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# Section Management
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Operations for managing configuration sections including creation, removal, and validation. Sections organize configuration options into logical groups and provide the hierarchical structure of configuration files.
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## Capabilities
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### Section Listing and Validation
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Methods to retrieve and validate section information within the configuration.
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```python { .api }
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def sections():
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    """
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    Return list of section names, excluding DEFAULT.
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    Returns:
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    list of str: section names in order of appearance
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    Notes:
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    - DEFAULT section is never included
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    - Returns sections in the order they were added/read
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    """
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def has_section(section):
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    """
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    Check if a section exists in the configuration.
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    Parameters:
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    - section: str, section name to check
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    Returns:
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    bool: True if section exists, False otherwise
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    Notes:
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    - DEFAULT section always returns False
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    - Case-sensitive comparison
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    """
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```
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### Section Creation and Removal
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Methods to dynamically add and remove sections from the configuration.
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```python { .api }
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def add_section(section):
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    """
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    Create a new section in the configuration.
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    Parameters:
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    - section: str, name of the section to create
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    Returns:
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    None
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    Raises:
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    - DuplicateSectionError: if section already exists (when strict=True)
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    - ValueError: if section name is 'DEFAULT' or contains '[' or ']'
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    Notes:
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    - Section names are case-sensitive
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    - Cannot create DEFAULT section
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    """
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def remove_section(section):
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    """
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    Remove a section and all its options.
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    Parameters:
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    - section: str, name of the section to remove
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    Returns:
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    bool: True if section existed and was removed, False otherwise
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    Notes:
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    - Cannot remove DEFAULT section
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    - Silently ignores non-existent sections
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    """
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```
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## Usage Examples
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### Basic Section Management
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser()
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# Add sections
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config.add_section('database')
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config.add_section('cache')
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config.add_section('logging')
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# List all sections
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print(config.sections())  # ['database', 'cache', 'logging']
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# Check if sections exist
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if config.has_section('database'):
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    print("Database section exists")
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if not config.has_section('email'):
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    config.add_section('email')
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```
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### Section Removal
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser()
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config.read('config.ini')
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# Remove obsolete section
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if config.has_section('deprecated_feature'):
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    success = config.remove_section('deprecated_feature')
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    print(f"Section removed: {success}")
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# Clean up empty sections
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for section in config.sections():
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    if not config.options(section):  # No options in section
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        config.remove_section(section)
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```
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### Error Handling
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser(strict=True)
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try:
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    config.add_section('database')
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    config.add_section('database')  # Duplicate section
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except configparser.DuplicateSectionError as e:
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    print(f"Duplicate section error: {e}")
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try:
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    config.add_section('DEFAULT')  # Invalid section name
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except ValueError as e:
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    print(f"Invalid section name: {e}")
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try:
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    config.add_section('section[with]brackets')  # Invalid characters
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except ValueError as e:
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    print(f"Invalid section name: {e}")
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```
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### Working with Section Names
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser()
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# Section names are case-sensitive
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config.add_section('Database')
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config.add_section('database')
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print(config.sections())  # ['Database', 'database']
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# Check existence is case-sensitive
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print(config.has_section('Database'))  # True
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print(config.has_section('database'))  # True  
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print(config.has_section('DATABASE'))  # False
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```
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### Dynamic Section Management
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser()
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# Create sections based on data
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services = ['web', 'api', 'worker', 'scheduler']
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for service in services:
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    section_name = f'service_{service}'
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    if not config.has_section(section_name):
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        config.add_section(section_name)
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# Remove sections matching pattern
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sections_to_remove = [s for s in config.sections() if s.startswith('temp_')]
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for section in sections_to_remove:
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    config.remove_section(section)
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```
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### Section Management with Dictionary Interface
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```python
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from backports import configparser
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config = configparser.ConfigParser()
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# Dictionary-style section creation
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config['database'] = {}
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config['cache'] = {}
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# Check sections using 'in' operator
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if 'database' in config:
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    print("Database section exists")
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# Remove section using del
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del config['cache']
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# Iterate over sections
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for section_name in config:
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    print(f"Section: {section_name}")
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    section = config[section_name]
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    # Work with section...
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```