Removing A Node

Introduction

This example first generates a basic model, and then removes a node in the middle of the model, and reconnects the remaining nodes in the graph.

In order to remove a node, we replace the output tensors of its input node with its own outputs, and then remove its own connection to its outputs.

Node Removal Basics

For example, for a graph with the following structure:

 Node0
   |
Tensor0
   |
 Node1
   |
Tensor1
   |
 Node2
   |
Tensor2

In order to remove Node1,

1. Change Node0's outputs to [Tensor1] instead of [Tensor0].
2. Change Node1's outputs to [] instead of [Tensor1]

The resulting graph looks like this:

 Node0
   |
Tensor1       Tensor0
   |             |
 Node2         Node1
   |
Tensor2

Note that Node1 remains in the graph. This is easily remedied by running the cleanup() function.

Running the example

1. Generate a model with several nodes and save it to model.onnx by running:

   bashCopy

   python3 generate.py
   

   The generated model includes a couple identity layers and a fake node that will be removed.

2. Remove the fake node, and save it to removed.onnx by running:

   bashCopy

   python3 remove.py