'elements separated by comma could be empty'

def _makeNodesFromString(self, string, depth):

    if (string.find('(') != (-1)):
        raise Exception(('Tree    is    not    well    form,    location:    ' + string))
    childrenString = string.split(',')
    childrenNodes = []
    for childString in childrenString:
        if (len(childString) == 0):
            continue
        nodeInfo = childString.split(':')
        (name, length, bootstrap) = ('', None, (-1))
        if (len(nodeInfo) == 2):
            length = nodeInfo[1]
            name = nodeInfo[0]
            try:
                name = float(name)
                if (0 <= name <= 1):
                    bootstrap = name
                elif (1 <= name <= 100):
                    bootstrap = (name / 100)
                name = ''
            except ValueError:
                name = nodeInfo[0]
        else:
            name = nodeInfo[0]
        node = self.phyloTree.makeNode(name, length=length, depth=depth, bootstrap=bootstrap)
        childrenNodes += [node]
    return childrenNodes
