code: def col(self, c):
          
          m = self.COLOUR.search(c)
          if not m:
              self.logger.fatal("Cannot parse colour specification %r.", c)
              raise ParseError("XPM reader: Cannot parse colour specification {0!r}.".format(c))
          value = m.group('value')
          color = m.group('symbol')
          self.logger.debug("%s: %s %s\n", c.strip(), color, value)
          return color, value
docs: Parse colour specification