disable runtime vis by default when using the Pyro class directly (#220)

this makes the Jupyter usage easier, since we don't fill up the
notebook with looks of plots.  Runtime vis is still on by default
when run via the commandline (using pyro_sim.py)

pyro/pyro_sim.py

@@ -36,21 +36,26 @@ class Pyro:
     The main driver to run pyro.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, solver_name):
+    def __init__(self, solver_name, from_commandline=False):
         """
         Constructor
 
         Parameters
         ----------
         solver_name : str
             Name of solver to use
+        from_commandline : bool
+            True if we are running from the commandline -- this enables
+            runtime vis by default.
         """
 
         msg.bold('pyro ...')
 
         if solver_name not in valid_solvers:
             msg.fail(f"ERROR: {solver_name} is not a valid solver")
 
+        self.from_commandline = from_commandline
+
         self.pyro_home = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)) + '/'
         if not solver_name.startswith("pyro."):
             solver_import = "pyro." + solver_name
@@ -70,6 +75,13 @@ def __init__(self, solver_name):
         self.rp.load_params(self.pyro_home + "_defaults")
         self.rp.load_params(self.pyro_home + self.solver_name + "/_defaults")
 
+        # manually override the dovis default
+        # for Jupyter, we want runtime vis disabled by default
+        if self.from_commandline:
+            self.rp.set_param("vis.dovis", 1)
+        else:
+            self.rp.set_param("vis.dovis", 0)
+
         self.tc = profile.TimerCollection()
 
         self.is_initialized = False
@@ -378,7 +390,7 @@ def main():
                              comp_bench=args.compare_benchmark,
                              make_bench=args.make_benchmark)
     else:
-        pyro = Pyro(args.solver[0])
+        pyro = Pyro(args.solver[0], from_commandline=True)
 
     pyro.initialize_problem(problem_name=args.problem[0],
                             inputs_file=args.param[0],

pyro/util/runparams.py

@@ -209,6 +209,22 @@ def get_param(self, key):
 
         if key in self.params:
             return self.params[key]
+
+        raise KeyError(f"ERROR: runtime parameter {key} not found")
+
+    def set_param(self, key, value):
+        """
+        manually set one of the existing runtime parameters
+        """
+
+        if not self.params:
+            msg.warning("WARNING: runtime parameters not yet initialized")
+            self.load_params("_defaults")
+
+        if key in self.params:
+            self.params[key] = value
+            return
+
         raise KeyError(f"ERROR: runtime parameter {key} not found")
 
     def print_unused_params(self):