.n == 4 else self._mosaic9(labels)
        )  # This code is modified for mosaic3 method.

    def _mosaic3(self, labels):
        """Create a 1x3 image mosaic."""
        mosaic_labels = []
        s = self.imgsz
        for i in range(3):
            labels_patch = labels if i == 0 else labels["mix_labels"][i - 1]
            # Load image
            img = labels_patch["img"]
            h, w = labels_patch.pop("resized_shape")

            # Place img in img3
            if i == 0:  # center
                img3 = np.full((s * 3, s * 3, img.shape[2]), 114, dtype=np.uint8)  # base image with 3 tiles
                h0, w0 = h, w
                c = s, s, s + w, s + h  # xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax (base) coordinates
            elif i == 1:  # right
                c = s + w0, s, s + w0 + w, s + h
            elif i == 2:  # left
                c = s - w, s + h0 - h, s, s + h0

            padw, padh = c[:2]
            x1, y1, x2, y2 = (max(x, 0) for x in c)  # allocate coords

            img3[y1:y2, x1:x2] = img[y1 - padh :, x1 - padw :]  # img3[ymin:ymax, xmin:xmax]
            # hp, wp = h, w  # height, width previous for next iteration

            # Labels assuming imgsz*2 mosaic size
            labels_patch = self._update_labels(labels_patch, padw + self.border[0], padh + self.border[1])
            mosaic_labels.append(labels_patch)
        final_labels = self._cat_labels(mosaic_labels)

        final_labels["img"] = img3[-self.border[0] : self.border[0], -self.border[1] : self.border[1]]
        return final_labels

    def _mosaic4(self, labels):
        """Create a 2x2 image mosaic."""
        mosaic_labels = []
        s = self.imgsz
        yc, xc = (int(random.uniform(-x, 2 * s + x)) for x in self.border)  # mosaic center x, y
        for i in range(4):
            labels_patch = labels if i == 0 else labels["mix_labels"][i - 1]
            # Load image
            img = labels_patch["img"]
            h, w = labels_patch.pop("resized_shape")

            # Place img in img4
            if i == 0:  # top left
                img4 = np.full((s * 2, s * 2, img.shape[2]), 114, dtype=np.uint8)  # base image with 4 tiles
                x1a, y1a, x2a, y2a = max(xc - w, 0), max(yc - h, 0), xc, yc  # xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax (large image)
                x1b, y1b, x2b, y2b = w - (x2a - x1a), h - (y2a - y1a), w, h  # xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax (small image)
            elif i == 1:  # top right
                x1a, y1a, x2a, y2a = xc, max(yc - h, 0), min(xc + w, s * 2), yc
                x1b, y1b, x2b, y2b = 0, h - (y2a - y1a), min(w, x2a - x1a), h
            elif i == 2:  # bottom left
                x1a, y1a, x2a, y2a = max(xc - w, 0), yc, xc, min(s * 2, yc + h)
                x1b, y1b, x2b, y2b = w - (x2a - x1a), 0, w, min(y2a - y1a, h)
            elif i == 3:  # bottom right
                x1a, y1a, x2a, y2a = xc, yc, min(xc + w, s * 2), min(s * 2, yc + h)
                x1b, y1b, x2b, y2b = 0, 0, min(w, x2a - x1a), min(y2a - y1a, h)

            img4[y1a:y2a, x1a:x2a] = img[y1b:y2b, x1b:x2b]  # img4[ymin:ymax, xmin:xmax]
            padw = x1a - x1b
            padh = y1a - y1b

            labels_patch = self._update_labels(labels_patch, padw, padh)
            mosaic_labels.append(labels_patch)
        final_labels = self._cat_labels(mosaic_labels)
        final_labels["img"] = img4
        return final_labels

    def _mosaic9(self, labels):
        """Create a 3x3 image mosaic."""
        mosaic_labels = []
        s = self.imgsz
        hp, wp = -1, -1  # height, width previous
        for i in range(9):
            labels_patch = labels if i == 0 else labels["mix_labels"][i - 1]
            # Load image
            img = labels_patch["img"]
            h, w = labels_patch.pop("resized_shape")

            # Place img in img9
            if i == 0:  # center
                img9 = np.full((s * 3, s * 3, img.shape[2]), 114, dtype=np.uint8)  # base image with 4 tiles
                h0, w0 = h, w
                c = s, s, s + w, s + h  # xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax (base) coordinates
            elif i == 1:  # top
                c = s, s - h, s + w, s
            elif i == 2:  # top right
                c = s + wp, s - h, s + wp + w, s
            elif i == 3:  # right
                c = s + w0, s, s + w0 + w, s + h
            elif i == 4:  # bottom right
                c = s + w0, s + hp, s + w0 + w, s + hp + h
            elif i == 5:  # bottom
                c = s + w0 - w, s + h0, s + w0, s + h0 + h
            elif i == 6:  # bottom left
                c = s + w0 - wp - w, s + h0, s + w0 - wp, s + h0 + h
            elif i == 7:  # left
                c = s - w, s + h0 - h, s, s + h0
            elif i == 8:  # top left
                c = s - w, s + h0 - hp - h, s, s + h0 - hp

            padw, padh = c[:2]
            x1, y1, x2, y2 = (max(x, 0) for x in c)  # allocate coords

