code: def _convert_liststring_to_list(lstring):
      
      if lstring[0]=='[' and lstring[-1]==']':
          lstring = [str(lstring[1:-1].split(',')[n].strip().strip("'"))
                        for n in range(len(lstring[1:-1].split(',')))]
      return lstring
docs: Checks if an argument of the configuration file is a string of a list
      and returns the corresponding list (of strings).
  
      The argument is considered to be a list if it starts with '[' and ends
      with ']'. List elements should be comma separated. For example, passing
      `'[foo bar, cat]'` will result in `['foo bar', 'cat']` being returned. If
      the argument does not start and end with '[' and ']', the argument will
      just be returned as is.