code: def get_counterpart_mapping(config_file=None, skip_home=False):
      
      file_skip_list = ([ConfigFromFile.home_rc_file_path]
                        if skip_home else [])
      config = ConfigFromFile(config_file, [], skip_file_read=file_skip_list)
      return CounterpartMapping(map_config=config._parser)
docs: Initial part of a two-step lookup: First load the mapping
      (CounterpartMapping) with this function.  The mapping can then be
      subscripted to look up specific counterparts' mappings.  This way
      is more efficient than calling map_counterpart several times,
      because it reads the config file(s) only once.
  
      :param config_file: Path to a config file to guide the mapping.
             Default is to use ./counterc and/or ~/.countrc.
      :param skip_home: If True, only the config_file is read.
      :return: CounterpartMapping loaded from config_file et al.