Improve print_parameter_info functionality

[eibar-flores]

Description

Pybamm has an api to access parameter sets. When selecting a model (e.g. SPM), some, not all of the parameters of the set are used. It would be nice to have a method to pull only the parameters of the chosen model.

Motivation

No response

Possible Implementation

To have independent apis for parameter sets and models. E.g.

• pybamm.ParameterValues("Chen2020") to get the whole set (keys and values)
• pybamm.pybamm.lithium_ion.DFN().parameters to get the parameters particular to the model (only the keys)
• pybamm.Simulation(model=model, parameter_values=parameters).parameter_values to get the parameters particular to the model and the values it pulled from the set

Additional context

No response

[brosaplanella]

What case do you have in mind for this particular functionality? At the moment, models have the print_parameter_info() method which prints the parameters needed for that model. This provides the list of required parameters as a string, so you know which parameters you need to provide in a new parameter set.

[ejfdickinson]

@brosaplanella Where is the print_parameter_info() method documented? It doesn't seem to be mentioned in the pybamm.BaseModel documentation.

This is a very helpful sounding function that I never knew existed. So while it probably satisfies this issue, it's not surprising that it might be missed.

[eibar-flores]

Thanks for your quick reply @brosaplanella. As I understand, parameter set, model and simulation each has a subset of battery parameters, and these battery parameters interact somehow in the background when calling simulations. For instance: I assume that calling pybamm.Simulation(model=model, parameter_values=parameters) pulls a subset from pybamm.ParameterValues("Chen2020") and changes defaults in pybamm.pybamm.lithium_ion.DFN(). Hence, having separate methods to access these battery parameters is useful. Thanks for print_parameter_info(), it solves the issue for models (e.g. pybamm.pybamm.lithium_ion.DFN()). But as @ejfdickinson says, it would be nice to expose these useful methods in the documentation.

[brosaplanella]

@brosaplanella Where is the print_parameter_info() method documented? It doesn't seem to be mentioned in the pybamm.BaseModel documentation.

This is a very helpful sounding function that I never knew existed. So while it probably satisfies this issue, it's not surprising that it might be missed.

I just realised that it is not documented in the docs (opened #3392 for this), but it is demonstrated in this example https://docs.pybamm.org/en/latest/source/examples/notebooks/parameterization/parameter-values.html#Printing-parameter-values

[brosaplanella]

Thanks for your quick reply @brosaplanella. As I understand, parameter set, model and simulation each has a subset of battery parameters, and these battery parameters interact somehow in the background when calling simulations. For instance: I assume that calling pybamm.Simulation(model=model, parameter_values=parameters) pulls a subset from pybamm.ParameterValues("Chen2020") and changes defaults in pybamm.pybamm.lithium_ion.DFN(). Hence, having separate methods to access these battery parameters is useful. Thanks for print_parameter_info(), it solves the issue for models (e.g. pybamm.pybamm.lithium_ion.DFN()). But as @ejfdickinson says, it would be nice to expose these useful methods in the documentation.

I think one way to improve print_parameter_info, would be to create a separate method called parameter_info (or something like that) which pulls out a list of the parameters used, and which then it can be passed to the dictionary to extract a subdictionary. Then, print_parameter_info could just be used to print that information in a more readable way. This would tie nicely with #1500 as well.

It is a fairly simple issue which is good for new contributors, if you want to give it a go. Let us know if you need any help!

[cringeyburger]

Hi!
I have tried coding something for this. Check the following:

I added a new method parameter_info to provide information about different parameter types. This method is intended to enhance the functionality by offering insights into the parameters used in the code.

    def parameter_info(self, param_class, param_type):
        parameter_info = ""
        parameters = self._find_symbols(param_class)
        for parameter in parameters:
            if isinstance(parameter, pybamm.FunctionParameter):
                if parameter.name not in parameter_info:
                    input_names = "'" + "', '".join(parameter.input_names) + "'"
                    parameter_info += (
                        f"{parameter.name} ({param_type} with input(s) {input_names})\n"
                    )

            elif isinstance(parameter, pybamm.InputParameter):
                if not parameter.domain:
                    parameter_info += f"{parameter.name} ({param_type})\n"
                else:
                    parameter_info += (
                        f"{parameter.name} ({param_type} in {parameter.domain})\n"
                    )

            elif isinstance(parameter, pybamm.Parameter):
                parameter_info += f"{parameter.name} ({param_type})\n"
        return parameter_info

    def print_parameter_info(self):
        self._parameter_info = ""
        parameter_types = [
            ("Parameter", pybamm.Parameter),
            ("inputParameter", pybamm.InputParameter),
            ("FunctionParameter", pybamm.FunctionParameter),
        ]

        for param_type, param_class in parameter_types:
            parameter_info = self.parameter_info(param_class, param_type)
            self._parameter_info += parameter_info

        print(self._parameter_info)

The code works as intended. It also passed the pre-commit checks. If there are any suggestions for improvement or if additional modifications are needed, please let me know. I'm open to making any necessary revisions.

NOTE: This would be my first contribution (both to PyBaMM and an organisation in general) so I would appreciate feedback or suggestions!