Something like this should work:
def my_parser(fh, key_pattern):
d = {}
for line in fh:
if line.startswith(key_pattern):
name = line.strip()
break
# This list will hold the lines
lines = []
# Now iterate to find the lines
for line in fh:
line = line.strip()
if not line:
continue
if line.startswith(key_pattern):
# When in this block we have reached
# the next record
# Add to the dict
d[name] = ",".join(lines)
# Reset the lines and save the
# name of the next record
lines = []
name = line
# skip to next line
continue
lines.append(line)
d[name] = ",".join(lines)
return d
Use like so:
with open("myfile.txt", "r") as fh:
d = my_parser(fh, "InfoType")
# {'InfoType 0 :': 'string1,string2,string3',
# 'InfoType 1 :': 'string1,string2,string3',
# 'InfoType 3 :': 'string1,string2,string3'}
There are limitations, such as:
- Duplicate keys
- The key needs processing
You could get around these by making the function a generator
and yielding name, str
pairs and processing them as you read the file.