ConditionalARFSampler: ARF-based Conditional Sampler

In xplainfi: Feature Importance Methods for Global Explanations

ARF-based Conditional Sampler

Description

Implements conditional sampling using Adversarial Random Forests (ARF). ARF can handle mixed data types (continuous and categorical) and provides flexible conditional sampling by modeling the joint distribution.

Details

The ConditionalARFSampler fits an Adversarial Random Forest model on the task data, then uses it to generate samples from P(X_j | X_{-j}) where X_j is the feature of interest and X_{-j} are the conditioning features.

Super classes

xplainfi::FeatureSampler -> xplainfi::ConditionalSampler -> ConditionalARFSampler

Public fields

feature_types

(character()) Feature types supported by the sampler. Will be checked against the provided mlr3::Task to ensure compatibility.

arf_model

Adversarial Random Forest model created by arf::adversarial_rf.

psi

Distribution parameters estimated from by arf::forde.

Methods

Public methods

• ConditionalARFSampler$new()

• ConditionalARFSampler$sample()

• ConditionalARFSampler$sample_newdata()

• ConditionalARFSampler$clone()

Inherited methods

• xplainfi::FeatureSampler$print()

---

Method new()

Creates a new instance of the ConditionalARFSampler class. To fit the ARF in parallel, register a parallel backend first (see arf::arf) and set parallel = TRUE.

Usage

ConditionalARFSampler$new(
  task,
  conditioning_set = NULL,
  num_trees = 10L,
  min_node_size = 20L,
  finite_bounds = "no",
  epsilon = 1e-15,
  round = TRUE,
  stepsize = 0,
  verbose = FALSE,
  parallel = FALSE,
  ...
)

Arguments

task

(mlr3::Task) Task to sample from.

conditioning_set

(character | NULL) Default conditioning set to use in ⁠$sample()⁠. This parameter only affects the sampling behavior, not the ARF model fitting.

num_trees

(integer(1): 10L) Number of trees for ARF. Passed to arf::adversarial_rf.

min_node_size

(integer(1): 20L) Minimum node size for ARF. Passed to arf::adversarial_rf and in turn to ranger::ranger. This is increased to 20 to mitigate overfitting.

finite_bounds

(character(1): "no") How to handle variable bounds. Passed to arf::forde. Default is "no" for compatibility. "local" may improve extrapolation but can cause issues with some data.

epsilon

(numeric(1): 0) Slack parameter for when finite_bounds != "no". Passed to arf::forde.

round

(logical(1): TRUE) Whether to round continuous variables back to their original precision in sampling. Can be overridden in ⁠$sample()⁠ calls.

stepsize

(numeric(1): 0) Number of rows of evidence to process at a time when parallel is TRUE. Default (0) spreads evidence evenly over registered workers. Can be overridden in ⁠$sample()⁠ calls.

verbose

(logical(1): FALSE) Whether to print progress messages. Default is FALSE (arf's default is TRUE). Can be overridden in ⁠$sample()⁠ calls.

parallel

(logical(1): FALSE) Whether to use parallel processing via foreach. See examples in arf::forge(). Can be overridden in ⁠$sample()⁠ calls.

...

Additional arguments passed to arf::adversarial_rf.

---

Method sample()

Sample from stored task. Parameters use hierarchical resolution: function argument > stored param_set value > hard-coded default.

Usage

ConditionalARFSampler$sample(
  feature,
  row_ids = NULL,
  conditioning_set = NULL,
  round = NULL,
  stepsize = NULL,
  verbose = NULL,
  parallel = NULL
)

Arguments

feature

(character) Feature(s) to sample.

row_ids

(integer() | NULL) Row IDs to use. If NULL, uses all rows.

conditioning_set

(character | NULL) Features to condition on.

round

(logical(1) | NULL) Round continuous variables.

stepsize

(numeric(1) | NULL) Batch size for parallel processing.

verbose

(logical(1) | NULL) Print progress messages.

parallel

(logical(1) | NULL) Use parallel processing.

Returns

Modified copy with sampled feature(s).

---

Method sample_newdata()

Sample from external data. See ⁠$sample()⁠ for parameter details.

Usage

ConditionalARFSampler$sample_newdata(
  feature,
  newdata,
  conditioning_set = NULL,
  round = NULL,
  stepsize = NULL,
  verbose = NULL,
  parallel = NULL
)

Arguments

feature

(character) Feature(s) to sample.

newdata

(data.table) External data to use.

conditioning_set

(character | NULL) Features to condition on.

round

(logical(1) | NULL) Round continuous variables.

stepsize

(numeric(1) | NULL) Batch size for parallel processing.

verbose

(logical(1) | NULL) Print progress messages.

parallel

(logical(1) | NULL) Use parallel processing.

Returns

Modified copy with sampled feature(s).

---

Method clone()

The objects of this class are cloneable with this method.

Usage

ConditionalARFSampler$clone(deep = FALSE)

Arguments

deep

Whether to make a deep clone.

References

Watson D, Blesch K, Kapar J, Wright M (2023). “Adversarial Random Forests for Density Estimation and Generative Modeling.” In Proceedings of The 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics, 5357–5375. https://proceedings.mlr.press/v206/watson23a.html.

Blesch K, Koenen N, Kapar J, Golchian P, Burk L, Loecher M, Wright M (2025). “Conditional Feature Importance with Generative Modeling Using Adversarial Random Forests.” Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 39(15), 15596–15604. \Sexpr[results=rd]{tools:::Rd_expr_doi("10.1609/aaai.v39i15.33712")}.

Examples

library(mlr3)
task = tgen("2dnormals")$generate(n = 100)
# Create sampler with default parameters
sampler = ConditionalARFSampler$new(task, conditioning_set = "x2", verbose = FALSE)
# Sample using row_ids from stored task
sampled_data = sampler$sample("x1", row_ids = 1:10)
# Or use external data
data = task$data()
sampled_data_ext = sampler$sample_newdata("x1", newdata = data, conditioning_set = "x2")

# Example with custom ARF parameters
sampler_custom = ConditionalARFSampler$new(
  task,
  min_node_size = 10L,
  finite_bounds = "local",
  verbose = FALSE
)
sampled_custom = sampler_custom$sample("x1", conditioning_set = "x2")

xplainfi documentation built on Feb. 27, 2026, 1:08 a.m.