IniParser

IniParser is a really simple parser for "complex" INI files.

Examples

Standard INI files look like this:

key = value
another_key = another value

[section_name]
a_sub_key = yet another value

And when parsed with PHP's built-in parse_ini_string() or parse_ini_file(), looks like

array(
    'key' => 'value',
    'another_key' => 'another value',
    'section_name' => array(
        'a_sub_key' => 'yet another value'
    )
)

Complex example

This is great when you just want a super simple configuration file, but here is a super-charged INI file that you might find in the wild:

environment = testing

[testing]
debug = true
database.connection = "mysql:host=127.0.0.1"
database.name = test
database.username = 
database.password =
secrets = [1,2,3]

[staging : testing]
database.name = stage
database.username = staging
database.password = 12345

[production : staging]
debug = false;
database.name = production
database.username = root

And when parsed with IniParser:

array(
    'environment' => 'testing',
    'testing' => array(
        'debug' => '1',
        'database' => array(
            'connection' => 'mysql:host=127.0.0.1',
            'name' => 'test',
            'username' => '',
            'password' => ''
        ),
        'secrets' => array('1','2','3')
    ),
    'staging' => array(
        'debug' => '1',
        'database' => array(
            'connection' => 'mysql:host=127.0.0.1',
            'name' => 'stage',
            'username' => 'staging',
            'password' => '12345'
        ),
        'secrets' => array('1','2','3')
    ),
    'production' => array(
        'debug' => '',
        'database' => array(
            'connection' => 'mysql:host=127.0.0.1',
            'name' => 'production',
            'username' => 'root',
            'password' => '12345'
        ),
        'secrets' => array('1','2','3')
    )
)

Additional Features

As you can see, IniParser supports section inheritance with [child : parent], property nesting with a.b.c = d, and simple arrays with [a,b,c].

Additionally, you can sub-class IniParser and override the parse_key() and parse_value() methods to customize how it parses keys and values.

ArrayObject

As an added bonus, IniParser also allows you to access the values OO-style:

echo $config->production->database->connection; // output: mysql:host=127.0.0.1
echo $config->staging->debug; // output: 1