Reading raw section with ConfigParser
<p>I'm attempting to use the <a href="http://docs.python.org/2/library/configparser.html" rel="nofollow">ConfigParser</a> module to process a file that is <strong>almost</strong> completely in the .ini format.  I want to know if it's possible to read a section 'raw' where I just get the full text inside the section.  If not possible, I'd like to know if there is another 'standard-ish' approach (with a built-in module(s)) to deal with this type of file, possibly including <a href="http://docs.python.org/2/library/shlex.html#module-shlex" rel="nofollow">shlex</a> or something similar in the standard library.</p>

<p>I've looked through the source of <a href="http://docs.python.org/2/library/configparser.html" rel="nofollow">ConfigParser</a>, and it doesn't look like the text is stored 'raw' anywhere so I'm guessing it's not possible.</p>

<p>I think an example of the file I'm trying to parse will help.  I'd like to have a file with 3 sections:</p>

<pre><code>[load]
files=a,b,c

[process]
&lt;raw python code&gt;

[export]
files=x,y,z
</code></pre>

<p>The idea is that the load/export sections are the exact format/behavior assumed by the ConfigParser module.  However, the <code>process</code> section needs to be read as raw Python code.  Users will put raw code in here that needs to be executed a number of times based on data loaded from files in the <code>load</code> section.</p>

<p>This isn't the most complicated format, so I could easily write my own parser.  I also have the ability to change the format of the file to not be .ini style if needed.  I just want to provide users with the ability to have multiple sections and a 'raw' Python code section.  Maybe ConfigParser is the wrong approach entirely.</p>

<p>I'd prefer to not write my own parser for this just because it seems so similar to existing formats.  However, I could easily choose another 'standard' format if it's better suited.  I just don't know of other such formats.</p>
