--context is always -eq to the highest possible subfolder in the mods dir, this can be ether the mod or modpack root folder.
local DIR_DELIM = debug.getinfo(1, "S").source:match("[\\/]")
local context = debug and debug.getinfo(1, "S").source:match("mods[/\\][/\\]?([^/]*)") or "context"
local cwdpath = minetest and (minetest.get_modpath(minetest.get_current_modname()) .. DIR_DELIM .. "lua5_1") or debug.getinfo(1, "S").source:match("^(.+)[/\\]"):sub(2)

--setup lib env
local print = _G[context]["log"]
--some string function moved here, for more info see: string.lua
function string:trim()
	return self:match("^%s*(.-)%s*$")
end

--[[
function string:split (p2Sep, p3Patern)
	if p2Sep == nil then
		p2Sep = "%s"
	end
	if p3Patern == nil then
		p3Patern = table.concat({"([^", p2Sep, "]+)"}, "")
	end	
	local returns = {}
	for _ in string.gmatch(self, p3Patern) do
		table.insert(returns, _)
	end
	return returns
end
--]]

function string:startsWith(p2Needle) -- self == haystack
	return self:sub(1, #p2Needle) == p2Needle
end

function string:endsWith(p2Needle) -- self == haystack
	return p2Needle == "" or self:sub(-#p2Needle) == p2Needle
end

function string:charCount(p2Char)
	local count = 0
	for _ in string.gmatch(self, p2Char) do
		count = count + 1
	end
	return count
end

--end string.lua snipet


_G[context].colors ={
	reset = "\27[0m",
	red = "\27[31m",
	green = "\27[32m",
	yellow = "\27[33m",
	blue = "\27[34m",
	magenta = "\27[35m",
	cyan = "\27[36m",
	white= "\27[37m"
}

_G[context].forFileAsLines=function(filePath, funcHandle, ignoreReturn)
	local file = io.open(filePath, "r")
	--if file is context:open then
	local returns = {}
	if not file then error(_G[context].colors.red.."access error: reading non-existant file, @" .._G[context].colors.cyan ..filePath.._G[context].colors.reset) end
	if file then
		--itarate over each line and pass to funkyFunc
		for line in file:lines() do
			local linedata=line:trim()--:sub(1,-2) --remove spooky char at the end of a line. If file uses \r\n, it may require (1,-3)
			linedata=funcHandle and (funcHandle(linedata)) or linedata --buggy:TODO
			--this data subject to brakeages, test for errors here:
			--print("<"..linedata..">")
			if not ignoreReturn then --used for large files, to avoid memory bloat.
				table.insert(returns, linedata)
			end
		end
		file:close()
		return returns
	else
		return {}
	end
end

-- 
_G[context].forFileAsIniObj = function(filePath, ignoreHeaders)
	local debug_print=false
	local returns = {} --object to store data about ini file as a hashmap table
	returns[""]={} --default object to store global values before a header tag('[' or ']') is found in the file stream
	local rpointer = "" -- by default pointer set to "" by default
	local _ = debug_print and print("<"..filePath..">")
	local _ = _G[context].forFileAsLines(filePath, function (line)
		--in ini, ';' may be used as a comment by default.
		--in the future this may be abstracted into a larger function with more customization
		if not line:startsWith(";") and string.charCount(line, " ") ~= #line and #line ~= 0 then --discard comments or empty lines
			--if is header "[*]"
			local _ = debug_print and print(line)
			if line:match("^%[.*%]$") then 
				if not ignoreHeaders then
					rpointer = line:sub(2,-2):trim() --remove [ and ] from the header and use as str:returnPointer
					returns[rpointer]= returns[rpointer] or {}
				end
			--else if is key value pair "*=*"
			elseif line:match("^.+=.+$") and line:charCount("=") == 1 then
				local spointerarray = line:split("=") 
				spointerarray[1]=spointerarray[1]:trim()
				spointerarray[2]=spointerarray[2]:trim()
				--If parser fails due to missing '"', use raw string as a fall back.
				--minetest.parse_json create an unmutable error with no way to prevent it,
				--just return as string ill deal with this later.			 :(
				--Upon reflection this function should always return a string,
				--since it may be used in multiple use case and so should leave parsing decisions to the caller 
				--_G[context].parse(spointerarray[2]) or
				returns[rpointer][spointerarray[1]] = spointerarray[2]
			else			--else is error
				error(table.concat({"error reading: ", filePath, "@^", line, "$"},""))
			end
		end
	end, true)
	--if the global array table was never used, delete it.
	if #returns[""] == 0 and true then 
		returns[""]=nil
	end
	return returns
end
--Why the fuck is "true" true in the context of a conditional, is lua just as bad as javascript?
assert(true == _G[context].parse(_G[context].forFileAsIniObj(cwdpath..DIR_DELIM.."test.ini", false)["testdata"]["success"]))