docs: def fintlist(alist):
      """A list of integers"""
      outlist = []
      if not isinstance(alist, (list, tuple)):
          # we have a string (comma-separated integers)
          alist = alist.strip().strip("[] ").split(",")
      for it in alist:
          if it:
              outlist.append(fint(it))
      return outlist