Allow config setting specs as module variables, too.

Support reading config setting specs from module (#237)

* Support reading config setting specs from module

* Add additional documentation (review suggestion)

* Amend changelog entry

documentation/changelog.rst

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ Infrastructure / Support
 ----------------------
 * Account-based authorization, incl. new decorators for endpoints [see `PR #210 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/210>`_]
 * Improve data specification for forecasting models using timely-beliefs data [see `PR #154 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/154>`_]
-* Allow plugins to register their custom config settings, so that FlexMeasures can check whether they are set up correctly [see `PR #230 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/230>`_]
+* Allow plugins to register their custom config settings, so that FlexMeasures can check whether they are set up correctly [see `PR #230 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/230>`_ and `PR #237 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/237>`_]
 * Added sensor method to obtain just its latest state (excl. forecasts) [see `PR #235 <http://www.github.com/SeitaBV/flexmeasures/pull/235>`_]
 
 

documentation/dev/plugins.rst

@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ Config settings can be registered by setting the (optional) ``__settings__`` att
 
 .. code-block:: python
 
-    __settings__ = [
+    __settings__ = {
         "MY_PLUGIN_URL": {
             "description": "URL used by my plugin for x.",
             "level": "error",
@@ -174,9 +174,30 @@ Config settings can be registered by setting the (optional) ``__settings__`` att
             "description": "Color used to override the default plugin color.",
             "level": "info",
         },
-    ]
+    }
 
-You might want to override some FlexMeasures configuration settings from within your plugin. Some examples for possible settings are named on this page, e.g. the custom style (see above) or custom logo (see below). There is a `record_once` function on Blueprints which can help with this. Example:
+Alternatively, use ``from my_plugin import __settings__`` in your plugin module, and create ``__settings__.py`` with:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    MY_PLUGIN_URL = {
+        "description": "URL used by my plugin for x.",
+        "level": "error",
+    }
+    MY_PLUGIN_TOKEN = {
+        "description": "Token used by my plugin for y.",
+        "level": "warning",
+        "message_if_missing": "Without this token, my plugin will not do y.",
+        "parse_as": str,
+    }
+    MY_PLUGIN_COLOR = {
+        "description": "Color used to override the default plugin color.",
+        "level": "info",
+    }
+
+Finally, you might want to override some FlexMeasures configuration settings from within your plugin.
+Some examples for possible settings are named on this page, e.g. the custom style (see above) or custom logo (see below).
+There is a `record_once` function on Blueprints which can help with this. An example:
 
 .. code-block:: python
 

flexmeasures/utils/plugin_utils.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import os
 import sys
 from importlib.abc import Loader
+from types import ModuleType
 from typing import Dict
 
 import sentry_sdk
@@ -123,6 +124,14 @@ def check_config_settings(app, settings: Dict[str, dict]):
         }
 
     """
+
+    # Check config settings are in dict form, after possibly converting them from module variables
+    if isinstance(settings, ModuleType):
+        settings = {
+            setting: settings.__dict__[setting]
+            for setting in dir(settings)
+            if not setting.startswith("__")
+        }
     assert isinstance(settings, dict), f"{type(settings)} should be a dict"
     for setting_name, setting_fields in settings.items():
         assert isinstance(setting_fields, dict), f"{setting_name} should be a dict"