def odml_tuple_import(t_count, new_value):
    """
    Checks via a heuristic if the values in a string fit the general
    odml style tuple format and the individual items match the
    required number of tuple values.
    Legacy Python2 code required to parse unicode strings to a list
    of odml style tuples.

    :param t_count: integer, required values within a single odml style tuple.
    :param new_value: string containing an odml style tuple list.
    :return: list of odml style tuples.
    """
    try:
        unicode = unicode
    except NameError:
        unicode = str
    if len(new_value) != 1 and not isinstance(new_value[0], unicode):
        return new_value
    cln = new_value[0].strip()
    l_check = cln.startswith('[') and cln.endswith(']')
    br_check = cln.count('(') == cln.count(')')
    com_check = cln.count('(') == cln.count(',') + 1
    sep_check = t_count == 1 or cln.count('(') == cln.count(';') / (t_count - 1
        )
    if l_check and br_check and com_check and sep_check:
        new_value = cln[1:-1].split(',')
    return new_value
