What is the intended use of the DEFAULT section in config files used by ConfigParser?

Question

I\'ve used ConfigParser for quite a while for simple configs. One thing that\'s bugged me for a long time is the DEFAULT section. I\'m not really sure what\'s an appropriate use

Answer 1

I found an explanation here by googling for "windows ini" "default section". Summary: whatever you put in the [DEFAULT] section gets propagated to every other section. Using the example from the linked website, let's say I have a config file called test1.ini:

[host 1]
lh_server=192.168.0.1
vh_hosts = PloneSite1:8080
lh_root = PloneSite1

[host 2]
lh_server=192.168.0.1
vh_hosts = PloneSite2:8080
lh_root = PloneSite2

I can read this using ConfigParser:

>>> cp = ConfigParser.ConfigParser()
>>> cp.read('test1.ini')
['test1.ini']
>>> cp.get('host 1', 'lh_server')
'192.168.0.1'

But I notice that lh_server is the same in both sections; and, indeed, I realise that it will be the same for most hosts I might add. So I can do this, as test2.ini:

[DEFAULT]
lh_server=192.168.0.1

[host 1]
vh_root = PloneSite1
lh_root = PloneSite1

[host 2]
vh_root = PloneSite2
lh_root = PloneSite2

Despite the sections not having lh_server keys, I can still access them:

>>> cp.read('test2.ini')
['test2.ini']
>>> cp.get('host 1', 'lh_server')
'192.168.0.1'

Read the linked page for a further example of using variable substitution in the DEFAULT section to simplify the INI file even more.