ini-file-parser

Sourceable Bash helper that reads INI-style config files. Bash has no built-in INI support; this script loads a file into per-section key/value arrays and optional section_key variables.

Requirements

• Bash 4.3 or later (namerefs)

Use

source src/ini-file-parser.sh
process_ini_file 'example.conf'
echo "$(get_value 'section1' 'value1')"
echo "${section1_value1}"

A full walkthrough is in demos/parse-example.sh. Sample files:

File	Description
simple example	Sections and key=value pairs.
complete example	Processing rules, warnings, and error conditions.

Processing rules

1. Empty lines are ignored.
2. Lines starting with # or ; (after trim) are ignored.
3. Keys defined before the first section go in default.
4. Section and key names keep only letters, digits, and underscores. Punctuation and blanks become _.
5. Section and key names are case-sensitive by default.
6. Leading and trailing whitespace is removed from keys and values.
7. Inline # or ; comments are removed only when preceded by whitespace, so URL fragments and values such as #fff or a;b;c are kept.
8. Quotes around a value are kept. 'quoted value' is stored as 'quoted value'.
9. Command-like text such as $(ls) is stored as a string. The parser never executes it.
10. Duplicate keys in a section warn; the last value wins.
11. After processing, each pair is also available as section_key=value.

Subroutines

Name	Purpose
process_ini_file	Load a named INI file. Returns 1 if the file cannot be read.
get_value	Return one value for a section and key.
display_config	Print the processed config in INI form.
display_config_by_section	Print one processed section.
global_reset	Drop all loaded sections, arrays, and scalars.
get_version	Print the library version string.

Global overrides

Set these before process_ini_file. Values must be true or false.

Name	Description	Default
case_sensitive_sections	Treat section names as case-sensitive.	true
case_sensitive_keys	Treat key names as case-sensitive.	true
default_to_uppercase	When case-insensitive, fold names to uppercase.	false
show_config_warnings	Print config warnings.	true
show_config_errors	Print config errors.	true

Warnings are yellow and errors are red when that stream is a colour-capable terminal. Set NO_COLOR to disable, or FORCE_COLOR=1 to enable in pipes.

show_config_warnings=false
case_sensitive_sections=false
source src/ini-file-parser.sh
process_ini_file 'example.conf'

Development

make init     # first-time makefile-skills checkout
make check    # shellcheck, bash -n, and tests/run_all.sh