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<H1><A NAME="SECTION0071000000000000000000">
5.10 <tt class="module">ConfigParser</tt> --
Configuration file parser</A>
</H1>
<P>
<P>
This module defines the class <tt class="class">ConfigParser</tt>.
<a name="l2h-1004"> </a>The <tt class="class">ConfigParser</tt> class implements a basic configuration file
parser language which provides a structure similar to what you would
find on Microsoft Windows INI files. You can use this to write Python
programs which can be customized by end users easily.
<P>
The configuration file consists of sections, lead by a
"<tt class="samp">[section]</tt>" header and followed by "<tt class="samp">name: value</tt>" entries,
with continuations in the style of <a class="rfc" name="rfcref-61420"
href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc822.html">RFC 822</a>; "<tt class="samp">name=value</tt>" is
also accepted. Note that leading whitespace is removed from values.
The optional values can contain format strings which refer to other
values in the same section, or values in a special
<code>DEFAULT</code> section. Additional defaults can be provided upon
initialization and retrieval. Lines beginning with "<tt class="character">#</tt>" or
"<tt class="character">;</tt>" are ignored and may be used to provide comments.
<P>
For example:
<P>
<dl><dd><pre class="verbatim">
foodir: %(dir)s/whatever
dir=frob
</pre></dl>
<P>
would resolve the "<tt class="samp">%(dir)s</tt>" to the value of
"<tt class="samp">dir</tt>" ("<tt class="samp">frob</tt>" in this case). All reference expansions are
done on demand.
<P>
Default values can be specified by passing them into the
<tt class="class">ConfigParser</tt> constructor as a dictionary. Additional defaults
may be passed into the <tt class="method">get()</tt> method which will override all
others.
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">class</span> <a name="l2h-995"><tt class="class">ConfigParser</tt></a></b>(<big>[</big><var>defaults</var><big>]</big>)
<dd>
Return a new instance of the <tt class="class">ConfigParser</tt> class. When
<var>defaults</var> is given, it is initialized into the dictionary of
intrinsic defaults. The keys must be strings, and the values must be
appropriate for the "<tt class="samp">%()s</tt>" string interpolation. Note that
<var>__name__</var> is an intrinsic default; its value is the section name,
and will override any value provided in <var>defaults</var>.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-996"><tt class="exception">NoSectionError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when a specified section is not found.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-997"><tt class="exception">DuplicateSectionError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when multiple sections with the same name are found,
or if <tt class="method">add_section()</tt> is called with the name of a section that
is already present.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-998"><tt class="exception">NoOptionError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when a specified option is not found in the specified
section.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-999"><tt class="exception">InterpolationError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when problems occur performing string interpolation.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-1000"><tt class="exception">InterpolationDepthError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when string interpolation cannot be completed because
the number of iterations exceeds <tt class="constant">MAX_INTERPOLATION_DEPTH</tt>.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-1001"><tt class="exception">MissingSectionHeaderError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when attempting to parse a file which has no section
headers.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><span class="typelabel">exception</span> <a name="l2h-1002"><tt class="exception">ParsingError</tt></a></b>
<dd>
Exception raised when errors occur attempting to parse a file.
</dl>
<P>
<dl><dt><b><a name="l2h-1003"><tt>MAX_INTERPOLATION_DEPTH</tt></a></b>
<dd>
The maximum depth for recursive interpolation for <tt class="method">get()</tt> when
the <var>raw</var> parameter is false. Setting this does not change the
allowed recursion depth.
</dl>
<P>
<div class="seealso">
<p class="heading"><b>See Also:</b></p>
<dl compact class="seemodule">
<dt>Module <b><tt class="module"><a href="module-shlex.html">shlex</a></tt>:</b>
<dd>Support for a creating Unix shell-like
minilanguages which can be used as an alternate format
for application configuration files.
</dl>
</div>
<P>
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<span class="release-info">Release 2.2, documentation updated on December 21, 2001.</span>
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