Add config option to disable auto-reloading (#1187)

Author: JonnyWong16

docs/configuration.rst

@@ -55,14 +55,19 @@ Section [plexapi] Options
     Timeout in seconds to use when making requests to the Plex Media Server or Plex Client
     resources (default: 30).
 
+**autoreload**
+    By default PlexAPI will automatically :func:`~plexapi.base.PlexObject.reload` any :any:`PlexPartialObject`
+    when accessing a missing attribute. When this option is set to `false`, automatic reloading will be
+    disabled and :func:`~plexapi.base.PlexObject.reload` must be called manually (default: true).
+
 **enable_fast_connect**
     By default Plex will be trying to connect with all available connection methods simultaneously,
     combining local and remote addresses, http and https, and be waiting for all connection to
     establish (or fail due to timeout / any other error), this can take long time when you're trying
     to connect to your Plex Server outside of your home network.
 
     When the options is set to `true` the connection procedure will be aborted with first successfully
-    established connection.
+    established connection (default: false).
 
 
 Section [auth] Options

plexapi/base.py

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 from urllib.parse import urlencode
 from xml.etree import ElementTree
 
-from plexapi import X_PLEX_CONTAINER_SIZE, log, utils
+from plexapi import CONFIG, X_PLEX_CONTAINER_SIZE, log, utils
 from plexapi.exceptions import BadRequest, NotFound, UnknownType, Unsupported
 from plexapi.utils import cached_property
 
@@ -50,9 +50,14 @@ def __init__(self, server, data, initpath=None, parent=None):
         self._initpath = initpath or self.key
         self._parent = weakref.ref(parent) if parent is not None else None
         self._details_key = None
-        self._overwriteNone = True  # Allow overwriting previous attribute values with `None` when manually reloading
-        self._autoReload = True  # Automatically reload the object when accessing a missing attribute
-        self._edits = None  # Save batch edits for a single API call
+
+        # Allow overwriting previous attribute values with `None` when manually reloading
+        self._overwriteNone = True
+        # Automatically reload the object when accessing a missing attribute
+        self._autoReload = CONFIG.get('plexapi.autoreload', True, bool)
+        # Attribute to save batch edits for a single API call
+        self._edits = None
+
         if data is not None:
             self._loadData(data)
         self._details_key = self._buildDetailsKey()

plexapi/config.py

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 from collections import defaultdict
 from configparser import ConfigParser
 
+from plexapi import utils
+
 
 class PlexConfig(ConfigParser):
     """ PlexAPI configuration object. Settings are stored in an INI file within the
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ def get(self, key, default=None, cast=None):
                 # Second: check the config file has attr
                 section, name = key.lower().split('.')
                 value = self.data.get(section, {}).get(name, default)
-            return cast(value) if cast else value
+            return utils.cast(cast, value) if cast else value
         except:  # noqa: E722
             return default