docs: def load_shared_data(path: typing.Union[str, None]) -> dict:
      """Load shared data from a JSON file stored on disk"""
  
      if path is None:
          return dict()
  
      if not os.path.exists(path):
          raise FileNotFoundError('No such shared data file "{}"'.format(path))
  
      try:
          with open(path, 'r') as fp:
              data = json.load(fp)
      except Exception:
          raise IOError('Unable to read shared data file "{}"'.format(path))
  
      if not isinstance(data, dict):
          raise ValueError('Shared data must load into a dictionary object')
  
      return data