OpenStep Parser

2.0.3 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

Parses OpenStep plist files into Python objects. Current version 2.0.3, requires Python >=3.10. Releases are infrequent, focused on bug fixes.

pip install openstep-parser

Common errors

error AttributeError: module 'openstep_parser' has no attribute 'loads' ↓

cause Installed version is older than 2.0.0, which didn't have the loads function.

fix

Update to version >=2.0.0: pip install --upgrade openstep-parser

error TypeError: string indices must be integers ↓

cause Passing a string that is not a valid plist format; parser returns a list or dict but code expects indexing.

fix

Check the structure of your plist string. Ensure it begins with '(' for arrays or '{' for dicts.

Warnings

gotcha The parser is case-sensitive for boolean values: 'YES' and 'NO' must be uppercase. ↓

fix Ensure booleans in plist are 'YES'/'NO' (all caps). Lowercase will be treated as strings.

gotcha Data types are limited: only dict, list, str, int, float, bool, and None (via '<null>'). Other plist types are not supported. ↓

fix If your plist contains date or binary data, convert them beforehand or use a different parser.

deprecated The 'OpenstepParser' class constructor is deprecated; use the top-level functions instead. ↓

fix Use loads() or load() instead of instantiating OpenstepParser directly.

Imports

loads
```
from openstep_parser import loads
```
Primary function to parse a string.
load
```
from openstep_parser import load
```
Parses from a file-like object.

OpenStepParser

wrong

from openstep_parser import OpenStepParser as OldName

correct

from openstep_parser import OpenStepParser

No known common wrong import.

Quickstart

Parse an OpenStep plist string into a Python dict.

from openstep_parser import loads

plist_str = """({
    key = value;
    number = 42;
}) """
result = loads(plist_str)
print(result)
# Expected: {'key': 'value', 'number': 42}