fix: update .gitignore and .env files, enhance SolrTermInfoFetcher with lazy loading for vfb_connect, and refactor vfb_queries for lazy import of dict_cursor

Author: Robbie1977

.env

@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+PYTHONPATH=${workspaceFolder}/src
+MPLBACKEND=Agg
+VISPY_GL_LIB=osmesa
+VISPY_USE_EGL=0

.gitignore

@@ -8,3 +8,7 @@ src/vfbquery/ontology/__pycache__/
 build/
 test_examples.py
 test_results.py
+.vscode
+.pytest_cache
+.venv
+.vscode/settings.json

.vscode/settings.json

@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@
         "-s",
         "./src/test/",
         "-p",
-        "*.py"
+        "*test*.py"
     ],
     "python.testing.pytestEnabled": false,
-    "python.testing.unittestEnabled": true
+    "python.testing.unittestEnabled": true,
+    "python.testing.cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
+    "python.envFile": "${workspaceFolder}/.env",
+    "python.terminal.activateEnvironment": true,
+    "python.defaultInterpreterPath": "${workspaceFolder}/.venv/bin/python"
 }

src/test/term_info_queries_test.py

@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ def test_term_info_serialization_individual_anatomy(self):
                          'reference': '[VFB_00017894,VFB_00010001]'} in serialized["thumbnail"])
 
     def test_term_info_serialization_class(self):
-        term_info_dict = self.vc.get_TermInfo(['FBbt_00048531'], return_dataframe=False, summary=False)[0]
+        term_info_dict = self.vc.get_TermInfo(['FBbt_0004853'], return_dataframe=False, summary=False)[0]
         print(term_info_dict)
         start_time = time.time()
         serialized = process(term_info_dict, self.variable)

src/vfbquery/solr_fetcher.py

@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 import logging
 import pandas as pd
 from typing import List, Dict, Any, Optional, Union
-from vfb_connect import vfb
 
 class SolrTermInfoFetcher:
     """Fetches term information directly from the Solr server instead of using VfbConnect"""
@@ -12,7 +11,19 @@ def __init__(self, solr_url: str = "https://solr.virtualflybrain.org/solr/vfb_js
         """Initialize with the Solr server URL"""
         self.solr_url = solr_url
         self.logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
-        self.vfb = vfb
+        self._vfb = None  # Lazy load vfb_connect
+    
+    @property
+    def vfb(self):
+        """Lazy load vfb_connect to avoid import issues during testing"""
+        if self._vfb is None:
+            try:
+                from vfb_connect import vfb
+                self._vfb = vfb
+            except ImportError as e:
+                self.logger.error(f"Could not import vfb_connect: {e}")
+                raise ImportError("vfb_connect is required but could not be imported")
+        return self._vfb
 
     def get_TermInfo(self, short_forms: List[str], 
                     return_dataframe: bool = False, 

src/vfbquery/vfb_queries.py

@@ -2,14 +2,22 @@
 from .term_info_queries import deserialize_term_info
 # Replace VfbConnect import with our new SolrTermInfoFetcher
 from .solr_fetcher import SolrTermInfoFetcher
-# Keep dict_cursor if it's used elsewhere
-from vfb_connect.cross_server_tools import dict_cursor
+# Keep dict_cursor if it's used elsewhere - lazy import to avoid GUI issues
 from marshmallow import Schema, fields, post_load
 from typing import List, Tuple, Dict, Any, Union
 import pandas as pd
 from marshmallow import ValidationError
 import json
 
+# Lazy import for dict_cursor to avoid GUI library issues
+def get_dict_cursor():
+    """Lazy import dict_cursor to avoid import issues during testing"""
+    try:
+        from vfb_connect.cross_server_tools import dict_cursor
+        return dict_cursor
+    except ImportError as e:
+        raise ImportError(f"vfb_connect is required but could not be imported: {e}")
+
 # Connect to the VFB SOLR server
 vfb_solr = pysolr.Solr('http://solr.virtualflybrain.org/solr/vfb_json/', always_commit=False, timeout=990)