            # Image
            img9[y1:y2, x1:x2] = img[y1 - padh :, x1 - padw :]  # img9[ymin:ymax, xmin:xmax]
            hp, wp = h, w  # height, width previous for next iteration

            # Labels assuming imgsz*2 mosaic size
            labels_patch = self._update_labels(labels_patch, padw + self.border[0], padh + self.border[1])
            mosaic_labels.append(labels_patch)
        final_labels = self._cat_labels(mosaic_labels)

        final_labels["img"] = img9[-self.border[0] : self.border[0], -self.border[1] : self.border[1]]
        return final_labels

    @staticmethod
    def _update_labels(labels, padw, padh):
        """Update labels."""
        nh, nw = labels["img"].shape[:2]
        labels["instances"].convert_bbox(format="xyxy")
        labels["instances"].denormalize(nw, nh)
        labels["instances"].add_padding(padw, padh)
        return labels

    def _cat_labels(self, mosaic_labels):
        """Return labels with mosaic border instances clipped."""
        if len(mosaic_labels) == 0:
            return {}
        cls = []
        instances = []
        imgsz = self.imgsz * 2  # mosaic imgsz
        for labels in mosaic_labels:
            cls.append(labels["cls"])
            instances.append(labels["instances"])
        # Final labels
        final_labels = {
            "im_file": mosaic_labels[0]["im_file"],
            "ori_shape": mosaic_labels[0]["ori_shape"],
            "resized_shape": (imgsz, imgsz),
            "cls": np.concatenate(cls, 0),
            "instances": Instances.concatenate(instances, axis=0),
            "mosaic_border": self.border,
        }
        final_labels["instances"].clip(imgsz, imgsz)
        good = final_labels["instances"].remove_zero_area_boxes()
        final_labels["cls"] = final_labels["cls"][good]
        if "texts" in mosaic_labels[0]:
            final_labels["texts"] = mosaic_labels[0]["texts"]
        return final_labels

class MixUp(BaseMixTransform):
    """Class for applying MixUp augmentation to the dataset."""

    def __init__(self, dataset, pre_transform=None, p=0.0) -> None:
        """Initializes MixUp object with dataset, pre_transform, and probability of applying MixUp."""
        super().__init__(dataset=dataset, pre_transform=pre_transform, p=p)

    def get_indexes(self):
        """Get a random index from the dataset."""
        return random.randint(0, len(self.dataset) - 1)

    def _mix_transform(self, labels):
        """Applies MixUp augmentation as per https://arxiv.org/pdf/1710.09412.pdf."""
        r = np.random.beta(32.0, 32.0)  # mixup ratio, alpha=beta=32.0
        labels2 = labels["mix_labels"][0]
        labels["img"] = (labels["img"] * r + labels2["img"] * (1 - r)).astype(np.uint8)
        labels["instances"] = Instances.concatenate([labels["instances"], labels2["instances"]], axis=0)
        labels["cls"] = np.concatenate([labels["cls"], labels2["cls"]], 0)
        return labels

class RandomPerspective:
    """
    Implements random perspective and affine transformations on images and corresponding bounding boxes, segments, and
    keypoints. These transformations include rotation, translation, scaling, and shearing. The class also offers the
    option to apply these transformations conditionally with a specified probability.

    Attributes:
        degrees (float): Degree range for random rotations.
        translate (float): Fraction of total width and height for random translation.
        scale (float): Scaling factor interval, e.g., a scale factor of 0.1 allows a resize between 90%-110%.
        shear (float): Shear intensity (angle in degrees).
        perspective (float): Perspective distortion factor.
        border (tuple): Tuple specifying mosaic border.
        pre_transform (callable): A function/transform to apply to the image before starting the random transformation.

