def _worker_fn(samples, batchify_fn, dataset=None):
    """Function for processing data in worker process."""
    # pylint: disable=unused-argument
    # it is required that each worker process has to fork a new MXIndexedRecordIO handle
    # preserving dataset as global variable can save tons of overhead and is safe in new process
    global _worker_dataset
    if isinstance(samples[0], (list, tuple)):
        batch = [batchify_fn([_worker_dataset[i] for i in shard]) for shard in samples]
    else:
        batch = batchify_fn([_worker_dataset[i] for i in samples])
    buf = io.BytesIO()
    ForkingPickler(buf, pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL).dump(batch)
    return buf.getvalue()