Refactor sequence processing for parallel loading and memory management

This commit introduces significant changes to the sequence processing pipeline, implementing parallel loading, k-mer budget control, explicit memory management, and refined logic for pair evaluation and resolution.

pkg/obikmer/seqquorum.go

@@ -24,9 +24,12 @@ import (
 //  2. CountAtLeast processes the partitions in parallel: each one is loaded,
 //     expanded to (canonical k-mer, sequence id) pairs, sorted, and reduced.
 //
-// Memory during phase 2 is about 16 bytes per k-mer occurrence of the largest
-// partitions being processed at the same time, so P must grow with the total
-// input size (total bases / P is the occurrence count of an average partition).
+// Memory during phase 2 is 16 bytes per k-mer occurrence of the partitions
+// being processed at the same time. Their number is bounded by an occurrence
+// budget (see SetOccurrenceBudget), so that the memory does not depend on how
+// the k-mers happen to be spread over the partitions; P only has to be large
+// enough for the largest partition to be small against the budget (total bases
+// / P is the occurrence count of an average partition, see DefaultPartitions).
 //
 // Bases other than A, C, G, T, U break a sequence into independent runs: no
 // k-mer ever contains an ambiguous base.
@@ -39,13 +42,16 @@ type SeqKmerCounter struct {
 	mu       sync.Mutex
 	firstErr error
 	sealed   bool
+
+	budget int // k-mer occurrences held at once in phase 2
 }
 
 type seqPartWriter struct {
-	mu   sync.Mutex
-	w    *bufio.Writer
-	file *os.File
-	path string
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	w     *bufio.Writer
+	file  *os.File
+	path  string
+	kmers int // k-mer occurrences written, so that the partition is loaded in an array of the exact size
 }
 
 // SeqKmerCount is the result for one k-mer.
@@ -78,7 +84,7 @@ func NewSeqKmerCounter(parentDir string, k, m, partitions int) (*SeqKmerCounter,
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	c := &SeqKmerCounter{dir: dir, k: k, m: m, p: partitions}
+	c := &SeqKmerCounter{dir: dir, k: k, m: m, p: partitions, budget: DefaultOccurrenceBudget}
 	c.parts = make([]*seqPartWriter, partitions)
 	for i := range c.parts {
 		path := filepath.Join(dir, fmt.Sprintf("part_%04d.sqk", i))
@@ -92,6 +98,38 @@ func NewSeqKmerCounter(parentDir string, k, m, partitions int) (*SeqKmerCounter,
 	return c, nil
 }
 
+// DefaultOccurrenceBudget is the number of k-mer occurrences phase 2 holds at
+// once by default: 32 million, 512 MB. A partition larger than the budget is
+// processed alone. Measured on 16 cores, 526 million occurrences to count: with
+// 32M the count is as fast as without any limit; 16M make it 15% slower, 8M
+// 60% slower.
+const DefaultOccurrenceBudget = 32 << 20
+
+// SetOccurrenceBudget bounds the k-mer occurrences (16 bytes each) that
+// CountAtLeast holds in memory at once. It must be called before CountAtLeast.
+func (c *SeqKmerCounter) SetOccurrenceBudget(occurrences int) {
+	if occurrences > 0 {
+		c.budget = occurrences
+	}
+}
+
+// partitionOccurrences is the occurrence count aimed at for an average
+// partition by DefaultPartitions (a partition of 1M occurrences is 16 MB).
+const partitionOccurrences = 1 << 20
+
+// DefaultPartitions returns a partition count suited to a total of kmers
+// k-mer occurrences: 256 at least, and more, as a power of two up to 1024, when
+// the average partition would otherwise exceed about a million occurrences.
+// The largest partitions hold several times the average. The limit keeps the
+// number of simultaneously open files reasonable.
+func DefaultPartitions(kmers int) int {
+	p := 256
+	for p < 1024 && kmers/p > partitionOccurrences {
+		p *= 2
+	}
+	return p
+}
+
 // K returns the k-mer size.
 func (c *SeqKmerCounter) K() int { return c.k }
 
@@ -148,6 +186,7 @@ func (c *SeqKmerCounter) addRun(id uint32, run []byte, scratch []byte) []byte {
 		pw := c.parts[int(sk.Minimizer%uint64(c.p))]
 		pw.mu.Lock()
 		_, err := pw.w.Write(scratch)
+		pw.kmers += len(sk.Sequence) - c.k + 1
 		pw.mu.Unlock()
 		if err != nil {
 			c.setErr(err)

pkg/obikmer/seqquorum_budget_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+package obikmer
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"reflect"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// The occurrence budget only bounds the memory: any budget, down to one
+// occurrence (every partition then goes alone), gives the same counts.
+func TestSeqKmerCounterBudgetDoesNotChangeTheCounts(t *testing.T) {
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(7))
+	seqs := randomSeqs(rng, 40, 20, 500, true)
+	build := func(budget int) []SeqKmerCount {
+		c, err := NewSeqKmerCounter(t.TempDir(), 9, 4, 11)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		defer c.Close()
+		if budget > 0 {
+			c.SetOccurrenceBudget(budget)
+		}
+		for i, s := range seqs {
+			c.AddSequence(uint32(i), s, i%2 == 0)
+		}
+		total := 0
+		for _, pw := range c.parts {
+			total += pw.kmers
+		}
+		if total == 0 {
+			t.Fatal("no occurrence counted")
+		}
+		got, err := c.CountAtLeast(2)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return got
+	}
+	want := build(0)
+	if len(want) == 0 {
+		t.Fatal("the test needs k-mers shared by several sequences")
+	}
+	for _, budget := range []int{1, 100, 5000} {
+		if got := build(budget); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("budget %d changes the counts", budget)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// The occurrences announced for a partition are those that its file holds.
+func TestSeqKmerCounterPartitionOccurrenceCount(t *testing.T) {
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(3))
+	seqs := randomSeqs(rng, 25, 10, 300, true)
+	c, err := NewSeqKmerCounter(t.TempDir(), 8, 3, 5)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	defer c.Close()
+	for i, s := range seqs {
+		c.AddSequence(uint32(i), s, i%3 == 0)
+	}
+	if err := c.seal(); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	for p, pw := range c.parts {
+		occ, err := c.loadPartition(p, nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if len(occ) != pw.kmers {
+			t.Errorf("partition %d: %d occurrences loaded, %d counted when written", p, len(occ), pw.kmers)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestOccurrenceBudget(t *testing.T) {
+	b := newOccurrenceBudget(10)
+	if got := b.acquire(4); got != 4 {
+		t.Fatalf("acquire(4) = %d", got)
+	}
+	// 7 does not fit in the 6 left: it must wait for the release
+	done := make(chan int)
+	go func() { done <- b.acquire(7) }()
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		t.Fatal("acquire(7) must wait")
+	case <-time.After(50 * time.Millisecond):
+	}
+	b.release(4)
+	if got := <-done; got != 7 {
+		t.Fatalf("acquire(7) = %d", got)
+	}
+	b.release(7)
+
+	// a request above the whole budget takes all of it, once everything is free
+	if got := b.acquire(1000); got != 10 {
+		t.Fatalf("an oversized request must take the whole budget, got %d", got)
+	}
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() { defer wg.Done(); b.release(b.acquire(3)) }()
+	time.Sleep(20 * time.Millisecond)
+	b.release(10)
+	wg.Wait()
+}
+
+func TestDefaultPartitions(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct{ kmers, want int }{
+		{0, 256}, {5_000_000, 256}, {256 << 20, 256}, {257 << 20, 512}, {526_000_000, 512},
+		{600 << 20, 1024}, {1 << 40, 1024},
+	} {
+		if got := DefaultPartitions(tc.kmers); got != tc.want {
+			t.Errorf("DefaultPartitions(%d) = %d, want %d", tc.kmers, got, tc.want)
+		}
+	}
+}

pkg/obikmer/seqquorum_count.go

@@ -41,6 +41,16 @@ func (c *SeqKmerCounter) CountAtLeast(minSeq int) ([]SeqKmerCount, error) {
 	}
 
 	workers := min(obidefault.ParallelWorkers(), c.p)
+
+	// the largest partitions first: they are the hardest to fit in the budget
+	// and the last ones to finish, if they come late
+	order := make([]int, c.p)
+	for i := range order {
+		order[i] = i
+	}
+	slices.SortStableFunc(order, func(a, b int) int { return cmp.Compare(c.parts[b].kmers, c.parts[a].kmers) })
+	budget := newOccurrenceBudget(c.budget)
+
 	jobs := make(chan int)
 	results := make([][]SeqKmerCount, c.p)
 
@@ -52,13 +62,19 @@ func (c *SeqKmerCounter) CountAtLeast(minSeq int) ([]SeqKmerCount, error) {
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
-			var occ []kmerOcc // reused between partitions
+			var occ []kmerOcc // reused between partitions of similar sizes
 			for p := range jobs {
+				n := c.parts[p].kmers
+				held := budget.acquire(n)
+				if cap(occ) < n || cap(occ) > 2*n+1024 {
+					occ = make([]kmerOcc, 0, n)
+				}
 				var err error
 				occ, err = c.loadPartition(p, occ[:0])
 				if err == nil {
 					results[p] = reduceOccurrences(occ, minSeq)
 				}
+				budget.release(held)
 				if err != nil {
 					errMu.Lock()
 					if firstErr == nil {
@@ -69,7 +85,7 @@ func (c *SeqKmerCounter) CountAtLeast(minSeq int) ([]SeqKmerCount, error) {
 			}
 		}()
 	}
-	for p := range c.p {
+	for _, p := range order {
 		jobs <- p
 	}
 	close(jobs)
@@ -153,3 +169,39 @@ func reduceOccurrences(occ []kmerOcc, minSeq int) []SeqKmerCount {
 	}
 	return out
 }
+
+// occurrenceBudget bounds the k-mer occurrences held in memory at once by the
+// goroutines that load the partitions.
+type occurrenceBudget struct {
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	freed *sync.Cond
+	total int
+	free  int
+}
+
+func newOccurrenceBudget(total int) *occurrenceBudget {
+	b := &occurrenceBudget{total: total, free: total}
+	b.freed = sync.NewCond(&b.mu)
+	return b
+}
+
+// acquire waits until n occurrences fit in the budget and takes them; a request
+// above the whole budget waits for the budget to be free and takes all of it.
+// It returns what was taken, to give back with release.
+func (b *occurrenceBudget) acquire(n int) int {
+	n = min(n, b.total)
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	for b.free < n {
+		b.freed.Wait()
+	}
+	b.free -= n
+	b.mu.Unlock()
+	return n
+}
+
+func (b *occurrenceBudget) release(n int) {
+	b.mu.Lock()
+	b.free += n
+	b.mu.Unlock()
+	b.freed.Broadcast()
+}

pkg/obiprimer/amplicons.go

@@ -1,23 +1,13 @@
 package obiprimer
 
 import (
-	"cmp"
 	"math"
-	"slices"
 	"sync"
 
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obithermo"
 )
 
-// ampRecord is an amplicon of a retained pair, in one sequence.
-type ampRecord struct {
-	hash  uint64 // the barcode: see ampHash
-	pair  int32
-	taxon int32 // taxon of the sequence at the chosen rank, -1 when it has none
-	role  Role
-}
-
 // refHit is an amplicon of a retained pair on the reference sequence.
 type refHit struct {
 	up, down seqMatch
@@ -48,47 +38,142 @@ func ampHash(raw []byte, from, to int, reverse bool) uint64 {
 	return h
 }
 
-// amplicons holds what the second phase gathers on the retained pairs.
-type amplicons struct {
-	parts  [][]ampRecord // one slice per worker, each sorted by pair
-	minTm1 []float32     // by pair: lowest Tm of the first primer over the example sites
-	minTm2 []float32
-	refs   map[int32]refHit
-}
+// eachAmplicon runs forEachOccurrence over the sequences of the corpus (the
+// examples only, or all of them) in parallel, and calls visit for every
+// amplicon of a pair of index. Every worker gets its own visit function, from
+// newVisit, and done is called once the worker has no more sequence.
+//
+// Without a plan the sequences are handed to the workers as they get free, and
+// the assignment is recorded in record. With one, every worker scans the
+// sequences that the plan gave it.
+func (ps *primerSet) eachAmplicon(c *Corpus, p PairParams, index map[pairKey]int32, examplesOnly bool, plan *ampPlan, record []uint16,
+	newVisit func(worker int) (visit func(s int, raw []byte, o occurrence, pair int32), done func())) {
 
