using assignParameters as parameter set method; robust support and us…

…e across library. (#947)

* removing model call(); adding Model init to AgentType and Market, fixes #679

* changelog for issue #934

* Removing 'Now' from model variables in ConsIndShock #920

* removing "Now" from model variable names, see #920

* changes to make ConsAggShockModel work without 'Now' in model variables, fixes #920

* changelog for #920

* removing model call(); adding Model init to AgentType and Market, fixes #679

* changelog for issue #934

Documentation/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ interpolation for problems with CRRA utility. See [#888](https://github.com/econ
 * Corrects location of constructor documentation to class string for Sphinx rendering [#908](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/908)
 * Adds a module with tools for parsing and using various income calibrations from the literature. It includes the option of using life-cycle profiles of income shock variances from [Sabelhaus and Song (2010)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304393210000358). See [#921](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/921), [#941](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/941).
 * remove "Now" from model variable names [#936](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/936)
+* remove Model.__call__; use Model init in Market and AgentType init to standardize on parameters dictionary [#947](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/issues/947)
 * Moves state MrkvNow to shocks['Mrkv'] in AggShockMarkov and KrusellSmith models [#935](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/935)
 * Replaces `ConsIndShock`'s `init_lifecycle` with an actual life-cycle calibration [#951](https://github.com/econ-ark/HARK/pull/951).
 

HARK/ConsumptionSaving/tests/test_ConsAggShockModel.py

@@ -263,6 +263,6 @@ def test_economy(self):
 
         self.assertAlmostEqual(self.economy.history["Aprev"][4], 11.009107526443584)
 
-        self.assertAlmostEqual(self.economy.history["Mrkv"][40], 1)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(self.economy.history['Mrkv'][40], 1)
 
         self.assertAlmostEqual(self.economy.history["Urate"][12], 0.040000000000000036)

HARK/ConsumptionSaving/tests/test_PerfForesightConsumerType.py

@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def test_simulation(self):
             "T_age": None,  # Age after which simulated agents are automatically killed
         }
 
-        self.agent_infinite(
+        self.agent_infinite.assignParameters(
             **SimulationParams
         )  # This implicitly uses the assignParameters method of AgentType
 

HARK/core.py

@@ -169,23 +169,36 @@ def assignParameters(self, **kwds):
         -------
         none
         """
-        self.parameters = kwds
+        self.parameters.update(kwds)
         for key in kwds:
             setattr(self, key, kwds[key])
 
-    def __call__(self, **kwds):
+    def get_parameter(self, name):
         """
-        Assign an arbitrary number of attributes to this agent, as a convenience.
-        See assignParameters.
+        Returns a parameter of this model
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        name : string
+            The name of the parameter to get
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        value :
+            The value of the parameter
         """
-        self.assignParameters(**kwds)
+        return self.parameters[name]
 
     def __eq__(self, other):
         if isinstance(other, type(self)):
             return self.parameters == other.parameters
 
         return notImplemented
 
+    def __init__(self):
+        if not hasattr(self, 'parameters'):
+            self.parameters = {}
+
     def __str__(self):
 
         type_ = type(self)
@@ -261,6 +274,8 @@ def __init__(
         seed=0,
         **kwds
     ):
+        super().__init__()
+
         if solution_terminal is None:
             solution_terminal = NullFunc()
 
@@ -1116,6 +1131,7 @@ def __init__(
         tolerance=0.000001,
         **kwds
     ):
+        super().__init__()
         self.agents = agents if agents is not None else list()  # NOQA
 
         reap_vars = reap_vars if reap_vars is not None else list()  # NOQA