#!/usr/local/bin/python import sys marker = ':'*6 def unpack_file(file): for line in file.readlines(): # for all input lines if line[:6] != marker: print line, # write real lines else: sys.stdout = open(line[6:-1], 'w') if __name__ == '__main__': if len(sys.argv) == 1 or sys.argv[1] == '-': unpack_file(sys.stdin) # from stdin stream else: unpack_file(open(sys.argv[1], 'r')) # passed in filename