The ConfigParser Module

The ConfigParser module reads configuration files.

The files should be written in a format similar to Windows INI files. The file contains one or more sections, separated by section names written in brackets. Each section can contain one or more configuration items.

Here's the sample file used in Example 5-16:

[book]
title: The Python Standard Library
author: Fredrik Lundh
email: [e-mail]
version: 2.0-001115

[ematter]
pages: 250

[hardcopy]
pages: 350

Example 5-16 uses the ConfigParser module to read the sample configuration file.

Example 5-16. Using the ConfigParser Module

File: configparser-example-1.py

import ConfigParser
import string

config = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()

config.read("samples/sample.ini")

# print summary
print
print string.upper(config.get("book", "title"))
print "by", config.get("book", "author"),
print "(" + config.get("book", "email") + ")"
print
print config.get("ematter", "pages"), "pages"
print

# dump entire config file
for section in config.sections():
 print section
 for option in config.options(section):
 print " ", option, "=", config.get(section, option)

THE PYTHON STANDARD LIBRARY
by Fredrik Lundh ([e-mail])

250 pages

book
 title = The Python Standard Library
 email = [e-mail]
 author = Fredrik Lundh
 version = 2.0-001115
 _ _name_ _ = book
ematter
 _ _name_ _ = ematter
 pages = 250
hardcopy
 _ _name_ _ = hardcopy
 pages = 350

In Python 2.0, the ConfigParser module also allows you to write configuration data to a file, as Example 5-17 shows.

Example 5-17. Using the ConfigParser Module to Write Configuration Data

File: configparser-example-2.py

import ConfigParser
import sys

config = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()

# set a number of parameters
config.add_section("book")
config.set("book", "title", "the python standard library")
config.set("book", "author", "fredrik lundh")

config.add_section("ematter")
config.set("ematter", "pages", 250)

# write to screen
config.write(sys.stdout)

[book]
title = the python standard library
author = fredrik lundh

[ematter]
pages = 250