def kpathstr_to_xticks(path):
    """Split path into individual labels"""
    tick_labels = []
    combine_labels = False
    for i, char in enumerate(path):
        if char not in [',', '|', ' ']:
            if combine_labels:
                tick_labels[-1] = tick_labels[-1] + '|' + char
                combine_labels = False
                tick_labels.append('')
            else:
                tick_labels.append(char)
        else:
            combine_labels = True
    return tick_labels
