itsy bitsey config parser

# The Itsy Bitsey Config Parser

import glob
import os

def parse(fname, extension, useFname, combineResults=False):
    # parses a config file, returns the result as a dict

    # if useFname is true, it will parse any file with the name
    # fname, and will ignore file extensions

    # if useFname is false, it will ignore the name of each file
    # and parse all files with a matching extension

    ### syntax ###
    # sect - begins a section
    # endsect - ends a section
    # [foo]=[bar] sets foo equal to bar

    ### example of syntax ###
    # file foo.txt
    """
    sect example
    str,cheese=yes
    spinach=nope!
    int,lbsOfCheese=417
    endsect

    float,uncatagorizedThing=42
    """

    # this will return a dict like this:
    # {name:"foo", sects:{example:{cheese:"yes", spinach:"nope!", lbsOfCheese:417}},
    # nosect:{uncatagorizedThing:42.0}}

    # combine results will cause the program to return all of the results form all files in a single
    # dict if set to true, otherwise, it will return a dict where each key corrosponds to the results of each file

    fList = [] # list of all files to be parsed
    retVal = {} # setup return value

    # decide how glob should get files
    if useFname == True:
        globString = fname + ".*"
    elif useFname == False:
        globString = "*." + extension
    else:
        print "ERROR: IBCP encountered an unhandled useFname argument: ", useFname
        return "ERROR"

    # compile list of files to parse
    for files in glob.glob(globString):
        fList.append(files)

    if combineResults == True:
        for files in fList:
            f = open(files, 'r')
            foo = doParse(f) # I know this is bad practice, IDGAF

            for key in foo:
                if key not in retVal:
                    retVal[key] = {}
                retVal[key] = dict(retVal[key].items() + foo[key].items())

        return retVal
    else:
        for files in fList:
            f = open(files, 'r')
            foo = doParse(f)

            thisKey = files.split('.')[0]
            if thisKey not in retVal:
                retVal[thisKey] = {}

            for key in foo:
                if key not in retVal[thisKey]:
                    retVal[thisKey][key] = {}
                retVal[thisKey][key] = dict(retVal[thisKey][key].items() + foo[key].items())
        return retVal

def doParse(f):
    # doParse actually does the parsing, and is spun off for modularity
    # f should actuall be the contents of the file

    # doParse shouldbe called like this:
    # f=open('something','flag')
    # doParse(f)

    inSect = False # currently parsing a section?
    thisSect = '' # name of the current section
    retVal = {} # value to be returned

    retVal['nosect'] = {} # add a value for sectionless items

    for line in f:
        line = line.rstrip('\n')
        if line != '':
            if line.split(' ')[0] == 'sect':
                inSect = True
                thisSect = line.split(' ')[1]
                retVal[thisSect] = {}
            elif line == 'endsect':
                inSect = False
                thisSect = ''
            else:
                # store the value (line[1]) at the key (line[0])
                line = lineParser(line)
                if inSect == True:
                    retVal[thisSect][line[0]]=line[1]
                else:
                    retVal['nosect'][line[0]]=line[1]
    return retVal

def lineParser(line):
    # parses an individual line
    if line.split(',')[0] == 'int':
        line = line.split(',')[1] # remove the type declaration
        return [line.split('=')[0],int(line.split('=')[1])]
    elif line.split(',')[0] == 'float':
        line = line.split(',')[1] # remove the type declaration
        return [line.split('=')[0],float(line.split('=')[1])]
    elif line.split(',')[0] == 'str':
        line = line.split(',')[1] # remove the type declaration
        return [line.split('=')[0],line.split('=')[1]]
    else:
        return [line.split('=')[0],line.split('=')[1]]