#!/usr/bin/env python import sys if len(sys.argv) >= 2: filename = sys.argv[1] else: filename = "data.txt" data = {} try: with open(filename, "r") as fileobj: for i, line in enumerate(fileobj): line = line.strip() # remove whitespace from start/end of line if line.startswith('#'): # ignore comment lines continue name, raw_data = line.split(":", 1) # split line at first colon items = raw_data.split(",") # split raw data at commas data[name.strip()] = items except OSError as exc: print(f"Could not open file {filename}: {exc}") for key in data: print(key, data[key])