commented-configparser

A Custom ConfigParser class to parse UE5 config file and format them while preserving comments in file and Array keys.

This library gives you a custom class of the standard library's configparser.ConfigParger which will preserve the comments and Array keys of a loaded config file when writing that file back out.

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Install via pip

From pypi:

python -m pip install commented-configparser

From github:

python -m pip install commented-configparser@git+https://github.com/Preocts/commented-configparser@main

Note: Replace main with the desired tag or branch. This can be placed in a requirements.txt file as well.

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Example use

from UnrealConfigParser import UnrealConfigParser

# Load the config like normal
config = UnrealConfigParser()
config.read("myconfig.ini")

# Use the config like normal
...

# Update the config like normal
...

# Save the config back to the file
with open("myconfig.ini", "w") as savefile:
    config.write(savefile)

Results

We favor the line spacing choices of the ConfigParser class so the input format may not be preserved completely. However, the comments will be preserved.

Before

# Welcome to our config
[DEFAULT]
# This value has some meaning to someone
foo=bar
# Make sure to add this when you need it
trace=false
logging=true
; This is a comment as well

    # so we need to track all of them

	; and many could be between things
[NEW SECTION]
# Another comment
multi-line=
	value01
	value02
	value03
closing=0
# Trailing comment

After

# Welcome to our config
[DEFAULT]
# This value has some meaning to someone
foo=bar
# Make sure to add this when you need it
trace=false
logging=true
; This is a comment as well
    # so we need to track all of them
	; and many could be between things

[NEW SECTION]
# Another comment
multi-line=
	value01
	value02
	value03
closing=0
# Trailing comment

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Local developer installation

It is strongly recommended to use a virtual environment (venv) when working with python projects. Leveraging a venv will ensure the installed dependency files will not impact other python projects or any system dependencies.

The following steps outline how to install this repo for local development. See the CONTRIBUTING.md file in the repo root for information on contributing to the repo.

Windows users: Depending on your python install you will use py in place of python to create the venv.

Linux/Mac users: Replace python, if needed, with the appropriate call to the desired version while creating the venv. (e.g. python3 or python3.8)

All users: Once inside an active venv all systems should allow the use of python for command line instructions. This will ensure you are using the venv's python and not the system level python.

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Installation steps

Clone this repo and enter root directory of repo:

$ git clone https://github.com/Preocts/commented-configparser
$ cd commented-configparser

Create the venv:

$ python -m venv venv

Activate the venv:

# Linux/Mac
$ . venv/bin/activate

# Windows
$ venv\Scripts\activate

The command prompt should now have a (venv) prefix on it. python will now call the version of the interpreter used to create the venv

Install editable library and development requirements:

# Update pip and tools
$ python -m pip install --upgrade pip

# Install editable version of library
$ python -m pip install --editable .[dev]

Install pre-commit (see below for details):

$ pre-commit install

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Misc Steps

Run pre-commit on all files:

$ pre-commit run --all-files

Run tests:

$ tox [-r] [-e py3x]

Build dist:

$ python -m pip install --upgrade build

$ python -m build

To deactivate (exit) the venv:

$ deactivate

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Note on flake8:

flake8 is included in the requirements-dev.txt of the project. However it disagrees with black, the formatter of choice, on max-line-length and two general linting errors. .pre-commit-config.yaml is already configured to ignore these. flake8 doesn't support pyproject.toml so be sure to add the following to the editor of choice as needed.

--ignore=W503,E203
--max-line-length=88

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pre-commit

A framework for managing and maintaining multi-language pre-commit hooks.

This repo is setup with a .pre-commit-config.yaml with the expectation that any code submitted for review already passes all selected pre-commit checks. pre-commit is installed with the development requirements and runs seemlessly with git hooks.

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Makefile

This repo has a Makefile with some quality of life scripts if the system supports make. Please note there are no checks for an active venv in the Makefile.

PHONY	Description
init	Update pip to newest version
install	install the project
install-dev	install development/test requirements and project as editable install
upgrade-dev	update all dependencies, regenerate requirements.txt (disabled by default)
build-dist	Build source distribution and wheel distribution
clean	Deletes build, tox, coverage, pytest, mypy, cache, and pyc artifacts