    Methods:
        affine_transform(img, border): Applies a series of affine transformations to the image.
        apply_bboxes(bboxes, M): Transforms bounding boxes using the calculated affine matrix.
        apply_segments(segments, M): Transforms segments and generates new bounding boxes.
        apply_keypoints(keypoints, M): Transforms keypoints.
        __call__(labels): Main method to apply transformations to both images and their corresponding annotations.
        box_candidates(box1, box2): Filters out bounding boxes that don't meet certain criteria post-transformation.
    """

    def __init__(
        self, degrees=0.0, translate=0.1, scale=0.5, shear=0.0, perspective=0.0, border=(0, 0), pre_transform=None
    ):
        """Initializes RandomPerspective object with transformation parameters."""

        self.degrees = degrees
        self.translate = translate
        self.scale = scale
        self.shear = shear
        self.perspective = perspective
        self.border = border  # mosaic border
        self.pre_transform = pre_transform

    def affine_transform(self, img, border):
        """
        Applies a sequence of affine transformations centered around the image center.

        Args:
            img (ndarray): Input image.
            border (tuple): Border dimensions.

        Returns:
            img (ndarray): Transformed image.
            M (ndarray): Transformation matrix.
            s (float): Scale factor.
        """

        # Center
        C = np.eye(3, dtype=np.float32)

        C[0, 2] = -img.shape[1] / 2  # x translation (pixels)
        C[1, 2] = -img.shape[0] / 2  # y translation (pixels)

        # Perspective
        P = np.eye(3, dtype=np.float32)
        P[2, 0] = random.uniform(-self.perspective, self.perspective)  # x perspective (about y)
        P[2, 1] = random.uniform(-self.perspective, self.perspective)  # y perspective (about x)

        # Rotation and Scale
        R = np.eye(3, dtype=np.float32)
        a = random.uniform(-self.degrees, self.degrees)
        # a += random.choice([-180, -90, 0, 90])  # add 90deg rotations to small rotations
        s = random.uniform(1 - self.scale, 1 + self.scale)
        # s = 2 ** random.uniform(-scale, scale)
        R[:2] = cv2.getRotationMatrix2D(angle=a, center=(0, 0), scale=s)

        # Shear
        S = np.eye(3, dtype=np.float32)
        S[0, 1] = math.tan(random.uniform(-self.shear, self.shear) * math.pi / 180)  # x shear (deg)
        S[1, 0] = math.tan(random.uniform(-self.shear, self.shear) * math.pi / 180)  # y shear (deg)

        # Translation
        T = np.eye(3, dtype=np.float32)
        T[0, 2] = random.uniform(0.5 - self.translate, 0.5 + self.translate) * self.size[0]  # x translation (pixels)
        T[1, 2] = random.uniform(0.5 - self.translate, 0.5 + self.translate) * self.size[1]  # y translation (pixels)

        # Combined rotation matrix
        M = T @ S @ R @ P @ C  # order of operations (right to left) is IMPORTANT
        # Affine image
        if (border[0] != 0) or (border[1] != 0) or (M != np.eye(3)).any():  # image changed
            if self.perspective:
                img = cv2.warpPerspective(img, M, dsize=self.size, borderValue=(114, 114, 114))
            else:  # affine
                img = cv2.warpAffine(img, M[:2], dsize=self.size, borderValue=(114, 114, 114))
        return img, M, s

    def apply_bboxes(self, bboxes, M):
        """
        Apply affine to bboxes only.

        Args:
            bboxes (ndarray): list of bboxes, xyxy format, with shape (num_bboxes, 4).
            M (ndarray): affine matrix.

        Returns:
            new_bboxes (ndarray): bboxes after affine, [num_bboxes, 4].
        """
        n = len(bboxes)
        if n == 0:
            return bboxes

        xy = np.ones((n * 4, 3), dtype=bboxes.dtype)
        xy[:, :2] = bboxes[:, [0, 1, 2, 3, 0, 3, 2, 1]].reshape(n * 4, 2)  # x1y1, x2y2, x1y2, x2y1
        xy = xy @ M.T  # transform
        xy = (xy[:, :2] / xy[:, 2:3] if self.perspective else xy[:, :2]).reshape(n, 8)  # perspective rescale or affine

        # Create new boxes
        x = xy[:, [0, 2, 4, 6]]
        y = xy[:, [1, 3, 5, 7]]
        return np.concatenate((x.min(1), y.min(1), x.max(1), y.max(1)), dtype=bboxes.dtype).reshape(4, n).T

    def apply_segments(self, segments, M):
        """
        Apply affine to segments and generate new bboxes from segments.

        Args:
            segments (ndarray): list of segments, [num_samples, 500, 2].
            M (ndarray): affine matrix.

