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INI Format

Description​

INI (Initialization) format is a simple configuration file format used for storing application settings. It supports sections (marked with [section]) and key-value pairs. The format is also used for properties files (without sections).

File Extensions​

  • .ini - INI configuration files
  • .properties - Properties files (alias)
  • .conf - Configuration files (alias)

Implementation Details​

Reading​

The INI implementation:

  • Uses Python's configparser module
  • Supports sections and key-value pairs
  • Handles properties files (no sections)
  • Converts sections to records with _section field
  • Falls back to simple key=value parsing if configparser fails

Writing​

Writing support:

  • Writes INI format with sections
  • Supports key-value pairs
  • Can write properties format (no sections)

Key Features​

  • Section support: Handles INI sections
  • Properties format: Also supports properties files
  • Simple format: Easy to read and write
  • Configuration files: Designed for application configuration

Usage​

from iterable import open_iterable

# Basic reading
with open_iterable('config.ini') as source:
    for row in source:
        print(row)  # Each row has _section and key-value pairs

# Writing
with open_iterable('output.ini', mode='w') as dest:
    dest.write({'_section': 'database', 'host': 'localhost', 'port': '5432'})

Parameters​

  • encoding (str): File encoding (default: utf8)

Limitations​

  1. Simple format: Limited to key-value pairs
  2. No nested structures: Doesn't support complex nested data
  3. Type handling: All values are strings
  4. Section handling: Sections are converted to _section field

Compression Support​

INI files can be compressed with all supported codecs:

  • GZip (.ini.gz)
  • BZip2 (.ini.bz2)
  • LZMA (.ini.xz)
  • LZ4 (.ini.lz4)
  • ZIP (.ini.zip)
  • Brotli (.ini.br)
  • ZStandard (.ini.zst)

Use Cases​

  • Configuration files: Application and system configuration
  • Properties files: Java-style properties files
  • Settings storage: Storing application settings
  • Simple config: When you need simple key-value configuration

Error Handling​

  • Missing dependency: optional libraries raise ImportError with an install hint (pip install 'iterabledata[<extra>]' when an extra exists).
  • Write mode: read-only formats raise WriteNotSupportedError or ValueError when opened with mode="w".
  • Bad or unsupported input: may raise ValueError, OSError, or library-specific errors.
  • See Troubleshooting for decoding, detection, and engine issues.
  • TOML - More advanced configuration format
  • YAML - Another configuration format
  • JSON - Structured configuration format