Storages#

There are several storages to choose from. To select a storage, pass the storage=bh.storage. argument when making a histogram.

Simple storages#

These storages hold a single value that keeps track of a count, possibly a weighed count.

Double#

By default, boost-histogram selects the Double() storage. For most uses, this should be ideal. It is just as fast as the Int64() storage, it can fill up to 53 bits of information (9 quadrillion) counts per cell, and supports weighted fills. It can also be scaled by a floating point values without making a copy.

h = bh.Histogram(bh.axis.Regular(10, 0, 1))  # Double() is the default
h.fill([0.2, 0.3], weight=[0.5, 2])  # Weights are optional
print(f"{h[bh.loc(.2)]=}\n{h[bh.loc(.3)]=}")  # Python 3.8 print

h[bh.loc(.2)]=0.5
h[bh.loc(.3)]=2.0

Unlimited#

The Unlimited storage starts as an 8-bit integer and grows, and converts to a double if weights are used (or, currently, if a view is requested). This allows you to keep the memory usage minimal, at the expense of occasionally making an internal copy.

Int64#

A true integer storage is provided, as well; this storage has the np.uint64 datatype. This eventually should provide type safety by not accepting non-integer fills for data that should represent raw, unweighed counts.

h = bh.Histogram(bh.axis.Regular(10, 0, 1), storage=bh.storage.Int64())
h.fill([0.2, 0.3], weight=[1, 2])  # Integer weights supported
print(f"{h[bh.loc(.2)]=}\n{h[bh.loc(.2)]=}")

h[bh.loc(.2)]=1
h[bh.loc(.3)]=2

AtomicInt64#

This storage is like Int64(), but also provides a thread safety guarantee. You can fill a single histogram from multiple threads.

Accumulator storages#

These storages hold more than one number internally. They return a smart view when queried with .view(); see Accumulators for information on each accumulator and view.

Weight#

This storage keeps a sum of weights as well (in CERN ROOT, this is like calling .Sumw2() before filling a histogram). It uses the WeightedSum accumulator.

Mean#

This storage tracks a “Profile”, that is, the mean value of the accumulation instead of the sum. It stores the count (as a double), the mean, and a term that is used to compute the variance. When filling, you must add a sample= term.

WeightedMean#

This is similar to Mean, but also keeps track a sum of weights like term as well.

Storages

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