Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/dev' into feature/2646_Update-pre-commit-to-check-for-valid-copyright

src/primaite/simulator/core.py

@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ class SimComponent(BaseModel):
         return state
 
     @validate_call
-    def apply_request(self, request: RequestFormat, context: Dict = {}) -> RequestResponse:
+    def apply_request(self, request: RequestFormat, context: Optional[Dict] = None) -> RequestResponse:
         """
         Apply a request to a simulation component. Request data is passed in as a 'namespaced' list of strings.
 
@@ -240,6 +240,8 @@ class SimComponent(BaseModel):
         :param: context: Dict containing context for requests
         :type context: Dict
         """
+        if not context:
+            context = None
         if self._request_manager is None:
             return
         return self._request_manager(request, context)