Nicely parsing a multiline config file in python

Question

I need a config file to generate my scripts.

[PATHS]
elements = elementA,elementB,elementC,elementD,elementE,elementF,elementG,elementH,elementJ,elementK

As you notice after a point the line gets too long. I can not keep track of the elements written in it and does not look nice at all.

In my script I do the following to read elements:

elements = config["PATHS"]["elements"].split(",")

Is there a nicer way to handle this? I would prefer something that includes linebreak and tabs, for example:

[PATHS]
elements = 
    - elementA
    - elementB
    - elementC
    - elementD
    - elementE
    - elementF
    - elementG
    - elementH
    - elementJ
    - elementK

Any suggestions from the more experienced are welcome too.

I tried splitting with .split("\n\t\t- ") but did not do the work

print("1",config["PATHS"]["elements"])

1 
- elementA
- elementB
- elementC


print("2",config["PATHS"]["elements"].strip())
2 - elementA
- elementB
- elementC


print("3",config["PATHS"]["elements"].strip().split('\n'))
3 ['- elementA', '- elementB', '- elementC']

`config type: `; if you are asking for `elements` it should be a list of strings — Kristof Pal, Mar 03 '16 at 17:20
Is the `-` important to you? Can the elements just be each on their own line? — Robᵩ, Mar 03 '16 at 17:25
not important, just would be a nice-to-have for readability. The elements can be each on their own line, with a little bit of indentation — Kristof Pal, Mar 03 '16 at 17:27
Check this http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11399665/new-lines-with-pythons-configparser — Rohit, Mar 03 '16 at 17:30

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 03 '16 at 17:27

3

This might do what you want:

elements = [
    element.strip(' -')
    for element in config["PATHS"]["elements"].strip().split('\n')]

answered Mar 03 '16 at 17:27

Robᵩ

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seems to do the job! just out of curiosity, which one of the `strip()` and `split()` is applied first? Want to know what happens internally... – Kristof Pal Mar 03 '16 at 17:35
`strip()` removes default whitespaces, `split('\n')` creates a list separating the elements whenever it sees a `\n`, `strip(' -')` removes ` -` from each of those elements – Kristof Pal Mar 03 '16 at 18:08
I've always been partial to `s.splitlines()` vs. `s.split('\n')`. `splitlines` is OS-line-ending aware, plus I just find the no-arg function call cleaner-looking. – PaulMcG Mar 04 '16 at 15:28

Nicely parsing a multiline config file in python

1 Answers1