-// pair returns the amplicons of one retained pair, as one slice per worker.
-func (a *amplicons) pair(i int32) [][]ampRecord {
-	out := make([][]ampRecord, 0, len(a.parts))
-	byPair := func(r ampRecord, p int32) int { return cmp.Compare(r.pair, p) }
-	for _, part := range a.parts {
-		lo, _ := slices.BinarySearchFunc(part, i, byPair)
-		hi, _ := slices.BinarySearchFunc(part, i+1, byPair)
-		if hi > lo {
-			out = append(out, part[lo:hi])
-		}
+	workers := obidefault.ParallelWorkers()
+
+	// only the matches of the primers of the pairs of index can make an amplicon
+	// of these pairs, and dropping the others spares most of the comparisons
+	wanted := make([]bool, len(ps.primers))
+	for k := range index {
+		wanted[k.p1], wanted[k.p2] = true, true
 	}
-	return out
+	type scratch struct {
+		ms    []seqMatch
+		bases []byte
+	}
+	scan := func(sc *scratch, visit func(int, []byte, occurrence, int32), s int) {
+		if examplesOnly && c.Roles[s] != Example {
+			return
+		}
+		ms := sc.ms[:0]
+		for _, m := range ps.perSeq[s] {
+			if wanted[m.primer] {
+				ms = append(ms, m)
+			}
+		}
+		sc.ms = ms
+		if len(ms) < 2 {
+			return // an amplicon needs two primer sites
+		}
+		var raw []byte
+		raw, sc.bases = c.bases(s, sc.bases)
+		ps.forEachOccurrenceIn(raw, ms, p, func(o occurrence) {
+			if pi, ok := index[o.key]; ok {
+				visit(s, raw, o, pi)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	if plan != nil {
+		mine := make([][]int, workers)
+		for s, w := range plan.owner {
+			mine[w] = append(mine[w], s)
+		}
+		for w := range workers {
+			wg.Add(1)
+			go func() {
+				defer wg.Done()
+				visit, done := newVisit(w)
+				var sc scratch
+				for _, s := range mine[w] {
+					scan(&sc, visit, s)
+				}
+				if done != nil {
+					done()
+				}
+			}()
+		}
+		wg.Wait()
+		return
+	}
+
+	jobs := make(chan int)
+	for w := range workers {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			visit, done := newVisit(w)
+			var sc scratch
+			for s := range jobs {
+				record[s] = uint16(w)
+				scan(&sc, visit, s)
+			}
+			if done != nil {
+				done()
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+	for s := range c.Roles {
+		jobs <- s
+	}
+	close(jobs)
+	wg.Wait()
 }
 
-// collectOptions selects what collectAmplicons gathers.
+// planAmplicons counts the amplicons of every pair of index in the sequences
+// of the corpus (all of them, or the examples only), by worker.
+func (ps *primerSet) planAmplicons(c *Corpus, p PairParams, index map[pairKey]int32, examplesOnly bool) *ampPlan {
+	workers := obidefault.ParallelWorkers()
+	plan := &ampPlan{owner: make([]uint16, c.Len()), count: make([][]uint32, workers)}
+	for w := range plan.count {
+		plan.count[w] = make([]uint32, len(index))
+	}
+	ps.eachAmplicon(c, p, index, examplesOnly, nil, plan.owner, func(w int) (func(int, []byte, occurrence, int32), func()) {
+		row := plan.count[w]
+		return func(_ int, _ []byte, _ occurrence, pi int32) { row[pi]++ }, nil
+	})
+	return plan
+}
+
+// ampSites is what the gathering of the amplicons of the targets learns besides
+// the records.
+type ampSites struct {
+	minTm1 []float32 // by pair: lowest Tm of the first primer over the example sites
+	minTm2 []float32
+	refs   map[int32]refHit // by pair: the amplicon on the reference sequence
+}
+
+// collectOptions selects what collectAmplicons gathers besides the records.
 type collectOptions struct {
 	examplesOnly bool             // skip the counterexamples and the other sequences
 	model        *obithermo.Model // melting temperatures of the example sites (nil: none)
 	reference    bool             // record the amplicons on the reference sequence
 }
 
-// collectAmplicons gathers, in parallel, one record per amplicon of a retained
-// pair, in the sequences of the corpus (all of them, or the examples only), and
-// the lowest melting temperatures over the example sites. The records are not
-// copied nor regrouped: each worker keeps its own, sorted by pair.
-func (ps *primerSet) collectAmplicons(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, index map[pairKey]int32, opt collectOptions) *amplicons {
+// collectAmplicons writes into store, in parallel, one record per amplicon of
+// the pairs of index (whose values are the pair numbers in the store) and
+// returns the lowest melting temperatures over the example sites. The store
+// was sized from the plan, which says which worker scans which sequence; the
+// batch only holds the pairs of index, the plan more.
+func (ps *primerSet) collectAmplicons(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, index map[pairKey]int32,
+	plan *ampPlan, store *ampStore, opt collectOptions) *ampSites {
+
 	model := opt.model
 	lp := p.PrimerLength
-	workers := obidefault.ParallelWorkers()
 	npairs := len(index)
 
-	res := &amplicons{
-		parts:  make([][]ampRecord, workers),
+	res := &ampSites{
 		minTm1: make([]float32, npairs),
 		minTm2: make([]float32, npairs),
 		refs:   map[int32]refHit{}, // written by the single worker that reads the reference
@@ -106,63 +191,43 @@ func (ps *primerSet) collectAmplicons(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, index
 		oriented[i][1] = []byte(orientedWord(pr.Word, lp, true))
 	}
 
-	jobs := make(chan int)
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	for w := range workers {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
-			defer wg.Done()
-			site1, site2 := make([]byte, lp), make([]byte, lp)
-			lowTm1, lowTm2 := map[int32]float32{}, map[int32]float32{}
-			for s := range jobs {
-				raw := c.Seqs[s].Sequence()
-				n := len(raw)
-				role := c.Roles[s]
-				if opt.examplesOnly && role != Example {
-					continue
+	ps.eachAmplicon(c, p, index, opt.examplesOnly, plan, nil, func(w int) (func(int, []byte, occurrence, int32), func()) {
+		site1, site2 := make([]byte, lp), make([]byte, lp)
+		lowTm1, lowTm2 := map[int32]float32{}, map[int32]float32{}
+
+		visit := func(s int, raw []byte, o occurrence, pi int32) {
+			n := len(raw)
+			role := c.Roles[s]
+			if opt.reference && p.HasReference && s == p.Reference {
+				if old, seen := res.refs[pi]; !seen || o.up.pos() < old.up.pos() {
+					res.refs[pi] = refHit{o.up, o.down, o.swapped}
 				}
-				ps.forEachOccurrence(c, s, p, func(o occurrence) {
-					pi, ok := index[o.key]
-					if !ok {
-						return
-					}
-					if opt.reference && p.HasReference && s == p.Reference {
-						if old, seen := res.refs[pi]; !seen || o.up.pos < old.up.pos {
-							res.refs[pi] = refHit{o.up, o.down, o.swapped}
-						}
-					}
-					res.parts[w] = append(res.parts[w], ampRecord{
-						hash:  ampHash(raw, int(o.up.pos)+lp, int(o.down.pos), o.swapped),
-						pair:  pi,
-						taxon: taxa.Of[s],
-						role:  role,
-					})
-
-					if role != Example || model == nil {
-						return
-					}
-					fp := oriented[o.up.primer][b2i(!o.up.reverse)]
-					rp := oriented[o.down.primer][b2i(o.down.reverse)]
-					tmF, tmR := inf, inf
-					if windowAsIs(site1, raw, int(o.up.pos), n, p.Circular) {
-						if t, err := model.Tm(fp, site1); err == nil && !math.IsNaN(t) {
-							tmF = float32(t)
-						}
-					}
-					if windowRevComp(site2, raw, int(o.down.pos), n, p.Circular) {
-						if t, err := model.Tm(rp, site2); err == nil && !math.IsNaN(t) {
-							tmR = float32(t)
-						}
-					}
-					if o.swapped {
-						tmF, tmR = tmR, tmF // slot 1 is the downstream primer
-					}
-					lowTm1[pi] = min(lowOr(lowTm1, pi, inf), tmF)
-					lowTm2[pi] = min(lowOr(lowTm2, pi, inf), tmR)
-				})
 			}
+			store.add(w, pi, ampHash(raw, int(o.up.pos())+lp, int(o.down.pos()), o.swapped), packTaxon(taxa.Of[s], role))
 
-			slices.SortFunc(res.parts[w], func(a, b ampRecord) int { return cmp.Compare(a.pair, b.pair) })
+			if role != Example || model == nil {
+				return
+			}
+			fp := oriented[o.up.primer][b2i(!o.up.reverse())]
+			rp := oriented[o.down.primer][b2i(o.down.reverse())]
+			tmF, tmR := inf, inf
+			if windowAsIs(site1, raw, int(o.up.pos()), n, p.Circular) {
+				if t, err := model.Tm(fp, site1); err == nil && !math.IsNaN(t) {
+					tmF = float32(t)
+				}
+			}
+			if windowRevComp(site2, raw, int(o.down.pos()), n, p.Circular) {
+				if t, err := model.Tm(rp, site2); err == nil && !math.IsNaN(t) {
+					tmR = float32(t)
+				}
+			}
+			if o.swapped {
+				tmF, tmR = tmR, tmF // slot 1 is the downstream primer
+			}
+			lowTm1[pi] = min(lowOr(lowTm1, pi, inf), tmF)
+			lowTm2[pi] = min(lowOr(lowTm2, pi, inf), tmR)
+		}
+		done := func() {
 			tmMu.Lock()
 			for pi, t := range lowTm1 {
 				res.minTm1[pi] = min(res.minTm1[pi], t)
@@ -171,13 +236,9 @@ func (ps *primerSet) collectAmplicons(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, index
 				res.minTm2[pi] = min(res.minTm2[pi], t)
 			}
 			tmMu.Unlock()
-		}()
-	}
-	for s := range c.Seqs {
-		jobs <- s
-	}
-	close(jobs)
-	wg.Wait()
+		}
+		return visit, done
+	})
 	return res
 }
 

