feat: add ROW_LIMIT as a settable property

astroquery/simbad/core.py

@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ class SimbadClass(BaseVOQuery):
     (https://simbad.cds.unistra.fr/guide/sim-url.htx)
     """
     SIMBAD_URL = 'https://' + conf.server + '/simbad/sim-script'
-    ROW_LIMIT = conf.row_limit
 
     @dataclass(frozen=True)
     class Column:
@@ -104,7 +103,7 @@ class Join:
         column_right: Any
         join_type: str = field(default="JOIN")
 
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, ROW_LIMIT=None):
         super().__init__()
         # to create the TAPService
         self._server = conf.server
@@ -114,6 +113,22 @@ def __init__(self):
         self._columns_in_output = None  # a list of Simbad.Column
         self.joins = []  # a list of Simbad.Join
         self.criteria = []  # a list of strings
+        self.ROW_LIMIT = ROW_LIMIT
+
+    @property
+    def ROW_LIMIT(self):
+        return self._ROW_LIMIT
+
+    @ROW_LIMIT.setter
+    def ROW_LIMIT(self, ROW_LIMIT):
+        if ROW_LIMIT is None:
+            self._ROW_LIMIT = conf.row_limit
+        elif isinstance(ROW_LIMIT, int) and ROW_LIMIT >= -1:
+            self._ROW_LIMIT = ROW_LIMIT
+        else:
+            raise ValueError("ROW_LIMIT can be either -1 to set the limit to SIMBAD's "
+                             "maximum capability, 0 to retrieve an empty table, "
+                             "or a positive integer.")
 
     @property
     def server(self):

astroquery/simbad/tests/test_simbad.py

@@ -101,6 +101,23 @@ def test_simbad_mirror():
         simbad_instance.server = "test"
 
 
+def test_simbad_row_limit():
+    simbad_instance = simbad.SimbadClass()
+    # default value is -1
+    assert simbad_instance.ROW_LIMIT == -1
+    # we can assign afterward
+    simbad_instance.ROW_LIMIT = 5
+    assert simbad_instance.ROW_LIMIT == 5
+    # or from the beginning
+    simbad_instance = simbad.SimbadClass(ROW_LIMIT=10)
+    assert simbad_instance.ROW_LIMIT == 10
+    # non-valid values trigger an error
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="ROW_LIMIT can be either -1 to set the limit "
+                       "to SIMBAD's maximum capability, 0 to retrieve an empty table, "
+                       "or a positive integer."):
+        simbad_instance = simbad.SimbadClass(ROW_LIMIT='test')
+
+
 def test_simbad_create_tap_service():
     simbad_instance = simbad.Simbad()
     # newly created should have no tap service