> The lazy way to do this: have modules that initialize bunches of > objects, attributes holding the data: the object is somehow the row of > the "table", attribute names being the column. This is the way I > proceeded up to now. > Data input this way are almost "configuration data", with 2 big > drawbacks: > - Only a python programmer can fix the file: this cant be called a > configuration file. > - Even for the author, these data aint easy to maintain. > > I feel pretty much ready to change this: > - make these data true text data, easier to read and fix. > - write the module that will make python objects out of these data: > the extra cost should yield ease of use. > > 2 questions arise: > - which kind of text data? > - csv: ok for simple attributes, not easy for lists or complex > data. > - xml: the form wont be easier to read than python code, > but an xml editor could be used, and a formal description > of what is expected can be used. > - how can I make the data-to-object transformation both easy, and able > to spot errors in text data? > > Last, but not least: is there a python lib implementing at least part > of this dream?
there is a csv parser and multiple xml parsers in python (eg xml.etree) also there is a ConfigParser module (able to parse .ini like config files) i personally like the python module as config file the most eg if you need a bunch of key-value pairs or lists of data: * python's syntax is pretty nice (dict, tuples and lists or just key=value) * xml is absolutely out of question * csv is very limited * .ini like config file for more complex stuff is not bad but then you can use .py as well. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
