code: def init_associations(self, fin_gaf, hdr_only, prt, allow_missing_symbol):
          
          import timeit
          tic = timeit.default_timer()
          nts = self._read_gaf_nts(fin_gaf, hdr_only, allow_missing_symbol)
          # GAF file has been read
          if prt:
              prt.write('HMS:{HMS} {N:7,} annotations READ: {ANNO}\n'.format(
                  N=len(nts), ANNO=fin_gaf,
                  HMS=str(datetime.timedelta(seconds=(timeit.default_timer()-tic)))))
          # If there are illegal GAF lines ...
          if self.datobj:
              if self.datobj.ignored or self.datobj.illegal_lines:
                  self.datobj.prt_error_summary(fin_gaf)
          return nts
docs: Read GAF file. Store annotation data in a list of namedtuples.