Tools for parsing apache conf files (Was: dpkg-reconfigure hacking in postinst)

[Brian Nelson <nelson@bignachos.com>]

Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org> writes:

> I have fewer qualms about a package that only wipes out a config file
> when explicitly reconfigured; most of my ire is reserved for packages,
> like apt-listchanges, that drop local modifications to such files on
> upgrade. Especially when the files are (as in the case of
> listchanges.conf) trivial to parse and modify without loss.
>
> If your files is really really hard to parse & modify losslessly then
> letting the user blow it away by reconfiguring is ok.

Alright.  So then the next question is:

Are there any tools for parsing Apache configuration files that would
work adequately for handling modifications?  My suspicion is that it's
too hard and not worth the effort.

-- 
People said I was dumb, but I proved them!