parse an environment file

[Jason Friedman]

> Ah, fair enough. Well, since you're using the full range of bash
> functionality, the only viable way to parse it is with bash itself.
> I'd recommend going with the version you have above:
>
>> * * * * * . /path/to/export_file && /path/to/script.py
>
> Under what circumstances is this not an option? That'd be the next
> thing to consider.
>
> Alternatively, you may want to consider making your own config file
> format. If you consciously restrict yourself to a severe subset of
> bash functionality, you could easily parse it in Python - for
> instance, always look for "export %s=%s" with simple strings for the
> variable name and value.
>
Thank you, Chris, off-list post unintentional.  It may be the case
that I do not maintain /path/to/export_file; I might just be allowed
to read it.
Based on your responses and everyone's responses I'm guessing that
what I am doing is sufficiently novel that there is no canned
solution.  I looked at shlex but did not see how that would be
helpful.
Thank you all for your thoughts.