code: def _tuplefy_namespace(self, namespace):
          
          namespace_split = namespace.split('.', 1)
          if len(namespace_split) is 1:
              # we treat a single element as a collection name.
              # this also properly tuplefies '*'
              namespace_tuple = ('*', namespace_split[0])
          elif len(namespace_split) is 2:
              namespace_tuple = (namespace_split[0],namespace_split[1])
          else:
              return None
          return namespace_tuple
docs: Converts a mongodb namespace to a db, collection tuple