pkg/obiprimer/ampstore.go

@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import "fmt"
+
+// ampRecord is the logical content of the record of one amplicon: its barcode
+// (see ampHash), the taxon of its sequence at the chosen rank (-1 when it has
+// none) and the role of the sequence. It is stored packed in an ampStore.
+type ampRecord struct {
+	hash  uint64
+	taxon int32
+	role  Role
+}
+
+const (
+	roleBits = 2
+	roleMask = 1<<roleBits - 1
+
+	// maxTaxa is the number of taxa a record can carry: the taxon, shifted by
+	// one so that "none" is 0, shares a 32 bits word with the role.
+	maxTaxa = 1<<(32-roleBits) - 2
+)
+
+func packTaxon(taxon int32, role Role) uint32 { return uint32(taxon+1)<<roleBits | uint32(role) }
+
+func unpackTaxon(t uint32) (int32, Role) { return int32(t>>roleBits) - 1, Role(t & roleMask) }
+
+// ampSlice is the amplicons of one pair: 12 bytes per amplicon, kept as two
+// parallel arrays (a struct holding a uint64 and a uint32 would take 16).
+type ampSlice struct {
+	hash []uint64
+	tax  []uint32 // packTaxon
+}
+
+// ampPlan says how many amplicons each worker finds for each pair, and which
+// worker scans which sequence: the write pass replays the counting pass with
+// the very same assignment, so that every worker knows where to write its
+// records without sharing any counter with the others.
+type ampPlan struct {
+	owner []uint16   // owner[s]: the worker that scans sequence s
+	count [][]uint32 // count[w][pair]: amplicons of the pair in the sequences of worker w
+}
+
+// total returns the number of amplicons of every pair.
+func (pl *ampPlan) total() []int {
+	t := make([]int, len(pl.count[0]))
+	for _, row := range pl.count {
+		for b, n := range row {
+			t[b] += int(n)
+		}
+	}
+	return t
+}
+
+// ampStore holds the amplicons of a batch of pairs, grouped by pair: for each
+// pair, two slices of the exact size, since their number is known before they
+// are written (see planAmplicons). Nothing grows by doubling, nothing is copied
+// nor sorted afterwards. The records of a pair are those of worker 0, then those
+// of worker 1, and so on.
+//
+// The pairs have slices of their own, rather than slices of two huge arrays: a
+// few kB each find room in the free memory, where blocks of tens of MB make the
+// process map new memory (and, on some systems, count the freed one still).
+type ampStore struct {
+	plan   *ampPlan
+	lo     int // first pair of the batch in the plan
+	pairs  []ampSlice
+	cursor [][]int // cursor[w][b]: next free slot of worker w for pair b
+}
+
+// newAmpStore allocates the store of the pairs lo..hi-1 of the plan.
+func newAmpStore(plan *ampPlan, lo, hi int) *ampStore {
+	n := hi - lo
+	s := &ampStore{plan: plan, lo: lo, pairs: make([]ampSlice, n), cursor: make([][]int, len(plan.count))}
+	for w := range s.cursor {
+		s.cursor[w] = make([]int, n)
+	}
+	for b := range n {
+		pos := 0
+		for w, row := range plan.count {
+			s.cursor[w][b] = pos
+			pos += int(row[lo+b])
+		}
+		if pos > 0 {
+			s.pairs[b] = ampSlice{make([]uint64, pos), make([]uint32, pos)}
+		}
+	}
+	return s
+}
+
+// add writes one record of pair b (numbered in the batch), found by worker w.
+func (s *ampStore) add(w int, b int32, hash uint64, taxon uint32) {
+	i := s.cursor[w][b]
+	s.cursor[w][b] = i + 1
+	s.pairs[b].hash[i], s.pairs[b].tax[i] = hash, taxon
+}
+
+// check panics if a worker did not write exactly the records counted for it:
+// the counting and write passes must enumerate the same amplicons.
+func (s *ampStore) check() {
+	for b := range s.pairs {
+		pos := 0
+		for w, row := range s.plan.count {
+			pos += int(row[s.lo+b])
+			if s.cursor[w][b] != pos {
+				panic(fmt.Sprintf("obiprimer: pair %d: worker %d wrote %d amplicons, %d were counted",
+					s.lo+b, w, s.cursor[w][b]-(pos-int(row[s.lo+b])), row[s.lo+b]))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// pair returns the amplicons of pair b (numbered in the batch).
+func (s *ampStore) pair(b int) ampSlice { return s.pairs[b] }
+
+// ampBatches cuts the pairs 0..len(count)-1 in consecutive ranges [lo,hi)
+// whose amplicons together do not exceed budget records (a pair alone above the
+// budget makes a batch of its own). A non positive budget gives one batch.
+func ampBatches(count []int, budget int) [][2]int {
+	var out [][2]int
+	lo, sum := 0, 0
+	for i, n := range count {
+		if budget > 0 && i > lo && sum+n > budget {
+			out = append(out, [2]int{lo, i})
+			lo, sum = i, 0
+		}
+		sum += n
+	}
+	if lo < len(count) {
+		out = append(out, [2]int{lo, len(count)})
+	}
+	return out
+}

pkg/obiprimer/corpus.go

@@ -1,16 +1,15 @@
 package obiprimer
 
 import (
-	"cmp"
 	"fmt"
-	"slices"
-	"sync"
 
-	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
-	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiiter"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
 )
 
+// maxSeqLen bounds the length of a sequence: the position of a primer site and
+// its strand share 32 bits (see seqMatch).
+const maxSeqLen = 1 << 31
+
 // Counts gives the number of sequences by role.
 type Counts struct {
 	Examples        int
@@ -26,8 +25,11 @@ type Counts struct {
 // The primer search needs several passes over the sequences (words are
 // searched approximately in every one of them), so the corpus lives in memory.
 type Corpus struct {
-	Seqs  []*obiseq.BioSequence
-	Roles []Role // Roles[i] is the role of Seqs[i]
+	Seqs  []*obiseq.BioSequence // nil entries once the corpus is packed
+	Roles []Role                // Roles[i] is the role of Seqs[i]
+
+	packed []packedSeq // see Pack
+	ids    []string
 }
 
 // Counts returns the number of sequences by role.
@@ -46,68 +48,12 @@ func (c *Corpus) Counts() Counts {
 	return n
 }
 
-type corpusEntry struct {
-	batch, index int
-	seq          *obiseq.BioSequence
-	role         Role
-}
-
-// LoadCorpus reads every sequence of seqs, once, and keeps all of them with the
-// role given by the selection. The order of the input is preserved whatever
-// the number of reader goroutines.
-func LoadCorpus(seqs obiiter.IBioSequence, sel Selection) (*Corpus, error) {
-	var mu sync.Mutex
-	var entries []corpusEntry
-
-	consumer := func(it obiiter.IBioSequence, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
-		defer wg.Done()
-		var local []corpusEntry
-		for it.Next() {
-			batch := it.Get()
-			for i, seq := range batch.Slice() {
-				local = append(local, corpusEntry{batch.Order(), i, seq, sel.Role(seq)})
-			}
-		}
-		mu.Lock()
-		entries = append(entries, local...)
-		mu.Unlock()
-	}
-
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	for i := 1; i < obidefault.ParallelWorkers(); i++ {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go consumer(seqs.Split(), &wg)
-	}
-	wg.Add(1)
-	go consumer(seqs, &wg)
-	wg.Wait()
-
-	slices.SortFunc(entries, func(a, b corpusEntry) int {
-		if c := cmp.Compare(a.batch, b.batch); c != 0 {
-			return c
-		}
-		return cmp.Compare(a.index, b.index)
-	})
-
-	c := &Corpus{
-		Seqs:  make([]*obiseq.BioSequence, len(entries)),
-		Roles: make([]Role, len(entries)),
-	}
-	for i, e := range entries {
-		c.Seqs[i], c.Roles[i] = e.seq, e.role
-	}
-	if c.Counts().Examples == 0 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: no example sequence selected")
-	}
-	return c, nil
-}
-
 // IndexOfExample returns the index of the example sequence with the given
 // identifier. It is an error if there is none, or if the sequence is a
 // counterexample.
 func (c *Corpus) IndexOfExample(id string) (int, error) {
-	for i, s := range c.Seqs {
-		if s.Id() == id {
+	for i := range c.Roles {
+		if c.ID(i) == id {
 			if c.Roles[i] != Example {
 				return -1, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: reference sequence %q is a counterexample, it must be an example", id)
 			}
@@ -116,3 +62,52 @@ func (c *Corpus) IndexOfExample(id string) (int, error) {
 	}
 	return -1, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: reference sequence %q is not among the selected example sequences", id)
 }
+
+// Len returns the number of sequences.
+func (c *Corpus) Len() int { return len(c.Roles) }
+
+// SeqLen returns the length of sequence i.
+func (c *Corpus) SeqLen(i int) int {
+	if c.Seqs[i] != nil {
+		return c.Seqs[i].Len()
+	}
+	return c.packed[i].n
+}
+
+// ID returns the identifier of sequence i.
+func (c *Corpus) ID(i int) string {
+	if c.Seqs[i] != nil {
+		return c.Seqs[i].Id()
+	}
+	return c.ids[i]
+}
+
+// bases returns the bases of sequence i, lower case. A packed sequence is
+// unpacked into buf, grown if need be, which the caller keeps for the next call
+// (the second result); an unpacked one is returned as it is. The result must
+// not be modified, and is valid until the next call with the same buffer.
+func (c *Corpus) bases(i int, buf []byte) (raw, newBuf []byte) {
+	if c.Seqs[i] != nil {
+		return c.Seqs[i].Sequence(), buf
+	}
+	buf = c.packed[i].unpack(buf)
+	return buf, buf
+}
+
+// Pack replaces the sequences by their packed form, on 2 bits per base, and
+// frees the sequence objects (their annotations, their slack): the primer search
+// only needs the bases, the identifiers, and the taxa, which must have been
+// assigned before (AssignTaxa). A packed corpus holds about a quarter of the
+// memory of the bases themselves.
+func (c *Corpus) Pack() {
+	if c.packed != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	c.packed = make([]packedSeq, len(c.Seqs))
+	c.ids = make([]string, len(c.Seqs))
+	parallelFor(len(c.Seqs), func(_, i int) {
+		c.packed[i] = packBases(c.Seqs[i].Sequence())
+		c.ids[i] = c.Seqs[i].Id()
+		c.Seqs[i] = nil
+	})
+}

pkg/obiprimer/corpus_load.go

@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import (
+	"cmp"
+	"fmt"
+	"slices"
+	"sync"
+
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiiter"
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obitax"
+)
+
+// corpusEntry is a sequence read by one of the loading goroutines: either the
+// sequence itself, or, when it is packed as it is read, what is kept of it.
+type corpusEntry struct {
+	batch, index int
+	role         Role
+
+	seq *obiseq.BioSequence // unpacked loading
+
+	packed packedSeq // packed loading
+	id     string
+	taxon  *obitax.Taxon // at the chosen rank, nil when there is none
+}
+
+// loadEntries reads every sequence of seqs, once, on all the cores, and returns
+// the entries in the order of the input, whatever the number of reader
+// goroutines. keep fills the entry of a sequence (besides its position and its
+// role); it runs in the reading goroutines.
+func loadEntries(seqs obiiter.IBioSequence, sel Selection, keep func(*obiseq.BioSequence, *corpusEntry)) []corpusEntry {
+	var mu sync.Mutex
+	var entries []corpusEntry
+
+	consumer := func(it obiiter.IBioSequence, wg *sync.WaitGroup) {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		var local []corpusEntry
+		for it.Next() {
+			batch := it.Get()
+			for i, seq := range batch.Slice() {
+				e := corpusEntry{batch: batch.Order(), index: i, role: sel.Role(seq)}
+				keep(seq, &e)
+				local = append(local, e)
+			}
+		}
+		mu.Lock()
+		entries = append(entries, local...)
+		mu.Unlock()
+	}
+
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	for i := 1; i < obidefault.ParallelWorkers(); i++ {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go consumer(seqs.Split(), &wg)
+	}
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go consumer(seqs, &wg)
+	wg.Wait()
+
+	slices.SortFunc(entries, func(a, b corpusEntry) int {
+		if c := cmp.Compare(a.batch, b.batch); c != 0 {
+			return c
+		}
+		return cmp.Compare(a.index, b.index)
+	})
+	return entries
+}
+
+func checkSeqLen(id string, n int) error {
+	if n >= maxSeqLen {
+		return fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: sequence %q is too long (%d bases, the limit is %d)", id, n, maxSeqLen-1)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// LoadCorpus reads every sequence of seqs, once, and keeps all of them with the
+// role given by the selection. The order of the input is preserved whatever
+// the number of reader goroutines.
+func LoadCorpus(seqs obiiter.IBioSequence, sel Selection) (*Corpus, error) {
+	entries := loadEntries(seqs, sel, func(seq *obiseq.BioSequence, e *corpusEntry) { e.seq = seq })
+
+	c := &Corpus{
+		Seqs:  make([]*obiseq.BioSequence, len(entries)),
+		Roles: make([]Role, len(entries)),
+	}
+	for i, e := range entries {
+		if err := checkSeqLen(e.seq.Id(), e.seq.Len()); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		c.Seqs[i], c.Roles[i] = e.seq, e.role
+	}
+	if c.Counts().Examples == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: no example sequence selected")
+	}
+	return c, nil
+}
+
+// LoadPackedCorpus is LoadCorpus followed by Pack and AssignTaxa, without ever
+// holding the sequences themselves: each one is packed, and its taxon at rank
+// looked up, as it is read, and then dropped. The corpus of a large database
+// would otherwise first take, in memory, the sequences with all their
+// annotations, four times the size of their bases and more.
+func LoadPackedCorpus(seqs obiiter.IBioSequence, sel Selection, taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy, rank string) (*Corpus, *Taxa, error) {
+	if err := checkRank(taxonomy, rank); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	entries := loadEntries(seqs, sel, func(seq *obiseq.BioSequence, e *corpusEntry) {
+		e.packed = packBases(seq.Sequence())
+		e.id = seq.Id()
+		e.taxon = seq.Taxon(taxonomy).TaxonAtRank(rank)
+	})
+
+	c := &Corpus{
+		Seqs:   make([]*obiseq.BioSequence, len(entries)),
+		Roles:  make([]Role, len(entries)),
+		packed: make([]packedSeq, len(entries)),
+		ids:    make([]string, len(entries)),
+	}
+	taxons := make([]*obitax.Taxon, len(entries))
+	for i := range entries {
+		e := &entries[i]
+		if err := checkSeqLen(e.id, e.packed.n); err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+		c.Roles[i], c.packed[i], c.ids[i], taxons[i] = e.role, e.packed, e.id, e.taxon
+		*e = corpusEntry{} // frees the entry as it goes
+	}
+	if c.Counts().Examples == 0 {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: no example sequence selected")
+	}
+	taxa, err := buildTaxa(rank, taxons, c.Roles)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, err
+	}
+	return c, taxa, nil
+}

pkg/obiprimer/match.go

@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obikmer"
-	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
 )
 