        Returns:
            new_segments (ndarray): list of segments after affine, [num_samples, 500, 2].
            new_bboxes (ndarray): bboxes after affine, [N, 4].
        """
        n, num = segments.shape[:2]
        if n == 0:
            return [], segments

        xy = np.ones((n * num, 3), dtype=segments.dtype)
        segments = segments.reshape(-1, 2)
        xy[:, :2] = segments
        xy = xy @ M.T  # transform
        xy = xy[:, :2] / xy[:, 2:3]
        segments = xy.reshape(n, -1, 2)
        bboxes = np.stack([segment2box(xy, self.size[0], self.size[1]) for xy in segments], 0)
        segments[..., 0] = segments[..., 0].clip(bboxes[:, 0:1], bboxes[:, 2:3])
        segments[..., 1] = segments[..., 1].clip(bboxes[:, 1:2], bboxes[:, 3:4])
        return bboxes, segments

    def apply_keypoints(self, keypoints, M):
        """
        Apply affine to keypoints.

        Args:
            keypoints (ndarray): keypoints, [N, 17, 3].
            M (ndarray): affine matrix.

        Returns:
            new_keypoints (ndarray): keypoints after affine, [N, 17, 3].
        """
        n, nkpt = keypoints.shape[:2]
        if n == 0:
            return keypoints
        xy = np.ones((n * nkpt, 3), dtype=keypoints.dtype)
        visible = keypoints[..., 2].reshape(n * nkpt, 1)
        xy[:, :2] = keypoints[..., :2].reshape(n * nkpt, 2)
        xy = xy @ M.T  # transform
        xy = xy[:, :2] / xy[:, 2:3]  # perspective rescale or affine
        out_mask = (xy[:, 0] < 0) | (xy[:, 1] < 0) | (xy[:, 0] > self.size[0]) | (xy[:, 1] > self.size[1])
        visible[out_mask] = 0
        return np.concatenate([xy, visible], axis=-1).reshape(n, nkpt, 3)

    def __call__(self, labels):
        """
        Affine images and targets.

        Args:
            labels (dict): a dict of `bboxes`, `segments`, `keypoints`.
        """
        if self.pre_transform and "mosaic_border" not in labels:
            labels = self.pre_transform(labels)
        labels.pop("ratio_pad", None)  # do not need ratio pad

        img = labels["img"]
        cls = labels["cls"]
        instances = labels.pop("instances")
        # Make sure the coord formats are right
        instances.convert_bbox(format="xyxy")
        instances.denormalize(*img.shape[:2][::-1])

        border = labels.pop("mosaic_border", self.border)
        self.size = img.shape[1] + border[1] * 2, img.shape[0] + border[0] * 2  # w, h
        # M is affine matrix
        # Scale for func:`box_candidates`
        img, M, scale = self.affine_transform(img, border)

        bboxes = self.apply_bboxes(instances.bboxes, M)

        segments = instances.segments
        keypoints = instances.keypoints
        # Update bboxes if there are segments.
        if len(segments):
            bboxes, segments = self.apply_segments(segments, M)

        if keypoints is not None:
            keypoints = self.apply_keypoints(keypoints, M)
        new_instances = Instances(bboxes, segments, keypoints, bbox_format="xyxy", normalized=False)
        # Clip
        new_instances.clip(*self.size)

        # Filter instances
        instances.scale(scale_w=scale, scale_h=scale, bbox_only=True)
        # Make the bboxes have the same scale with new_bboxes
        i = self.box_candidates(
            box1=instances.bboxes.T, box2=new_instances.bboxes.T, area_thr=0.01 if len(segments) else 0.10
        )
        labels["instances"] = new_instances[i]
        labels["cls"] = cls[i]
        labels["img"] = img
        labels["resized_shape"] = img.shape[:2]
        return labels

    def box_candidates(self, box1, box2, wh_thr=2, ar_thr=100, area_thr=0.1, eps=1e-16):
        """
        Compute box candidates based on a set of thresholds. This method compares the characteristics of the boxes
        before and after augmentation to decide whether a box is a candidate for further processing.

        Args:
            box1 (numpy.ndarray): The 4,n bounding box before augmentation, represented as [x1, y1, x2, y2].
            box2 (numpy.ndarray): The 4,n bounding box after augmentation, represented as [x1, y1, x2, y2].
            wh_thr (float, optional): The width and height threshold in pixels. Default is 2.
            ar_thr (float, optional): The aspect ratio threshold. Default is 100.
            area_thr (float, optional): The area ratio threshold. Default is 0.1.
            eps (float, optional): A small epsilon value to prevent division by zero. Default is 1e-16.

        Returns:
            (numpy.ndarray): A boolean array indicating which boxes are candidates based on the given thresholds.
        """
        w1, h1 = box1[2] - box1[0], box1[3] - box1[1]
        w2, h2 = box2[2] - box2[0], box2[3] - box2[1]
        ar = np.maximum(w2 / (h2 + eps), h2 / (w2 + eps))  # aspect ratio
        return (w2 > wh_thr) & (h2 > wh_thr) & (w2 * h2 / (w1 * h1 + eps) > area_thr) & (ar < ar_thr)  # candidates