This a brief (and naive) script to convert the output of the ripser library into a json format so it can be used elsewhere.

parse_ripser_output.py

import json
import click

@click.command()
@click.argument('infile')
@click.argument('outfile')
def parse_barcode(infile, outfile):
    """ This function will parse the result of the Ripser (https://github.com/Ripser/ripser) barcodes 
        and output the barcodes in json format.
        
        To use:
        > ripser your_distance_matrix.mat > tmp_barcode_file.bc
        > python parse_ripser_output.py tmp_barcode_file barcode.json
    """
    print("Convert ripser output into json")
    with open(infile, "rb") as f:
        lines = f.readlines()

    persistence_diagram = {}

    # find dim N start and finish
    for line in lines[3:]:
        line = line.decode('utf-8')
        if line.startswith("persistence"):
            current_diagram = line.replace("persistence intervals in ", "").replace(":\n", "")
            persistence_diagram[current_diagram] = []
        else:
            start, finish = line.split(",")
            start = float(start.replace(" [", ""))

            if finish[:2] == ' )':
                finish = 99
            else:
                finish = float(finish.replace(")\n", ""))

            persistence_diagram[current_diagram].append([start, finish])

    with open(outfile, 'w') as fp:
        json.dump(persistence_diagram, fp)
        
        
if __name__ == "__main__":
    parse_barcode()