 // Match is one approximate occurrence of a word in a corpus sequence.
@@ -54,15 +53,18 @@ func (p MatchParams) validate() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// hit is a Match before its sequence index is known to be final.
+// hit is a Match before its sequence is known: the sequence it belongs to is
+// the one being scanned.
 type hit struct {
-	word int
-	m    Match
+	word    uint32
+	pos     uint32
+	errors  uint8
+	reverse bool
 }
 
 // scanFunc finds every occurrence of every word, on both strands, in one
-// sequence and reports them through emit.
-type scanFunc func(seq *obiseq.BioSequence, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool))
+// sequence (its bases) and reports them through emit.
+type scanFunc func(raw []byte, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool))
 
 // scannerMaker returns an independent scanFunc; each worker gets its own so
 // that scanners can keep private buffers.
@@ -83,8 +85,13 @@ func wordStrings(words []uint64, k int) (fwd, rev []string) {
 // matchCorpus runs the scanners over every sequence of the corpus in parallel
 // and assembles the per-word results. The output does not depend on the number
 // of workers.
+//
+// The occurrences of a sequence are kept in a slice of their exact size, then
+// counted per word, so that the occurrences of all the words are laid out in
+// one allocation of the exact size too: nothing grows by doubling, nor is held
+// twice for long.
 func matchCorpus(c *Corpus, words []uint64, mk scannerMaker) []WordMatches {
-	perSeq := make([][]hit, len(c.Seqs))
+	perSeq := make([][]hit, c.Len())
 
 	jobs := make(chan int)
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
@@ -93,31 +100,46 @@ func matchCorpus(c *Corpus, words []uint64, mk scannerMaker) []WordMatches {
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
 			scan := mk()
+			var buf []hit
+			var raw, bases []byte
 			for i := range jobs {
-				var hits []hit
-				scan(c.Seqs[i], func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool) {
-					hits = append(hits, hit{word, Match{uint32(i), uint32(pos), uint8(errors), reverse}})
+				buf = buf[:0]
+				raw, bases = c.bases(i, bases)
+				scan(raw, func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool) {
+					buf = append(buf, hit{uint32(word), uint32(pos), uint8(errors), reverse})
 				})
-				perSeq[i] = hits
+				if len(buf) > 0 {
+					perSeq[i] = slices.Clone(buf)
+				}
 			}
 		}()
 	}
-	for i := range c.Seqs {
+	for i := range c.Roles {
 		jobs <- i
 	}
 	close(jobs)
 	wg.Wait()
 
 	res := make([]WordMatches, len(words))
-	for i, w := range words {
-		res[i].Word = w
-	}
+	count := make([]int, len(words))
 	for _, hits := range perSeq {
 		for _, h := range hits {
-			res[h.word].Matches = append(res[h.word].Matches, h.m)
+			count[h.word]++
 		}
 	}
-	for i := range res {
+	for i, w := range words {
+		res[i].Word = w
+		if count[i] > 0 {
+			res[i].Matches = make([]Match, 0, count[i])
+		}
+	}
+	for s, hits := range perSeq {
+		for _, h := range hits {
+			res[h.word].Matches = append(res[h.word].Matches, Match{uint32(s), h.pos, h.errors, h.reverse})
+		}
+		perSeq[s] = nil // the hits of the sequence are no longer needed
+	}
+	parallelFor(len(res), func(_, i int) {
 		slices.SortFunc(res[i].Matches, func(a, b Match) int {
 			if c := cmp.Compare(a.Seq, b.Seq); c != 0 {
 				return c
@@ -133,7 +155,7 @@ func matchCorpus(c *Corpus, words []uint64, mk scannerMaker) []WordMatches {
 			}
 			return 0
 		})
-	}
+	})
 	return res
 }
 

pkg/obiprimer/match_naive.go

@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package obiprimer
 
-import "git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
-
 // baseCode maps a nucleotide to 0..3 (A,C,G,T; U is T) and everything else to 4,
 // which never equals a word base.
 var baseCode = func() (t [256]byte) {
@@ -39,8 +37,7 @@ func matchNaive(c *Corpus, words []uint64, p MatchParams) ([]WordMatches, error)
 
 	mk := func() scanFunc {
 		var codes []byte
-		return func(seq *obiseq.BioSequence, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool)) {
-			raw := seq.Sequence()
+		return func(raw []byte, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool)) {
 			n := len(raw)
 			if n < p.K {
 				return

pkg/obiprimer/match_seed.go

@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@ package obiprimer
 import (
 	"math/bits"
 	"slices"
-
-	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
 )
 
 // seedIndex maps the value of one half of a window to the patterns that are
@@ -136,8 +134,7 @@ func MatchWords(c *Corpus, words []uint64, p MatchParams) ([]WordMatches, error)
 	maxErr := p.MaxErrors
 
 	mk := func() scanFunc {
-		return func(seq *obiseq.BioSequence, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool)) {
-			raw := seq.Sequence()
+		return func(raw []byte, emit func(word, pos, errors int, reverse bool)) {
 			n := len(raw)
 			if n < k {
 				return

pkg/obiprimer/packed.go

@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import (
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"slices"
+)
+
+// packedSeq holds the bases of a sequence on 2 bits each, a quarter of the
+// bytes of the sequence itself. The bytes that are not a, c, g or t (N, the
+// IUPAC codes, u...) are kept apart in runs, so that unpacking gives back the
+// sequence byte for byte.
+type packedSeq struct {
+	n    int
+	bits []byte   // 4 bases per byte, the first in the low bits
+	exc  []excRun // sorted by position
+}
+
+// excRun is a run of length identical bytes b that are not a, c, g or t,
+// starting at pos.
+type excRun struct {
+	pos, length uint32
+	b           byte
+}
+
+// packCode maps a, c, g, t to 0..3 and every other byte to 4.
+var packCode = func() (t [256]byte) {
+	for i := range t {
+		t[i] = 4
+	}
+	for i, c := range "acgt" {
+		t[c] = byte(i)
+	}
+	return
+}()
+
+// unpackWord gives, for a byte of 4 packed bases, the 4 bytes they stand for.
+var unpackWord = func() (t [256]uint32) {
+	for b := range t {
+		for k := range 4 {
+			t[b] |= uint32("acgt"[(b>>(2*k))&3]) << (8 * k)
+		}
+	}
+	return
+}()
+
+// packBases packs raw (lower case).
+func packBases(raw []byte) packedSeq {
+	p := packedSeq{n: len(raw), bits: make([]byte, (len(raw)+3)/4)}
+	for i, b := range raw {
+		code := packCode[b]
+		if code > 3 {
+			if k := len(p.exc) - 1; k >= 0 && p.exc[k].b == b && int(p.exc[k].pos)+int(p.exc[k].length) == i {
+				p.exc[k].length++
+			} else {
+				p.exc = append(p.exc, excRun{uint32(i), 1, b})
+			}
+			code = 0
+		}
+		p.bits[i>>2] |= code << (2 * (i & 3))
+	}
+	p.exc = slices.Clone(p.exc) // the exact size, nil when there is none
+	return p
+}
+
+// unpack writes the sequence into dst, which it grows if need be, and returns it.
+func (p packedSeq) unpack(dst []byte) []byte {
+	dst = slices.Grow(dst[:0], p.n)[:p.n]
+	for i := range p.n / 4 {
+		binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(dst[4*i:], unpackWord[p.bits[i]])
+	}
+	for t := p.n &^ 3; t < p.n; t++ {
+		dst[t] = "acgt"[(p.bits[t>>2]>>(2*(t&3)))&3]
+	}
+	for _, e := range p.exc {
+		for k := range e.length {
+			dst[e.pos+k] = e.b
+		}
+	}
+	return dst
+}

pkg/obiprimer/packed_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"math/rand"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
+)
+
+func TestPackedSeqRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(1))
+	alphabet := []byte("acgtacgtacgtacgtnnrykmu-.")
+	for trial := 0; trial < 500; trial++ {
+		n := rng.Intn(70) // all the lengths modulo 4, the empty sequence included
+		raw := make([]byte, n)
+		for i := range raw {
+			raw[i] = alphabet[rng.Intn(len(alphabet))]
+		}
+		if trial%5 == 0 && n > 10 { // a long run of N, and one at each end
+			copy(raw[2:9], "nnnnnnn")
+			raw[0], raw[n-1] = 'n', 'n'
+		}
+		p := packBases(raw)
+		buf := make([]byte, 3, 8) // dirty, too small or too big: whatever
+		if got := p.unpack(buf); !bytes.Equal(got, raw) {
+			t.Fatalf("trial %d: %q unpacked as %q", trial, raw, got)
+		}
+		if len(p.bits) != (n+3)/4 {
+			t.Fatalf("trial %d: %d bytes for %d bases", trial, len(p.bits), n)
+		}
+	}
+	if p := packBases([]byte("acgtacgt")); p.exc != nil {
+		t.Errorf("no exception expected: %v", p.exc)
+	}
+}
+
+// Packing the corpus must change nothing to the search, ambiguous bases and
+// reference included.
+func TestPackedCorpusGivesTheSameSearch(t *testing.T) {
+	build := func() synthetic {
+		s := newSynthetic(10, -1, 7)
+		rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(3))
+		for k, seq := range s.corpus.Seqs { // sprinkle ambiguous bases, some inside the sites
+			raw := append([]byte(nil), seq.Sequence()...)
+			for range 3 { // in the flanks, and in the insert past the first bases
+				at := rng.Intn(len(raw))
+				if at >= s.pos-2 && at < s.pos+18+2 || at >= s.pos+18+40-2 && at < s.pos+18+40+18+2 {
+					continue
+				}
+				raw[at] = "nrykm"[rng.Intn(5)]
+			}
+			if k < 2 { // one mismatch inside a site, which the search tolerates
+				raw[s.pos+5] = 'n'
+			}
+			s.corpus.Seqs[k] = obiseq.NewBioSequence(seq.Id(), raw, "")
+		}
+		return s
+	}
+	run := func(pack bool, circular bool) []PairStats {
+		s := build()
+		if pack {
+			s.corpus.Pack()
+			for i := range s.corpus.Seqs {
+				if s.corpus.Seqs[i] != nil {
+					t.Fatal("Pack must free the sequences")
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		p := s.params()
+		p.Reference = "s3"
+		p.ThreePrime = 3
+		p.Circular = circular
+		p.MinSpecificity = 0
+		pairs, _, err := Search(s.corpus, s.taxa, p)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		return pairs
+	}
+	for _, circular := range []bool{false, true} {
+		want := run(false, circular)
+		if len(want) == 0 {
+			t.Fatal("the test needs pairs")
+		}
+		if got := run(true, circular); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("circular=%v: packing changes the result (%d pairs, want %d)", circular, len(got), len(want))
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestPackedCorpusAccessors(t *testing.T) {
+	c := &Corpus{
+		Seqs:  []*obiseq.BioSequence{obiseq.NewBioSequence("a", []byte(strings.ToLower("ACGTNNAC")), ""), obiseq.NewBioSequence("b", []byte("gg"), "")},
+		Roles: []Role{Example, Other},
+	}
+	c.Pack()
+	if c.Len() != 2 || c.SeqLen(0) != 8 || c.SeqLen(1) != 2 || c.ID(1) != "b" {
+		t.Errorf("accessors: %d %d %d %q", c.Len(), c.SeqLen(0), c.SeqLen(1), c.ID(1))
+	}
+	if raw, _ := c.bases(0, nil); string(raw) != "acgtnnac" {
+		t.Errorf("bases: %q", raw)
+	}
+	if i, err := c.IndexOfExample("a"); err != nil || i != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("IndexOfExample: %d %v", i, err)
+	}
+}

pkg/obiprimer/pairs.go

@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ type PairParams struct {
 	Circular       bool    // -c
 	Reference      int     // -R: corpus index of the reference sequence (used when HasReference)
 	HasReference   bool
+	AmpBudget      int    // amplicon records held at once in phase 2 (0 = DefaultAmpBudget)
+	Release        func() // see SearchParams.Release
 }
 
 func (p PairParams) validate() error {
@@ -51,13 +53,20 @@ type Primer struct {
 	Good bool
 }
 
