def replace_grist (features, new_grist):
    """ Replaces the grist of a string by a new one.
        Returns the string with the new grist.
    """
    assert is_iterable_typed(features, basestring) or isinstance(features, basestring)
    assert isinstance(new_grist, basestring)
    # this function is used a lot in the build phase and the original implementation
    # was extremely slow; thus some of the weird-looking optimizations for this function.
    single_item = False
    if isinstance(features, str):
        features = [features]
        single_item = True

    result = []
    for feature in features:
        # '<feature>value' -> ('<feature', '>', 'value')
        # 'something' -> ('something', '', '')
        # '<toolset>msvc/<feature>value' -> ('<toolset', '>', 'msvc/<feature>value')
        grist, split, value = feature.partition('>')
        # if a partition didn't occur, then grist is just 'something'
        # set the value to be the grist
        if not value and not split:
            value = grist
        result.append(new_grist + value)

    if single_item:
        return result[0]
    return result
Replaces the grist of a string by a new one.
        Returns the string with the new grist.