code: def intake_path_dirs(path):
      
      if isinstance(path, (list, tuple)):
          return path
      import re
      pattern = re.compile(";" if os.name == 'nt' else r"(?<!:):(?![:/])")
      return pattern.split(path)
docs: Return a list of directories from the intake path.
  
      If a string, perhaps taken from an environment variable, then the
      list of paths will be split on the character ":" for posix of ";" for
      windows. Protocol indicators ("protocol://") will be ignored.