-// seqMatch is one occurrence of a primer in one sequence.
+// seqMatch is one occurrence of a primer in one sequence, on 8 bytes: there
+// are millions of them.
 type seqMatch struct {
-	primer  int32
-	pos     uint32
-	reverse bool
+	primer int32
+	place  uint32 // position << 1, plus 1 when the primer is found reversed
 }
 
+func newSeqMatch(primer int32, pos uint32, reverse bool) seqMatch {
+	return seqMatch{primer, pos<<1 | uint32(b2i(reverse))}
+}
+
+func (m seqMatch) pos() uint32   { return m.place >> 1 }
+func (m seqMatch) reverse() bool { return m.place&1 == 1 }
+
 // primerSet is the conserved words and, for each corpus sequence, their
 // occurrences sorted by position.
 type primerSet struct {
@@ -76,21 +85,41 @@ func selectPrimers(c *Corpus, wm []WordMatches, p PairParams) *primerSet {
 	inQ := quorumCount(counts.Examples, p.Sensitivity)
 	outQ := quorumCount(counts.CounterExamples, p.FalsePositive)
 
-	ps := &primerSet{perSeq: make([][]seqMatch, len(c.Seqs))}
-	for _, w := range wm {
-		ex, co := w.SequencesMatched(c)
-		if ex < inQ {
+	ex, co := make([]int, len(wm)), make([]int, len(wm))
+	parallelFor(len(wm), func(_, i int) { ex[i], co[i] = wm[i].SequencesMatched(c) })
+
+	// the occurrences of the words kept, by sequence, each in a slice of the
+	// exact size (and not in one big array: a few hundred bytes to some kB each
+	// find room in the free memory, which a single block of tens of MB does not)
+	ps := &primerSet{perSeq: make([][]seqMatch, c.Len())}
+	size := make([]int, c.Len())
+	for i, w := range wm {
+		if ex[i] < inQ {
 			continue
 		}
-		id := int32(len(ps.primers))
-		ps.primers = append(ps.primers, Primer{w.Word, ex, co, co <= outQ})
+		ps.primers = append(ps.primers, Primer{w.Word, ex[i], co[i], co[i] <= outQ})
 		for _, m := range w.Matches {
-			ps.perSeq[m.Seq] = append(ps.perSeq[m.Seq], seqMatch{id, m.Pos, m.Reverse})
+			size[m.Seq]++
 		}
 	}
-	for _, ms := range ps.perSeq {
-		slices.SortStableFunc(ms, func(a, b seqMatch) int { return cmp.Compare(a.pos, b.pos) })
+	for s, n := range size {
+		if n > 0 {
+			ps.perSeq[s] = make([]seqMatch, 0, n)
+		}
 	}
+	id := int32(0)
+	for i, w := range wm {
+		if ex[i] < inQ {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, m := range w.Matches {
+			ps.perSeq[m.Seq] = append(ps.perSeq[m.Seq], newSeqMatch(id, m.Pos, m.Reverse))
+		}
+		id++
+	}
+	parallelFor(c.Len(), func(_, s int) {
+		slices.SortStableFunc(ps.perSeq[s], func(a, b seqMatch) int { return cmp.Compare(a.pos(), b.pos()) })
+	})
 	return ps
 }
 
@@ -111,18 +140,28 @@ type occurrence struct {
 }
 
 // forEachOccurrence calls fn for every amplicon of sequence s, applying the
-// length, good-primer and 3' constraints of ecoPrimers.
-func (ps *primerSet) forEachOccurrence(c *Corpus, s int, p PairParams, fn func(occurrence)) {
+// length, good-primer and 3' constraints of ecoPrimers. buf is the buffer in
+// which the sequence is unpacked, if the corpus is packed.
+func (ps *primerSet) forEachOccurrence(c *Corpus, s int, buf []byte, p PairParams, fn func(occurrence)) []byte {
 	ms := ps.perSeq[s]
-	lp := p.PrimerLength
 	var raw []byte
-	if p.ThreePrime > 0 {
-		raw = c.Seqs[s].Sequence()
+	if p.ThreePrime > 0 && len(ms) > 1 {
+		raw, buf = c.bases(s, buf)
 	}
+	ps.forEachOccurrenceIn(raw, ms, p, fn)
+	return buf
+}
+
+// forEachOccurrenceIn is forEachOccurrence over ms, the matches of a sequence
+// sorted by position (all of them, or only those of the primers of interest,
+// which yields the amplicons between these primers and none other), and raw its
+// bases, needed when the 3' bases must match exactly.
+func (ps *primerSet) forEachOccurrenceIn(raw []byte, ms []seqMatch, p PairParams, fn func(occurrence)) {
+	lp := p.PrimerLength
 
 	for i := range ms {
 		for j := i + 1; j < len(ms); j++ {
-			dpos := int(ms[j].pos) - int(ms[i].pos)
+			dpos := int(ms[j].pos()) - int(ms[i].pos())
 			if dpos <= lp {
 				continue
 			}
@@ -137,7 +176,7 @@ func (ps *primerSet) forEachOccurrence(c *Corpus, s int, p PairParams, fn func(o
 
 			// The upstream match is read as is (primer 1 of the pair when its word
 			// is smaller), the downstream one as the reverse primer.
-			key := pairKey{up.primer, down.primer, !up.reverse, down.reverse}
+			key := pairKey{up.primer, down.primer, !up.reverse(), down.reverse()}
 			swapped := !(ps.primers[key.p2].Word > ps.primers[key.p1].Word)
 			if swapped {
 				key = pairKey{key.p2, key.p1, key.a2, key.a1}
@@ -172,23 +211,23 @@ func (ps *primerSet) threePrimeMatches(raw []byte, up, down seqMatch, p PairPara
 	for t := lp - p.ThreePrime; t < lp; t++ {
 		// forward primer: the word when found direct, its reverse complement otherwise
 		var f byte
-		if !up.reverse {
+		if !up.reverse() {
 			f = wordBase(fw, lp, t)
 		} else {
 			f = 3 - wordBase(fw, lp, lp-1-t)
 		}
-		if s := at(int(up.pos) + t); s > 3 || s != f {
+		if s := at(int(up.pos()) + t); s > 3 || s != f {
 			return false
 		}
 
 		// reverse primer: the word when found reverse, its reverse complement otherwise
 		var r byte
-		if down.reverse {
+		if down.reverse() {
 			r = wordBase(rv, lp, t)
 		} else {
 			r = 3 - wordBase(rv, lp, lp-1-t)
 		}
-		if s := at(int(down.pos) + lp - 1 - t); s > 3 || 3-s != r {
+		if s := at(int(down.pos()) + lp - 1 - t); s > 3 || 3-s != r {
 			return false
 		}
 	}
@@ -220,12 +259,13 @@ func (ps *primerSet) countPairs(c *Corpus, p PairParams) map[pairKey]*pairAcc {
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
 			acc := partial[w]
+			var buf []byte
 			for s := range jobs {
 				if c.Roles[s] == Other {
 					continue // only the quorums are counted here
 				}
 				isExample := c.Roles[s] == Example
-				ps.forEachOccurrence(c, s, p, func(o occurrence) {
+				buf = ps.forEachOccurrence(c, s, buf, p, func(o occurrence) {
 					a := acc[o.key]
 					if a == nil {
 						a = &pairAcc{minLen: ^uint32(0)}
@@ -250,7 +290,7 @@ func (ps *primerSet) countPairs(c *Corpus, p PairParams) map[pairKey]*pairAcc {
 			}
 		}()
 	}
-	for s := range c.Seqs {
+	for s := range c.Roles {
 		jobs <- s
 	}
 	close(jobs)

pkg/obiprimer/pairs_batches_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import (
+	"math/rand"
+	"reflect"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
+)
+
+func TestAmpBatches(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		count  []int
+		budget int
+		want   [][2]int
+	}{
+		{[]int{3, 3, 3}, 0, [][2]int{{0, 3}}},
+		{[]int{3, 3, 3}, 100, [][2]int{{0, 3}}},
+		{[]int{3, 3, 3}, 6, [][2]int{{0, 2}, {2, 3}}},
+		{[]int{3, 3, 3}, 1, [][2]int{{0, 1}, {1, 2}, {2, 3}}}, // a pair above the budget goes alone
+		{[]int{9, 1, 1}, 5, [][2]int{{0, 1}, {1, 3}}},
+		{nil, 5, nil},
+		{[]int{0, 0}, 5, [][2]int{{0, 2}}},
+	}
+	for _, c := range cases {
+		if got := ampBatches(c.count, c.budget); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, c.want) {
+			t.Errorf("ampBatches(%v, %d) = %v, want %v", c.count, c.budget, got, c.want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// The batches of phase 2 only bound the memory: whatever their size, the pairs,
+// their indices and their sites on the reference are the same.
+func TestAmpBudgetDoesNotChangeTheResult(t *testing.T) {
+	s := newSynthetic(10, -1, 5)
+	// non-targets sharing barcodes with targets, and counterexamples
+	for k, role := range []Role{Other, Other, CounterExample, Other, CounterExample} {
+		cp := append([]byte(nil), s.corpus.Seqs[k*2].Sequence()...)
+		if role == CounterExample {
+			for i := s.pos; i < s.pos+10; i++ { // no forward site: not amplified
+				cp[i] = "cgta"[strings.IndexByte("acgt", cp[i])]
+			}
+		}
+		s.corpus.Seqs = append(s.corpus.Seqs, obiseq.NewBioSequence(strings.Repeat("x", k+1), cp, ""))
+		s.corpus.Roles = append(s.corpus.Roles, role)
+		s.taxa.Of = append(s.taxa.Of, int32(100+k%3))
+	}
+	// a few unrelated sequences, with a taxon of their own or none
+	rng := rand.New(rand.NewSource(9))
+	for k := 0; k < 3; k++ {
+		s.corpus.Seqs = append(s.corpus.Seqs, obiseq.NewBioSequence("u"+strings.Repeat("y", k), []byte(strings.ToLower(randDNA(rng, 300))), ""))
+		s.corpus.Roles = append(s.corpus.Roles, Other)
+		s.taxa.Of = append(s.taxa.Of, int32(k-1))
+	}
+
+	run := func(budget int) []PairStats {
+		p := s.params()
+		p.MinSpecificity = 0 // keep every pair: the stress case of the batches
+		p.FalsePositive = 1
+		p.Reference = "s3"
+		p.AmpBudget = budget
+		pairs, info, err := Search(s.corpus, s.taxa, p)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if info.Pair.Candidates < 2 {
+			t.Fatalf("budget %d: only %d pairs reach phase 2b, the test needs several", budget, info.Pair.Candidates)
+		}
+		return pairs
+	}
+	want := run(0)
+	for _, budget := range []int{1, 7, 50, 1000} {
+		if got := run(budget); !reflect.DeepEqual(got, want) {
+			t.Errorf("budget %d changes the result:\n got %d pairs\nwant %d pairs", budget, len(got), len(want))
+		}
+	}
+}

pkg/obiprimer/pairs_eval.go

@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"slices"
-	"sync"
 
-	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obithermo"
 )
 
@@ -69,10 +67,11 @@ func FindPairs(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, wm []WordMatches, p PairParams, model *obi
 	if err := p.validate(); err != nil {
 		return nil, info, err
 	}
-	if taxa == nil || len(taxa.Of) != len(c.Seqs) {
+	if taxa == nil || len(taxa.Of) != c.Len() {
 		return nil, info, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: taxa do not match the corpus")
 	}
 	ps := selectPrimers(c, wm, p)
+	wm = nil // the occurrences are in ps now
 	info.Primers = len(ps.primers)
 	for _, pr := range ps.primers {
 		if pr.Good {
@@ -104,63 +103,22 @@ func FindPairs(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, wm []WordMatches, p PairParams, model *obi
 		return cmp.Or(cmp.Compare(a.p1, b.p1), cmp.Compare(a.p2, b.p2),
 			boolCmp(a.a1, b.a1), boolCmp(a.a2, b.a2))
 	})
-	index := make(map[pairKey]int32, len(kept))
-	for i, k := range kept {
-		index[k] = int32(i)
-	}
 
