better_parse_ini.php

<?php 
  function better_parse_ini_file($filename){
        $ini_array = array();
        
        if(file_exists($filename)){
            $file_contents = file_get_contents($filename);
        } else {
            return false;
        }
        // we will now process the file
        
        // Lets try parse_ini_file
        if($parse_ini = parse_ini_file($filename)){
            $ini_array = $parse_ini;
        } else {
            $section_array = '';
        
            $lines = explode("\n",$file_contents);
            foreach($lines as $line){
                // check for section blocks
                if(preg_match('/^\[(.*?)\]\s*/', $line, $matches)){
                    $ini_array[$matches[1]] = array(); // set array
                    $section_array = $matches[1];
                    // everything else, check for option=value
                } else {
                    if(preg_match('/^(\w+)(=| = )(.*)\s*/', $line, $options)){
                        // this may be a bit messy
                        $ini_array[$section_array][$options[1]] = $options[3];
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        // make it all pretty
        return $ini_array;
    }