Clean up ns-train {method} --help for not-yet-installed external methods (#2760)

* Clean up `ns-train {method} --help` for not-yet-installed external methods

* Ruff

* Ruff

* add clearer print statement

* Types? Not sure if this fixes it

---------

Co-authored-by: Justin Kerr <justin.g.kerr@gmail.com>

Author: brentyi

nerfstudio/configs/external_methods.py

@@ -14,14 +14,15 @@
 
 
 """This file contains the configuration for external methods which are not included in this repository."""
+import inspect
 import subprocess
 import sys
-from dataclasses import dataclass, field
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, cast
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
 
+import tyro
 from rich.prompt import Confirm
 
-from nerfstudio.engine.trainer import TrainerConfig
 from nerfstudio.utils.rich_utils import CONSOLE
 
 
@@ -177,21 +178,30 @@ class ExternalMethod:
 
 
 @dataclass
-class ExternalMethodTrainerConfig(TrainerConfig):
-    """
-    Trainer config for external methods which does not have an implementation in this repository.
+class ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig:
+    """Dummy trainer config for external methods (a) which do not have an
+    implementation in this repository, and (b) are not yet installed. When this
+    config is instantiated, we give the user the option to install the method.
     """
 
-    _method: ExternalMethod = field(default=cast(ExternalMethod, None))
+    # tyro.conf.Suppress will prevent these fields from appearing as CLI arguments.
+    method_name: tyro.conf.Suppress[str]
+    method: tyro.conf.Suppress[ExternalMethod]
+
+    def __post_init__(self):
+        """Offer to install an external method."""
 
-    def handle_print_information(self, *_args, **_kwargs):
-        """Prints the method information and exits."""
-        CONSOLE.print(self._method.instructions)
-        if self._method.pip_package and Confirm.ask(
+        # Don't trigger install message from get_external_methods() below; only
+        # if this dummy object is instantiated from the CLI.
+        if inspect.stack()[2].function == "get_external_methods":
+            return
+
+        CONSOLE.print(self.method.instructions)
+        if self.method.pip_package and Confirm.ask(
             "\nWould you like to run the install it now?", default=False, console=CONSOLE
         ):
             # Install the method
-            install_command = f"{sys.executable} -m pip install {self._method.pip_package}"
+            install_command = f"{sys.executable} -m pip install {self.method.pip_package}"
             CONSOLE.print(f"Running: [cyan]{install_command}[/cyan]")
             result = subprocess.run(install_command, shell=True, check=False)
             if result.returncode != 0:
@@ -200,20 +210,15 @@ def handle_print_information(self, *_args, **_kwargs):
 
         sys.exit(0)
 
-    def __getattribute__(self, __name: str) -> Any:
-        out = object.__getattribute__(self, __name)
-        if callable(out) and __name not in {"handle_print_information"} and not __name.startswith("__"):
-            # We exit early, displaying the message
-            return self.handle_print_information
-        return out
-
 
-def get_external_methods() -> Tuple[Dict[str, TrainerConfig], Dict[str, str]]:
+def get_external_methods() -> Tuple[Dict[str, ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig], Dict[str, str]]:
     """Returns the external methods trainer configs and the descriptions."""
-    method_configs = {}
-    descriptions = {}
+    method_configs: Dict[str, ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig] = {}
+    descriptions: Dict[str, str] = {}
     for external_method in external_methods:
         for config_slug, config_description in external_method.configurations:
-            method_configs[config_slug] = ExternalMethodTrainerConfig(method_name=config_slug, _method=external_method)
-            descriptions[config_slug] = f"""[External] {config_description}"""
+            method_configs[config_slug] = ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig(
+                method_name=config_slug, method=external_method
+            )
+            descriptions[config_slug] = f"""[External, run 'ns-train {config_slug}' to install] {config_description}"""
     return method_configs, descriptions

nerfstudio/configs/method_configs.py

@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from collections import OrderedDict
-from typing import Dict
+from typing import Dict, Union
 
 import tyro
 
 from nerfstudio.cameras.camera_optimizers import CameraOptimizerConfig
 from nerfstudio.configs.base_config import ViewerConfig
-from nerfstudio.configs.external_methods import get_external_methods
+from nerfstudio.configs.external_methods import ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig, get_external_methods
 from nerfstudio.data.datamanagers.base_datamanager import VanillaDataManager, VanillaDataManagerConfig
 from nerfstudio.data.datamanagers.full_images_datamanager import FullImageDatamanagerConfig
 from nerfstudio.data.datamanagers.parallel_datamanager import ParallelDataManagerConfig
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@
 from nerfstudio.pipelines.dynamic_batch import DynamicBatchPipelineConfig
 from nerfstudio.plugins.registry import discover_methods
 
-method_configs: Dict[str, TrainerConfig] = {}
+method_configs: Dict[str, Union[TrainerConfig, ExternalMethodDummyTrainerConfig]] = {}
 descriptions = {
     "nerfacto": "Recommended real-time model tuned for real captures. This model will be continually updated.",
     "depth-nerfacto": "Nerfacto with depth supervision.",