 	// Phase 2a: the amplicons of the target sequences, which give the melting
 	// temperatures, the reference sites, and an upper bound of Bs. It is cheap
 	// and rejects most pairs on the specificity threshold.
-	first := ps.collectAmplicons(c, taxa, p, index, collectOptions{examplesOnly: true, model: model, reference: true})
+	first := ps.boundPairs(c, taxa, p, kept, model)
 	var survivors []int // indices in kept
 	for i := range kept {
-		targets, identified := lenientIdentified(first.pair(int32(i))...)
-		if targets > 0 && float32(identified)/float32(targets) >= float32(p.MinSpecificity) {
+		if first.targets[i] > 0 && float32(first.identified[i])/float32(first.targets[i]) >= float32(p.MinSpecificity) {
 			survivors = append(survivors, i)
 		}
 	}
-	first.parts = nil
 	info.Candidates = len(survivors)
 
 	// Phase 2b: for the survivors only, the amplicons of every sequence, whatever
 	// its role: they decide which target taxa are identified.
-	index2 := make(map[pairKey]int32, len(survivors))
-	for j, i := range survivors {
-		index2[kept[i]] = int32(j)
-	}
-	amps := ps.collectAmplicons(c, taxa, p, index2, collectOptions{})
-
-	results := make([]*PairStats, len(survivors))
-	jobs := make(chan int)
-	var wg sync.WaitGroup
-	for range obidefault.ParallelWorkers() {
-		wg.Add(1)
-		go func() {
-			defer wg.Done()
-			for j := range jobs {
-				i := survivors[j]
-				k := kept[i]
-				st, ok := ps.evaluate(taxa, counts, p, k, acc[k], resolve(amps.pair(int32(j))...),
-					first.minTm1[i], first.minTm2[i], model)
-				if !ok {
-					continue
-				}
-				if h, found := first.refs[int32(i)]; found {
-					// evaluate orders the primers by string; the amplicon is read from the first one
-					s1 := orientedWord(ps.primers[k.p1].Word, p.PrimerLength, k.a1)
-					s2 := orientedWord(ps.primers[k.p2].Word, p.PrimerLength, k.a2)
-					st.RefLocation, st.RefAmplicon = referenceSites(c.Seqs[p.Reference].Sequence(), h, p, s2 < s1)
-				}
-				results[j] = &st
-			}
-		}()
-	}
-	for j := range survivors {
-		jobs <- j
-	}
-	close(jobs)
-	wg.Wait()
+	results := ps.evaluatePairs(c, taxa, p, kept, survivors, acc, first, model)
 
 	var out []PairStats
 	for _, st := range results {

pkg/obiprimer/pairs_phase2.go

@@ -0,0 +1,160 @@
+package obiprimer
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obithermo"
+)
+
+// DefaultAmpBudget is the number of amplicon records (12 bytes each) phase 2
+// holds at once: 20 million, 240 MB. The pairs are processed in batches whose
+// amplicons fit in it. With the usual specificity threshold a search needs one
+// batch; with none (-T 0) no pair is rejected early and there are many more
+// amplicons than any memory could hold.
+const DefaultAmpBudget = 20_000_000
+
+func (p PairParams) release() {
+	if p.Release != nil {
+		p.Release()
+	}
+}
+
+func (p PairParams) ampBudget() int {
+	if p.AmpBudget > 0 {
+		return p.AmpBudget
+	}
+	return DefaultAmpBudget
+}
+
+// batchIndex maps the pairs kept[lo:hi] to their number in the batch.
+func batchIndex(kept []pairKey, lo, hi int) map[pairKey]int32 {
+	index := make(map[pairKey]int32, hi-lo)
+	for i := lo; i < hi; i++ {
+		index[kept[i]] = int32(i - lo)
+	}
+	return index
+}
+
+// parallelFor calls fn(i) for i in [0,n) on obidefault.ParallelWorkers() goroutines.
+func parallelFor(n int, fn func(worker, i int)) {
+	jobs := make(chan int)
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	for w := range obidefault.ParallelWorkers() {
+		wg.Add(1)
+		go func() {
+			defer wg.Done()
+			for i := range jobs {
+				fn(w, i)
+			}
+		}()
+	}
+	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
+		jobs <- i
+	}
+	close(jobs)
+	wg.Wait()
+}
+
+// bound is what phase 2a learns about each retained pair (indexed like kept).
+type bound struct {
+	targets    []int // target taxa amplified
+	identified []int // upper bound of the target taxa identified (lenientIdentified)
+	minTm1     []float32
+	minTm2     []float32
+	refs       map[int32]refHit
+}
+
+// boundPairs is phase 2a: from the amplicons of the target sequences alone, it
+// gives each retained pair the upper bound of its Bs, the lowest melting
+// temperatures and its site on the reference. The pairs go by batches whose
+// amplicons fit in the budget; they are counted first, so that nothing is resized.
+func (ps *primerSet) boundPairs(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, kept []pairKey,
+	model *obithermo.Model) *bound {
+
+	plan := ps.planAmplicons(c, p, batchIndex(kept, 0, len(kept)), true)
+	res := &bound{
+		targets:    make([]int, len(kept)),
+		identified: make([]int, len(kept)),
+		minTm1:     make([]float32, len(kept)),
+		minTm2:     make([]float32, len(kept)),
+		refs:       map[int32]refHit{},
+	}
+	resolvers := make([]*resolver, obidefault.ParallelWorkers())
+	for i := range resolvers {
+		resolvers[i] = newResolver()
+	}
+
+	for _, b := range ampBatches(plan.total(), p.ampBudget()) {
+		lo, hi := b[0], b[1]
+		p.release() // the previous batch, or the stage before, is garbage
+		store := newAmpStore(plan, lo, hi)
+		sites := ps.collectAmplicons(c, taxa, p, batchIndex(kept, lo, hi), plan, store,
+			collectOptions{examplesOnly: true, model: model, reference: true})
+		store.check()
+		parallelFor(hi-lo, func(w, i int) {
+			res.targets[lo+i], res.identified[lo+i] = resolvers[w].lenientIdentified(store.pair(i))
+		})
+		copy(res.minTm1[lo:hi], sites.minTm1)
+		copy(res.minTm2[lo:hi], sites.minTm2)
+		for i, h := range sites.refs {
+			res.refs[int32(lo)+i] = h
+		}
+	}
+	return res
+}
+
+// evaluatePairs is phase 2b: for the surviving pairs (indices in kept), it
+// gathers the amplicons of every sequence, whatever its role, by batches whose
+// amplicons fit in the budget, and evaluates the pairs. The result is indexed
+// like survivors; a nil entry is a pair dropped by the specificity threshold.
+func (ps *primerSet) evaluatePairs(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p PairParams, kept []pairKey, survivors []int,
+	acc map[pairKey]*pairAcc, first *bound, model *obithermo.Model) []*PairStats {
+
+	results := make([]*PairStats, len(survivors))
+	if len(survivors) == 0 {
+		return results
+	}
+	keys := make([]pairKey, len(survivors))
+	for j, i := range survivors {
+		keys[j] = kept[i]
+	}
+	// the amplicons of every sequence are counted first: the store is allocated
+	// at its exact size, and the batches are cut on the exact counts
+	plan := ps.planAmplicons(c, p, batchIndex(keys, 0, len(keys)), false)
+
+	counts := c.Counts()
+	var refBases []byte
+	if p.HasReference {
+		refBases, _ = c.bases(p.Reference, nil)
+	}
+	resolvers := make([]*resolver, obidefault.ParallelWorkers())
+	for i := range resolvers {
+		resolvers[i] = newResolver()
+	}
+	for _, b := range ampBatches(plan.total(), p.ampBudget()) {
+		lo, hi := b[0], b[1]
+		p.release()
+		store := newAmpStore(plan, lo, hi)
+		ps.collectAmplicons(c, taxa, p, batchIndex(keys, lo, hi), plan, store, collectOptions{})
+		store.check()
+		parallelFor(hi-lo, func(w, n int) {
+			j := lo + n
+			i := survivors[j]
+			k := keys[j]
+			st, ok := ps.evaluate(taxa, counts, p, k, acc[k], resolvers[w].resolve(store.pair(n)),
+				first.minTm1[i], first.minTm2[i], model)
+			if !ok {
+				return
+			}
+			if h, found := first.refs[int32(i)]; found {
+				// evaluate orders the primers by string; the amplicon is read from the first one
+				s1 := orientedWord(ps.primers[k.p1].Word, p.PrimerLength, k.a1)
+				s2 := orientedWord(ps.primers[k.p2].Word, p.PrimerLength, k.a2)
+				st.RefLocation, st.RefAmplicon = referenceSites(refBases, h, p, s2 < s1)
+			}
+			results[j] = &st
+		})
+	}
+	return results
+}

pkg/obiprimer/reference.go

@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ func referenceSites(raw []byte, h refHit, p PairParams, swappedByOrder bool) (lo
 	// the exchange due to the string order flips it again.
 	firstIsUpstream := h.swapped == swappedByOrder
 
-	location = "join(" + span(int(h.up.pos), lp, n, p.Circular) + "," + span(int(h.down.pos), lp, n, p.Circular) + ")"
-	region := []byte(strings.ToLower(string(raw[int(h.up.pos)+lp : int(h.down.pos)])))
+	location = "join(" + span(int(h.up.pos()), lp, n, p.Circular) + "," + span(int(h.down.pos()), lp, n, p.Circular) + ")"
+	region := []byte(strings.ToLower(string(raw[int(h.up.pos())+lp : int(h.down.pos())])))
 	if firstIsUpstream {
 		return location, string(region)
 	}

pkg/obiprimer/resolution.go

@@ -43,49 +43,67 @@ type resolution struct {
 	discriminant int // of which lead to a single taxon
 }
 
-// resolve computes the resolution of one pair from its amplicons. The slices
-// need not be sorted; they are only read.
-func resolve(parts ...[]ampRecord) resolution {
+// resolver computes the indices of pairs one after the other, reusing its maps
+// (a pair needs a few thousand entries, and there are thousands of pairs).
+type resolver struct {
+	state    map[uint64]barcodeState
+	targets  map[int32]struct{}
+	counters map[int32]struct{}
+	bad      map[int32]struct{}
+	owner    map[uint64]int32
+}
+
+func newResolver() *resolver {
+	return &resolver{
+		state:    map[uint64]barcodeState{},
+		targets:  map[int32]struct{}{},
+		counters: map[int32]struct{}{},
+		bad:      map[int32]struct{}{},
+		owner:    map[uint64]int32{},
+	}
+}
+
+// resolve computes the resolution of one pair from its amplicons, in any order.
+func resolve(a ampSlice) resolution { return newResolver().resolve(a) }
+
+func (rs *resolver) resolve(a ampSlice) resolution {
 	var res resolution
+	clear(rs.state)
+	clear(rs.targets)
+	clear(rs.counters)
+	clear(rs.bad)
 
-	state := map[uint64]barcodeState{}
-	targets := map[int32]struct{}{}
-	counters := map[int32]struct{}{}
+	for i, h := range a.hash {
+		taxon, role := unpackTaxon(a.tax[i])
+		st := rs.state[h]
+		switch {
+		case taxon < 0:
+			st.flags |= barcodeAnonymous
+		case st.taxon == 0:
+			st.taxon = taxon + 1
+		case st.taxon != taxon+1:
+			st.flags |= barcodeAmbiguous
+		}
+		if taxon >= 0 {
+			switch role {
+			case Example:
+				st.flags |= barcodeTarget
+				rs.targets[taxon] = struct{}{}
+			case CounterExample:
+				rs.counters[taxon] = struct{}{}
+			}
+		}
+		rs.state[h] = st
+	}
 
-	for _, part := range parts {
-		for _, r := range part {
-			st := state[r.hash]
-			switch {
-			case r.taxon < 0:
-				st.flags |= barcodeAnonymous
-			case st.taxon == 0:
-				st.taxon = r.taxon + 1
-			case st.taxon != r.taxon+1:
-				st.flags |= barcodeAmbiguous
-			}
-			if r.taxon >= 0 {
-				switch r.role {
-				case Example:
-					st.flags |= barcodeTarget
-					targets[r.taxon] = struct{}{}
-				case CounterExample:
-					counters[r.taxon] = struct{}{}
-				}
-			}
-			state[r.hash] = st
+	for i, h := range a.hash {
+		taxon, role := unpackTaxon(a.tax[i])
+		if role == Example && taxon >= 0 && rs.state[h].ambiguous() {
+			rs.bad[taxon] = struct{}{}
 		}
 	}
 
