Restructure and clean node configuration pipeline

[cmower]

Current node configuration pipeline is convoluted, and a better solution is required.

ark_framework/ark/client/comm_infrastructure/endpoint.py

Lines 37 to 121 in fd76793

	def _load_network_config(self, global_config: str | Path | dict | None) -> None:
	"""!
	Load and update the network configuration from the given input.
	This method accepts a string path, a :class:`Path` object, a dictionary
	or ``None``. The resulting configuration is stored in
	``self.network_config``.
	@param global_config: Path to a YAML file, a dictionary containing the
	network configuration, or ``None`` to use defaults.
	@return: ``None``. ``self.network_config`` is updated in place.
	"""
	self.network_config = {}
	# extract network part of the global config
	if isinstance(global_config, str):
	global_config = Path(global_config) # Convert string to a Path object
	# Check if the given path exists
	if not global_config.exists():
	log.error(
	"Given configuration file path does not exist. Using default system configuration."
	)
	return # Exit the function if the file does not exist
	# Resolve relative paths to absolute paths
	elif not global_config.is_absolute():
	global_config = global_config.resolve()
	# If global_config is now a Path object, treat it as a configuration file
	if isinstance(global_config, Path):
	config_path = str(global_config) # Convert Path to string
	try:
	# Attempt to open and read the YAML configuration file
	with open(config_path, "r") as file:
	cfg = (
	yaml.safe_load(file) or {}
	) # Load YAML content, default to an empty dictionary if None
	except Exception as e:
	log.error(
	f"Error reading config file {config_path}: {e}. Using default system configuration."
	)
	return {} # Exit on failure to read file
	try:
	# Extract and update the 'system' configuration if it exists in the loaded YAML
	if "network" in cfg:
	self.network_config.update(cfg.get("network", self.network_config))
	else:
	log.warn(
	f"Couldn't find system in config. Using default system configuration."
	)
	return # Successfully updated configuration
	except Exception as e:
	log.error(
	f"Invalid entry in 'system' for. Using default system configuration."
	)
	return # Exit if there's an error updating the config
	# If global_config is a dictionary, assume it directly contains configuration values
	elif isinstance(global_config, dict):
	try:
	# check if system exists in the global_config
	if "network" in global_config:
	self.network_config.update(global_config.get("network"))
	else:
	log.warn(
	f"Couldn't find system in config. Using default system configuration."
	)
	except Exception as e:
	log.warn(
	f"Couldn't find system in config. Using default system configuration."
	)
	# If no configuration is provided (None), log a warning and use the default config
	elif global_config is None:
	log.warn(
	f"No global configuration provided. Using default system configuration."
	)
	# If global_config is of an unsupported type, log an error and use the default config
	else:
	log.error(
	f"Invalid global configuration type: {type(global_config)}. Using default system configuration."
	)

• Too much freedom is given to the user (ie better to just get them always to simply pass a path).
• We can simplify to one configuration (or even simply a CLI) per node.
• Having a global configuration potentially still could be possible, eg for communication handling - ie parameters that apply to everything.
• Potential idea: make parameters automatically be serviceable (ie other nodes can retrieve parameter values)