iniparser - read / parse INI configuration, settings and data files into a hash (incl. named subsections)

Usage

INI.load • INI.load_file

Option 1) INI.load - load from string. Example:

hash = INI.load( "  title = Planet Open Data News\n\n  [Open Street Map (OSM) News]\n    feed = https://blog.openstreetmap.org/feed\n" )

Option 2) INI.load_file - load from file (shortcut). Example:

hash = INI.load_file( './planet.ini' )

All together now. Example:

require 'iniparser'

text = "# comment\n; another comment\n\nkey1 = hello\nkey2 = hi!\n\n[section1]\nkey3 = salut    # end of line comment here\n\n[section2]\nkey4  = hola    ; another end of line comment here\nblank =\nblank2\n\n[section3 \"http://example.com\"]\n# comment here\ntitle  = A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?\n; another comment here\ntitle2 = A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?\n"

hash = INI.load( text )
pp hash

resulting in:

{"key1"=>"hello",
 "key2"=>"hi!",
 "section1"=>{"key3"=>"salut"},
 "section2"=>{"key4"=>"hola", "blank"=>"", "blank2"=>""},
 "section3"=>{"http://example.com"=>{"title"=>"A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?",
                                     "title2"=>"A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?"}}}

to access use:

puts hash['key1']
#=> 'hello'
puts hash['key2']
#=> 'hi!'
puts hash['section1']['key3']
#=> 'salut'
puts hash['section2']['key4']
#=> 'hola'
puts hash['section2']['blank']
#=> ''
puts hash['section2']['blank2']
#=> ''      
puts hash['section3']['http://example.com']['title']
#=> 'A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?'
puts hash['section3']['http://example.com']['title2']
#=> 'A rose is a rose is a rose, eh?'

Real World Example

Git Config

#
# This is the config file, and
# a '#' or ';' character indicates
# a comment
#

; core variables
[core]
  ; Don't trust file modes
  filemode = false

; Our diff algorithm
[diff]
  external = /usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper
  renames = true

; Proxy settings
[core]
  gitproxy=proxy-command for kernel.org
  gitproxy=default-proxy ; for all the rest

; HTTP
[http]
  sslVerify
[http "https://weak.example.com"]
  sslVerify = false
  cookieFile = /tmp/cookie.txt

resulting in a format warning:

WARN: line 20 - duplicate key >gitproxy< in section; will overwrite existing value

and:

{"core"=>{"filemode"=>"false", "gitproxy"=>"default-proxy"},
 "diff"=>{"external"=>"/usr/local/bin/diff-wrapper", "renames"=>"true"},
 "http"=>
  {"sslVerify"=>"",
   "https://weak.example.com"=>
    {"sslVerify"=>"false", "cookieFile"=>"/tmp/cookie.txt"}}}

"Classic" Windows INI Config

; last modified 1 April 2001 by John Doe
[owner]
name=John Doe
organization=Acme Widgets Inc.

[database]
; use IP address in case network name resolution is not working
server=192.0.2.62
port=143
file=payroll.dat

resulting in:

{"owner"=>{"name"=>"John Doe", "organization"=>"Acme Widgets Inc."},
 "database"=>{"server"=>"192.0.2.62", "port"=>"143", "file"=>"payroll.dat"}}

Planet Pluto Config

title = Planet Ruby

[Ruby Lang News]
  feed = http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss

[Rails Girls Summer of Code News]
  feed = https://railsgirlssummerofcode.org/blog.xml


[Benoit Daloze]
  feed     = https://eregon.me/blog/feed.xml
  location = Z

resulting in:

{"title"=>"Planet Ruby",
 "Ruby Lang News"=>
  {"feed"=>"http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss"},
 "Rails Girls Summer of Code News"=>
  {"feed"=>"https://railsgirlssummerofcode.org/blog.xml"},
 "Benoit Daloze"=>
  {"feed"=>"https://eregon.me/blog/feed.xml",
   "location"=>"Z\u00FCrich \u203A Switzerland"},
 "Thomas Leitner"=>
  {"feed"=>"https://gettalong.org/posts.atom",
   "location"=>"Vienna \u2022 Wien \u203A Austria"},
 "Pawe\u0142 \u015Awi\u0105tkowski"=>
  {"feed"=>"https://rubytuesday.katafrakt.me/feed.xml",
   "location"=>"Krak\u00F3w \u203A Poland"}}

Rosetta Stone - Read A Configuration File

# This is a configuration file in standard configuration file format
#
# Lines beginning with a hash or a semicolon are ignored by the application
# program. Blank lines are also ignored by the application program.

# This is the fullname parameter
FULLNAME Foo Barber

# This is a favourite fruit
FAVOURITEFRUIT banana

# This is a boolean that should be set
NEEDSPEELING

# This boolean is commented out
; SEEDSREMOVED

# Configuration option names are not case sensitive, but configuration parameter
# data is case sensitive and may be preserved by the application program.

# An optional equals sign can be used to separate configuration parameter data
# from the option name. This is dropped by the parser. 

# A configuration option may take multiple parameters separated by commas.
# Leading and trailing whitespace around parameter names and parameter data fields
# are ignored by the application program.

OTHERFAMILY Rhu Barber, Harry Barber

resulting in:

{"FULLNAME"=>"Foo Barber",
 "FAVOURITEFRUIT"=>"banana",
 "NEEDSPEELING"=>"",
 "OTHERFAMILY"=>"Rhu Barber, Harry Barber"}

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and Answers

Q: Why not use TOML (Tom's Obvious, Minimal Language)?

The IniParser returns a simple (nested) hash table and all values are always strings, period (no auto-magic type inference or casting) and you MUST always use strings "unquoted" e.g.

title = Planet Open Data News

instead of requiring "typed" quoted string values:

title = "Planet Open Data News"

Yes, TOML is great for more "advanced" INI configurations / settings that require (strong) data types, nested lists, inline arrays, and much more.

Again the IniParser returns a simple (nested) "standard" hash table and all values are always strings, period (no auto-magic type inference or casting e.g. no conversion to bool (for true/false) or numbers (for 1,2, etc.). No wrapper around Hash or anything. Here be dragons ;-).

The popular IniFile CANNOT handle properties without values. Example: 

[http]
  sslVerify

resulting in:

ERROR: Could not parse line: "  sslVerify" (IniFile::Error)

And parses "modern" named subsections into "flat" sections. Example:

[http]
  ; sslVerify
[http "https://weak.example.com"]
  sslVerify = false
  cookieFile = /tmp/cookie.txt

resulting in:

{"http"=>{},
 "http \"https://weak.example.com\""=>
  {"sslVerify"=>false, "cookieFile"=>"/tmp/cookie.txt"}}}

and NOT resulting in:

{"http"=>
  {"https://weak.example.com"=>
    {"sslVerify"=>false, "cookieFile"=>"/tmp/cookie.txt"}}}

Q: What are some known IniParser format quirks?

No quoted values (e.g. "Hello") or escapes (e.g. \# \n) or quoted values with escapes (e.g. "\n").

No multi-line support for values.

Inline end-of-line comments MUST start with at least one leading space (e.g. test.html#test is NOT an inline end-of-line comment but test.html #test is).

Property key names must match the text pattern / regular expression [a-zA-Z0-9_]([a-zA-Z0-9_-]*[a-zA-Z0-9_])?, that is, use a-z / A-Z, 0-9 or underscore (_) and dash (-) only inside BUT no dot (.) for now.

License

The iniparser scripts are dedicated to the public domain. Use it as you please with no restrictions whatsoever.

Questions? Comments?

Post them to the wwwmake forum. Thanks!