improved fieldparse

gistfile1.py

# fieldparse.py

import collections

def parse(lines,types,names):
    
    if not isinstance(lines, collections.Iterable) or isinstance(lines, str):
        raise TypeError("lines must be an iterable container of strings")
    if not isinstance(types, collections.Sequence) or \
            not isinstance(names, collections.Sequence):
        raise TypeError("types and names must be sequences")
    if len(types) != len(names):
        raise ValueError("types and names must have the same number of items")
    if not all(isinstance(x, collections.Callable) for x in types):
        raise TypeError("types must be callables")

    records = []
    for line in lines:
        # Strip whitespace and check for blank lines
        line = line.strip()
        if not line: continue

        # Split into fields
        fields = line.split()
        if len(fields) != len(names):
            raise RuntimeError("Wrong number of columns in input")

        # Apply conversions to each field
        cfields = [converter(value) for converter,value in zip(types,fields)]

        # Create a dictionary from the data
        record = dict(zip(names,cfields))

        records.append(record)
    return records