-	bad := map[int32]struct{}{}
-	for _, part := range parts {
-		for _, r := range part {
-			if r.role == Example && r.taxon >= 0 && state[r.hash].ambiguous() {
-				bad[r.taxon] = struct{}{}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	for _, st := range state {
+	for _, st := range rs.state {
 		if st.flags&barcodeTarget != 0 {
 			res.barcodes++
 			if !st.ambiguous() {
@@ -93,8 +111,8 @@ func resolve(parts ...[]ampRecord) resolution {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	res.targetTaxa, res.counterTaxa = len(targets), len(counters)
-	res.identified = len(targets) - len(bad)
+	res.targetTaxa, res.counterTaxa = len(rs.targets), len(rs.counters)
+	res.identified = len(rs.targets) - len(rs.bad)
 	return res
 }
 
@@ -107,27 +125,30 @@ func resolve(parts ...[]ampRecord) resolution {
 // counted here too. So identified <= the second result, with the same number of
 // target taxa, which lets a pair be rejected on the specificity threshold without
 // gathering the amplicons of the non-target sequences.
-func lenientIdentified(parts ...[]ampRecord) (targetTaxa, identified int) {
-	owner := map[uint64]int32{} // barcode -> its taxon, or -1 when shared
-	targets := map[int32]struct{}{}
-	for _, part := range parts {
-		for _, r := range part {
-			if r.role != Example || r.taxon < 0 {
-				continue
-			}
-			targets[r.taxon] = struct{}{}
-			if prev, seen := owner[r.hash]; !seen {
-				owner[r.hash] = r.taxon
-			} else if prev != r.taxon {
-				owner[r.hash] = -1
-			}
+func lenientIdentified(a ampSlice) (targetTaxa, identified int) {
+	return newResolver().lenientIdentified(a)
+}
+
+func (rs *resolver) lenientIdentified(a ampSlice) (targetTaxa, identified int) {
+	clear(rs.owner) // barcode -> its taxon, or -1 when shared
+	clear(rs.targets)
+	for i, h := range a.hash {
+		taxon, role := unpackTaxon(a.tax[i])
+		if role != Example || taxon < 0 {
+			continue
 		}
+		rs.targets[taxon] = struct{}{}
+		if prev, seen := rs.owner[h]; !seen {
+			rs.owner[h] = taxon
+		} else if prev != taxon {
+			rs.owner[h] = -1
+		}
 	}
-	alone := map[int32]struct{}{}
-	for _, t := range owner {
+	clear(rs.bad) // here: the taxa owning a barcode
+	for _, t := range rs.owner {
 		if t >= 0 {
-			alone[t] = struct{}{}
+			rs.bad[t] = struct{}{}
 		}
 	}
-	return len(targets), len(alone)
+	return len(rs.targets), len(rs.bad)
 }

pkg/obiprimer/resolution_test.go

@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ import (
 )
 
 // rec builds an amplicon record: barcode, taxon (-1: none at the rank), role.
+// pack builds an ampSlice from logical records.
+func pack(parts ...[]ampRecord) ampSlice {
+	var a ampSlice
+	for _, part := range parts {
+		for _, r := range part {
+			a.hash = append(a.hash, r.hash)
+			a.tax = append(a.tax, packTaxon(r.taxon, r.role))
+		}
+	}
+	return a
+}
+
 func rec(barcode uint64, taxon int32, role Role) ampRecord {
 	return ampRecord{hash: barcode, taxon: taxon, role: role}
 }
@@ -15,10 +27,10 @@ func TestResolutionUserExample(t *testing.T) {
 	// nor B is identified, but A1 and B1 lead to one species each.
 	const A, B = 0, 1
 	const A1, A2, B1 = 11, 12, 21
-	res := resolve([]ampRecord{
+	res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{
 		rec(A1, A, Example), rec(A2, A, Example),
 		rec(A2, B, Example), rec(B1, B, Example),
-	})
+	}))
 	want := resolution{targetTaxa: 2, identified: 0, barcodes: 3, discriminant: 2}
 	if res != want {
 		t.Fatalf("got %+v, want %+v", res, want)
@@ -26,7 +38,7 @@ func TestResolutionUserExample(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestResolutionAllUnique(t *testing.T) {
-	res := resolve([]ampRecord{rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 1, Example), rec(3, 2, Example)})
+	res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 1, Example), rec(3, 2, Example)}))
 	if res.identified != 3 || res.discriminant != 3 || res.barcodes != 3 || res.targetTaxa != 3 {
 		t.Errorf("all barcodes distinct: %+v", res)
 	}
@@ -35,10 +47,10 @@ func TestResolutionAllUnique(t *testing.T) {
 func TestResolutionSameTaxonSharesItsBarcodeFreely(t *testing.T) {
 	// several sequences of one species with the same barcode are not ambiguous,
 	// and several barcodes for one species are fine when none is shared
-	res := resolve([]ampRecord{
+	res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{
 		rec(1, 0, Example), rec(1, 0, Example), rec(1, 0, Example),
 		rec(2, 0, Example),
-	})
+	}))
 	if res.identified != 1 || res.barcodes != 2 || res.discriminant != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("%+v", res)
 	}
@@ -48,12 +60,12 @@ func TestResolutionSameTaxonSharesItsBarcodeFreely(t *testing.T) {
 // non-target, or with a counterexample, does not identify it.
 func TestResolutionNonTargetsCount(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, role := range []Role{Other, CounterExample} {
-		res := resolve([]ampRecord{
+		res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{
 			rec(1, 0, Example), // unique among the targets...
 			rec(1, 5, role),    // ...but shared with a non-target taxon
 			rec(2, 1, Example), // identified
 			rec(3, 6, role),    // a barcode of non-targets only
-		})
+		}))
 		if res.targetTaxa != 2 || res.identified != 1 {
 			t.Errorf("role %d: %+v, want 2 target taxa and 1 identified", role, res)
 		}
@@ -65,10 +77,10 @@ func TestResolutionNonTargetsCount(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestResolutionAmplifiedTaxaCounts(t *testing.T) {
-	res := resolve([]ampRecord{
+	res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{
 		rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 1, CounterExample), rec(3, 1, CounterExample),
 		rec(4, 2, CounterExample), rec(5, 3, Other),
-	})
+	}))
 	if res.targetTaxa != 1 || res.counterTaxa != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("target taxa %d (want 1), counterexample taxa %d (want 2: others are not counted)",
 			res.targetTaxa, res.counterTaxa)
@@ -78,20 +90,20 @@ func TestResolutionAmplifiedTaxaCounts(t *testing.T) {
 // A sequence with no taxon at the rank is an anonymous taxon, distinct from all
 // the others: a barcode shared with it is ambiguous.
 func TestResolutionAnonymousTaxon(t *testing.T) {
-	res := resolve([]ampRecord{
+	res := resolve(pack([]ampRecord{
 		rec(1, 0, Example), rec(1, -1, Other), // shared with an unknown: ambiguous
 		rec(2, 1, Example),
-	})
+	}))
 	if res.identified != 1 || res.barcodes != 2 || res.discriminant != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("target sharing with an anonymous sequence: %+v", res)
 	}
 	// two anonymous sequences with the same barcode never count: no target carries it
-	res = resolve([]ampRecord{rec(7, -1, Other), rec(7, -1, Other), rec(8, 0, Example)})
+	res = resolve(pack([]ampRecord{rec(7, -1, Other), rec(7, -1, Other), rec(8, 0, Example)}))
 	if res.barcodes != 1 || res.discriminant != 1 || res.identified != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("anonymous barcodes alone: %+v", res)
 	}
 	// a target with no taxon is not a target taxon, and is anonymous too
-	res = resolve([]ampRecord{rec(1, -1, Example), rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 0, Example)})
+	res = resolve(pack([]ampRecord{rec(1, -1, Example), rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 0, Example)}))
 	if res.targetTaxa != 1 || res.identified != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("an anonymous target sequence sharing a barcode must make the taxon ambiguous: %+v", res)
 	}
@@ -101,10 +113,10 @@ func TestResolutionSeveralPartsAndOrder(t *testing.T) {
 	// the amplicons come as one slice per worker, in any order
 	a := []ampRecord{rec(1, 0, Example), rec(2, 1, Example)}
 	b := []ampRecord{rec(2, 2, Other), rec(3, 1, Example)}
-	if res := resolve(a, b); res.targetTaxa != 2 || res.identified != 1 {
+	if res := resolve(pack(a, b)); res.targetTaxa != 2 || res.identified != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("taxon 1 shares barcode 2 with taxon 2: %+v", res)
 	}
-	if res := resolve(b, a); res.targetTaxa != 2 || res.identified != 1 {
+	if res := resolve(pack(b, a)); res.targetTaxa != 2 || res.identified != 1 {
 		t.Errorf("order must not matter: %+v", res)
 	}
 }
@@ -117,10 +129,10 @@ func TestLenientIdentifiedUserExample(t *testing.T) {
 		rec(11, 0, Example), rec(12, 0, Example),
 		rec(12, 1, Example), rec(21, 1, Example),
 	}
-	if targets, identified := lenientIdentified(recs); targets != 2 || identified != 2 {
+	if targets, identified := lenientIdentified(pack(recs)); targets != 2 || identified != 2 {
 		t.Errorf("lenient rule: %d of %d, want 2 of 2", identified, targets)
 	}
-	if res := resolve(recs); res.identified != 0 {
+	if res := resolve(pack(recs)); res.identified != 0 {
 		t.Errorf("strict rule: %d identified, want 0", res.identified)
 	}
 }
@@ -138,8 +150,8 @@ func TestLenientIdentifiedIsAnUpperBound(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		// split in a few parts, as the workers do
 		cut := rng.Intn(len(recs) + 1)
-		res := resolve(recs[:cut], recs[cut:])
-		targets, lenient := lenientIdentified(recs[:cut], recs[cut:])
+		res := resolve(pack(recs[:cut], recs[cut:]))
+		targets, lenient := lenientIdentified(pack(recs[:cut], recs[cut:]))
 		if targets != res.targetTaxa {
 			t.Fatalf("trial %d: %d target taxa for the bound, %d for resolve", trial, targets, res.targetTaxa)
 		}

pkg/obiprimer/search.go

@@ -22,6 +22,14 @@ type SearchParams struct {
 	NoMultiMatch   bool    // -U: discard the primers matching several times in a sequence
 	Reference      string  // -R: identifier of an example sequence on which the amplicons are located ("" = none)
 
+	// Release, if not nil, is called when a stage has just freed a lot of memory
+	// and the next one is about to take some: the command makes the runtime hand
+	// it back to the system then, which the garbage collector would only do
+	// slowly, and the peak of memory would be the sum of the stages.
+	Release func()
+
+	AmpBudget int // amplicon records held at once by the pair evaluation (0 = DefaultAmpBudget)
+
 	Partitions int // partitions of the k-mer counter (default 256)
 	TmpDir     string
 
@@ -33,7 +41,7 @@ func DefaultSearchParams() SearchParams {
 	return SearchParams{
 		PrimerLength: 18, MaxErrors: 3, MinLength: 0, MaxLength: 1000,
 		StrictQuorum: 0.7, Sensitivity: 0.9, FalsePositive: 0.1, MinSpecificity: 0.6,
-		Partitions: 256, Model: obithermo.DefaultModel(),
+		Model: obithermo.DefaultModel(),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -82,6 +90,9 @@ func Search(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p SearchParams) ([]PairStats, *SearchInfo, er
 	for i, w := range sw.Words {
 		words[i] = w.Kmer
 	}
+	if p.Release != nil {
+		p.Release() // the strict word search has just freed its occurrences
+	}
 	wm, err := MatchWords(c, words, MatchParams{K: p.PrimerLength, MaxErrors: p.MaxErrors, Circular: p.Circular})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, info, err
@@ -104,6 +115,8 @@ func Search(c *Corpus, taxa *Taxa, p SearchParams) ([]PairStats, *SearchInfo, er
 		Circular:       p.Circular,
 		Reference:      refIndex,
 		HasReference:   refIndex >= 0,
+		AmpBudget:      p.AmpBudget,
+		Release:        p.Release,
 	}, p.Model)
 	info.Pair = pinfo
 	return pairs, info, err

pkg/obiprimer/taxa.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package obiprimer
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"slices"
 
