Merge pull request #2207 from larrybradley/build-epsf

Make build_epsf method public

Author: larrybradley

docs/whats_new/3.0.rst

@@ -470,9 +470,6 @@ a future version. Update your code to use the new name::
 Breaking Changes
 ----------------
 
-The ``EPSFBuilder.build_epsf()`` method has been removed. Use the
-``EPSFBuilder`` callable interface instead (i.e., ``builder(stars)``).
-
 The ``norm_radius`` keyword has been removed from
 :class:`~photutils.psf.EPSFBuilder`. This keyword is no
 longer relevant because the ePSF is now built directly as an

photutils/psf/epsf_builder.py

@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ def __call__(self, stars):
         result : `EPSFBuildResult`
             The result of the ePSF building process.
         """
-        return self._build_epsf(stars)
+        return self.build_epsf(stars)
 
     def _validate_fitter_maxiters(self, fitter_maxiters):
         """
@@ -1968,17 +1968,22 @@ def _finalize_build(self, epsf, stars, progress_reporter, iter_num,
             excluded_star_indices=excluded_star_indices,
         )
 
-    def _build_epsf(self, stars, *, epsf=None):
+    def build_epsf(self, stars, *, epsf=None):
         """
         Build iteratively an ePSF from star cutouts.
 
+        This method builds an ePSF from an initial model when ``epsf``
+        is provided, or from scratch when ``epsf`` is `None`. In the
+        latter case, it is equivalent to invoking an `EPSFBuilder`
+        instance on the input ``stars``.
+
         Parameters
         ----------
         stars : `EPSFStars` object
             The stars used to build the ePSF.
 
         epsf : `ImagePSF` object, optional
-            The initial ePSF model. If not input, then the ePSF will be
+            The initial ePSF model. If `None`, then the ePSF will be
             built from scratch.
 
         Returns

photutils/psf/tests/test_epsf_builder.py

@@ -1649,7 +1649,7 @@ def __call__(self, model, *_args, **_kwargs):
 
     def test_build_tracks_excluded_indices(self, epsf_test_data):
         """
-        Test that _build_epsf properly tracks excluded star indices.
+        Test that build_epsf properly tracks excluded star indices.
         """
         stars = extract_stars(epsf_test_data['nddata'],
                               epsf_test_data['init_stars'][:10], size=11)