Simple Name File Format
-----------------------

We try to use the same input/output format for names as much as possible throughout ``genepidgin``.

The simple name file format is a flat text file. It's human-readable and was designed with simple database interactions in mind.

Each line has three columns:

#. A unique identifier, for example a database id, or simply a blank space.
#. A tab character (``\t``)
#. The name, until the first tab character.

Ignored:

- Lines beginning with ``#``
- Any information following the second tab in a line

An example of a simple name file:

::

    id1    the name can be any length
    id2    and have any character but a newline
    # this line is ignored
    id3    this name is not ignored
    id4    name followed by tab                   this information is ignored