private Map<Integer, Integer> getCategoricalFeatureInfo(List<Map<String, Integer>> encodings) {
   Map<Integer, Integer> info = new HashMap<Integer, Integer>();
   // skip the response variable which is at last
   for (int i = 0; i < encodings.size() - 1; i++) {
     if (encodings.get(i).size() > 0) {
       info.put(i, encodings.get(i).size());
     }
   }
   return info;
 }