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obitax"
 )
@@ -23,42 +24,54 @@ type Taxa struct {
 // Name returns the taxon with the given index, for reporting.
 func (t *Taxa) Name(i int32) *obitax.Taxon { return t.nodes[i] }
 
-// AssignTaxa determines the taxon of every sequence of the corpus at rank.
-func (c *Corpus) AssignTaxa(taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy, rank string) (*Taxa, error) {
+// checkRank reports an error if the taxonomy has no such rank.
+func checkRank(taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy, rank string) error {
 	if taxonomy == nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: a taxonomy is required to compute taxon statistics")
+		return fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: a taxonomy is required to compute taxon statistics")
 	}
-	ranks := taxonomy.RankList()
-	known := false
-	for _, r := range ranks {
-		if r == rank {
-			known = true
-			break
-		}
-	}
-	if !known {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: unknown taxonomic rank %q", rank)
+	if !slices.Contains(taxonomy.RankList(), rank) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: unknown taxonomic rank %q", rank)
 	}
+	return nil
+}
 
-	t := &Taxa{Rank: rank, Of: make([]int32, len(c.Seqs))}
+// AssignTaxa determines the taxon of every sequence of the corpus at rank. The
+// sequences must not be packed (see LoadPackedCorpus).
+func (c *Corpus) AssignTaxa(taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy, rank string) (*Taxa, error) {
+	if err := checkRank(taxonomy, rank); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	taxons := make([]*obitax.Taxon, len(c.Seqs))
+	for i, seq := range c.Seqs {
+		taxons[i] = seq.Taxon(taxonomy).TaxonAtRank(rank)
+	}
+	return buildTaxa(rank, taxons, c.Roles)
+}
+
+// buildTaxa gives the sequences, whose taxon at rank is taxons[i] (nil when
+// there is none), their dense taxon index.
+func buildTaxa(rank string, taxons []*obitax.Taxon, roles []Role) (*Taxa, error) {
+	t := &Taxa{Rank: rank, Of: make([]int32, len(taxons))}
 	index := map[*obitax.TaxNode]int32{}
 	exSeen := map[int32]struct{}{}
 	coSeen := map[int32]struct{}{}
 
-	for i, seq := range c.Seqs {
+	for i, taxon := range taxons {
 		t.Of[i] = -1
-		taxon := seq.Taxon(taxonomy).TaxonAtRank(rank)
 		if taxon == nil {
 			continue
 		}
 		id, ok := index[taxon.Node]
 		if !ok {
+			if len(t.nodes) >= maxTaxa {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: more than %d taxa at rank %q", maxTaxa, rank)
+			}
 			id = int32(len(t.nodes))
 			index[taxon.Node] = id
 			t.nodes = append(t.nodes, taxon)
 		}
 		t.Of[i] = id
-		switch c.Roles[i] {
+		switch roles[i] {
 		case Example:
 			exSeen[id] = struct{}{}
 		case CounterExample:

pkg/obiprimer/words.go

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ type WordSearch struct {
 	PrimerLength int     // word size (ecoPrimers -O, 18 by default; 2..31)
 	Quorum       float64 // fraction of example sequences that must contain the word (ecoPrimers -q, 0.7)
 	Circular     bool    // sequences are circular (ecoPrimers -c)
-	Partitions   int     // partition files of the counter (default 256)
+	Partitions   int     // partition files of the counter (0 = chosen from the size of the examples, see obikmer.DefaultPartitions)
 	TmpDir       string  // parent of the temporary directory ("" = system default)
 }
 
@@ -48,7 +48,15 @@ func FindStrictWords(c *Corpus, cfg WordSearch) (*StrictWords, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("obiprimer: quorum must be in ]0,1], got %g", cfg.Quorum)
 	}
 	if cfg.Partitions <= 0 {
-		cfg.Partitions = 256
+		// the k-mer occurrences to count: those of the examples, which are the
+		// only sequences indexed
+		total := 0
+		for i, r := range c.Roles {
+			if r == Example && c.SeqLen(i) > cfg.PrimerLength {
+				total += c.SeqLen(i)
+			}
+		}
+		cfg.Partitions = obikmer.DefaultPartitions(total)
 	}
 
 	counter, err := obikmer.NewSeqKmerCounter(cfg.TmpDir, cfg.PrimerLength, 0, cfg.Partitions)
@@ -63,14 +71,17 @@ func FindStrictWords(c *Corpus, cfg WordSearch) (*StrictWords, error) {
 		wg.Add(1)
 		go func() {
 			defer wg.Done()
+			var buf []byte
 			for i := range jobs {
-				if seq := c.Seqs[i]; c.Roles[i] == Example && seq.Len() > cfg.PrimerLength {
-					counter.AddSequence(uint32(i), seq.Sequence(), cfg.Circular)
+				if c.Roles[i] == Example && c.SeqLen(i) > cfg.PrimerLength {
+					var raw []byte
+					raw, buf = c.bases(i, buf)
+					counter.AddSequence(uint32(i), raw, cfg.Circular)
 				}
 			}
 		}()
 	}
-	for i := range c.Seqs {
+	for i := range c.Roles {
 		jobs <- i
 	}
 	close(jobs)

pkg/obitools/obiprimers/embedded_test.go

@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@ package obiprimers
 import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"reflect"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiiter"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiprimer"
 	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obiseq"
@@ -195,3 +197,51 @@ func TestTaxonomicPathIsDroppedAfterExtraction(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("stdin: %d sequences, %d with a path left, %d with a taxid", total, withPath, withTaxid)
 	}
 }
+
+// LoadPackedCorpus must give the same corpus and taxa as LoadCorpus followed by
+// AssignTaxa, whatever the number of reading goroutines.
+func TestLoadPackedCorpusEqualsLoadThenAssign(t *testing.T) {
+	path := writeTemp(t, embeddedFasta)
+	defer obidefault.SetMaxCPU(obidefault.MaxCPU())
+	for _, workers := range []int{1, 4} {
+		obidefault.SetMaxCPU(workers)
+
+		sequences, taxonomy, err := readSequencesAndTaxonomy([]string{path}, nil)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		restrict, _ := obiprimer.BelongingTo(taxonomy, []string{"5"})
+		sel := obiprimer.Selection{Restrict: restrict}
+		want, err := obiprimer.LoadCorpus(sequences, sel)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		wantTaxa, err := want.AssignTaxa(taxonomy, "species")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		sequences, _, err = readSequencesAndTaxonomy([]string{path}, taxonomy)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		got, gotTaxa, err := obiprimer.LoadPackedCorpus(sequences, sel, taxonomy, "species")
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if got.Counts() != want.Counts() || got.Len() != want.Len() {
+			t.Errorf("workers %d: counts %+v / %+v", workers, got.Counts(), want.Counts())
+		}
+		for i := range want.Roles {
+			if got.Roles[i] != want.Roles[i] || got.ID(i) != want.ID(i) || got.SeqLen(i) != want.SeqLen(i) || got.Seqs[i] != nil {
+				t.Errorf("workers %d, sequence %d differs", workers, i)
+			}
+		}
+		if !reflect.DeepEqual(gotTaxa.Of, wantTaxa.Of) || gotTaxa.ExampleTaxa != wantTaxa.ExampleTaxa {
+			t.Errorf("workers %d: taxa %v / %v", workers, gotTaxa.Of, wantTaxa.Of)
+		}
+	}
+	if _, _, err := obiprimer.LoadPackedCorpus(obiiter.NilIBioSequence, obiprimer.Selection{}, nil, "species"); err == nil {
+		t.Error("a nil taxonomy must be refused")
+	}
+}

pkg/obitools/obiprimers/memory.go

@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package obiprimers
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"runtime/debug"
+
+	"git.metabarcoding.org/obitools/obitools4/obitools4/pkg/obidefault"
+)
+
+// gcPercent is the garbage collector target of the command: the heap may grow
+// by that percentage over the live data before the next collection (the Go
+// default is 100). Reading the sequences and the search allocate large buffers
+// and tables that die as soon as a stage is over, and with the default the
+// process holds up to twice what it needs at its peak. Peak of memory and CPU
+// time against the default (see OBIPRIMERS_NOTES.md, section 26): 7822
+// vertebrate genomes, 50 gives -8% and +0%, 25 -13% and +8%; 18061 genomes
+// (593 Mb), 50 gives -20% and +3%, 25 -29% and +8.5%.
+const gcPercent = 50
+
+// batchSizeMax is the default of the --batch-size-max option for this command.
+// The reading goroutines hand the sequences over by batches, and a batch of 2000
+// genomes of 16 kb (the general default) is 33 Mb of bases once parsed, times
+// the number of workers and the batches waiting between the stages. Genomes are
+// few and long: 100 per batch keeps all the cores busy.
+const batchSizeMax = 100
+
+// SetReadingDefaults gives the options shared by the OBITools their defaults for
+// this command; it must be called before the options are parsed, which still
+// override them.
+func SetReadingDefaults() {
+	*obidefault.BatchSizeMaxPtr() = batchSizeMax
+}
+
+// tuneMemory sets the collector target. A user who set GOGC keeps it.
+func tuneMemory() {
+	if os.Getenv("GOGC") == "" {
+		debug.SetGCPercent(gcPercent)
+	}
+}
+
+// releaseMemory collects the garbage and gives the free memory back to the
+// system. Without it the memory freed by a stage stays in the process (the
+// runtime returns it slowly), and the next stage takes new memory on top of it:
+// the peak is then the sum of the stages instead of the largest.
+func releaseMemory() { debug.FreeOSMemory() }

pkg/obitools/obiprimers/obiprimers.go

@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ func readSequencesAndTaxonomy(args []string, given *obitax.Taxonomy) (obiiter.IB
 // returns them with the taxonomy to use, set as the default taxonomy: the one
 // of the -t option, or else the one embedded in the sequences.
 func CLIReadSequencesAndTaxonomy(args []string) (obiiter.IBioSequence, *obitax.Taxonomy, error) {
+	tuneMemory()
 	given := obitax.DefaultTaxonomy()
 	sequences, taxonomy, err := readSequencesAndTaxonomy(args, given)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -130,11 +131,8 @@ func CLIPrimerPairs(sequences obiiter.IBioSequence, taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy) (
 	}
 
 	log.Infof("Reading the sequences")
-	corpus, err := obiprimer.LoadCorpus(sequences, sel)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-	taxa, err := corpus.AssignTaxa(taxonomy, CLIRank())
+	// the sequences are packed, and their taxa looked up, as they are read
+	corpus, taxa, err := obiprimer.LoadPackedCorpus(sequences, sel, taxonomy, CLIRank())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -144,6 +142,8 @@ func CLIPrimerPairs(sequences obiiter.IBioSequence, taxonomy *obitax.Taxonomy) (
 		counts.Examples, taxa.ExampleTaxa, CLIRank(),
 		counts.CounterExamples, taxa.CounterExamples, CLIRank(), counts.Others)
 
+	releaseMemory() // the sequences were read through large transient buffers
+
 	pairs, info, err := obiprimer.Search(corpus, taxa, params)
 	if info != nil {
 		log.Infof("%d strict words (found without error in at least %d examples)", info.StrictWords, info.MinStrict)

pkg/obitools/obiprimers/options.go

@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ var _saltMethod = "santalucia"
 var _salt = obithermo.DefaultSalt
 var _primerConc = obithermo.DefaultPrimerConc
 
-var _partitions = 256
+var _partitions = 0
 
 // OptionSet registers the options of obiprimers.
 func OptionSet(options *getoptions.GetOpt) {
@@ -148,8 +148,9 @@ func OptionSet(options *getoptions.GetOpt) {
 
 	options.IntVar(&_partitions, "partitions", _partitions,
 		options.ArgName("COUNT"),
-		options.Description("Number of temporary partition files used to count the conserved words. "+
-			"Increase it for very large inputs (memory per partition grows with data size / COUNT)."))
+		options.Description("Number of temporary partition files used to count the conserved words "+
+			"(0 = chosen from the size of the examples: 256 to 1024). The memory of the count is bounded "+
+			"whatever the number; more files only make the largest partitions smaller."))
 }
 
 // CLIRestrictTaxa returns the taxids restricting the examples.
@@ -198,5 +199,6 @@ func CLISearchParams() (obiprimer.SearchParams, error) {
 		Reference:      _reference,
 		Partitions:     _partitions,
 		Model:          model,
+		Release:        releaseMemory,
 	}, nil
 }