diff --git a/lib/gen_misc.py b/lib/gen_misc.py
index ad5beea..d7a6373 100755
--- a/lib/gen_misc.py
+++ b/lib/gen_misc.py
@@ -4,16 +4,18 @@
 This module provides many valuable functions such as my_parm_file.
 """
 
+import collections
+import errno
+import inspect
+import json
+import os
+import random
+import shutil
+
 # sys and os are needed to get the program dir path and program name.
 import sys
-import errno
-import os
-import shutil
-import collections
-import json
 import time
-import inspect
-import random
+
 try:
     import ConfigParser
 except ImportError:
@@ -22,17 +24,20 @@
     import StringIO
 except ImportError:
     import io
+
 import re
 import socket
 import tempfile
+
 try:
     import psutil
+
     psutil_imported = True
 except ImportError:
     psutil_imported = False
 
-import gen_print as gp
 import gen_cmd as gc
+import gen_print as gp
 
 robot_env = gp.robot_env
 if robot_env:
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@
     mode                            The mode or permissions to be granted to the created directories.
     quiet                           Indicates whether this function should run the print_issuing() function.
     """
-    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var('quiet', 0)))
+    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var("quiet", 0)))
     gp.qprint_issuing("os.makedirs('" + path + "', mode=" + oct(mode) + ")")
     try:
         os.makedirs(path, mode)
@@ -84,9 +89,11 @@
     (All parms are passed directly to shutil.rmtree.  See its prolog for details)
     quiet                           Indicates whether this function should run the print_issuing() function.
     """
-    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var('quiet', 0)))
+    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var("quiet", 0)))
     print_string = gp.sprint_executing(max_width=2000)
-    print_string = re.sub(r"Executing: ", "Issuing: shutil.", print_string.rstrip("\n"))
+    print_string = re.sub(
+        r"Executing: ", "Issuing: shutil.", print_string.rstrip("\n")
+    )
     gp.qprintn(re.sub(r", quiet[ ]?=.*", ")", print_string))
     shutil.rmtree(path, ignore_errors, onerror)
 
@@ -102,7 +109,7 @@
     path                            The path of the directory to change to.
     quiet                           Indicates whether this function should run the print_issuing() function.
     """
-    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var('quiet', 0)))
+    quiet = int(dft(quiet, gp.get_stack_var("quiet", 0)))
     gp.qprint_issuing("os.chdir('" + path + "')")
     os.chdir(path)
 
@@ -117,11 +124,13 @@
     file_path                       The relative file path (e.g. "my_file" or "lib/my_file").
     """
 
-    shell_rc, out_buf = gc.cmd_fnc_u("which " + file_path, quiet=1,
-                                     print_output=0, show_err=0)
+    shell_rc, out_buf = gc.cmd_fnc_u(
+        "which " + file_path, quiet=1, print_output=0, show_err=0
+    )
     if shell_rc != 0:
-        error_message = "Failed to find complete path for file \"" +\
-                        file_path + "\".\n"
+        error_message = (
+            'Failed to find complete path for file "' + file_path + '".\n'
+        )
         error_message += gp.sprint_var(shell_rc, gp.hexa())
         error_message += out_buf
         if robot_env:
@@ -135,9 +144,7 @@
     return file_path
 
 
-def add_path(new_path,
-             path,
-             position=0):
+def add_path(new_path, path, position=0):
     r"""
     Add new_path to path, provided that path doesn't already contain new_path, and return the result.
 
@@ -183,9 +190,7 @@
     return default if value is None else value
 
 
-def get_mod_global(var_name,
-                   default=None,
-                   mod_name="__main__"):
+def get_mod_global(var_name, default=None, mod_name="__main__"):
     r"""
     Get module global variable value and return it.
 
@@ -204,10 +209,12 @@
     try:
         module = sys.modules[mod_name]
     except KeyError:
-        gp.print_error_report("Programmer error - The mod_name passed to"
-                              + " this function is invalid:\n"
-                              + gp.sprint_var(mod_name))
-        raise ValueError('Programmer error.')
+        gp.print_error_report(
+            "Programmer error - The mod_name passed to"
+            + " this function is invalid:\n"
+            + gp.sprint_var(mod_name)
+        )
+        raise ValueError("Programmer error.")
 
     if default is None:
         return getattr(module, var_name)
@@ -215,8 +222,7 @@
         return getattr(module, var_name, default)
 
 
-def global_default(var_value,
-                   default=0):
+def global_default(var_value, default=0):
     r"""
     If var_value is not None, return it.  Otherwise, return the global
     variable of the same name, if it exists.  If not, return default.
@@ -239,9 +245,7 @@
     return dft(var_value, get_mod_global(var_name, 0))
 
 
-def set_mod_global(var_value,
-                   mod_name="__main__",
-                   var_name=None):
+def set_mod_global(var_value, mod_name="__main__", var_name=None):
     r"""
     Set a global variable for a given module.
 
@@ -255,10 +259,12 @@
     try:
         module = sys.modules[mod_name]
     except KeyError:
-        gp.print_error_report("Programmer error - The mod_name passed to"
-                              + " this function is invalid:\n"
-                              + gp.sprint_var(mod_name))
-        raise ValueError('Programmer error.')
+        gp.print_error_report(
+            "Programmer error - The mod_name passed to"
+            + " this function is invalid:\n"
+            + gp.sprint_var(mod_name)
+        )
+        raise ValueError("Programmer error.")
 
     if var_name is None:
         var_name = gp.get_arg_name(None, 1, 2)
@@ -292,7 +298,7 @@
         string_file = io.StringIO()
 
     # Write the dummy section header to the string file.
-    string_file.write('[dummysection]\n')
+    string_file.write("[dummysection]\n")
     # Write the entire contents of the properties file to the string file.
     string_file.write(open(prop_file_path).read())
     # Rewind the string file.
@@ -309,15 +315,12 @@
     config_parser.readfp(string_file)
     # Return the properties as a dictionary.
     if robot_env:
-        return DotDict(config_parser.items('dummysection'))
+        return DotDict(config_parser.items("dummysection"))
     else:
-        return collections.OrderedDict(config_parser.items('dummysection'))
+        return collections.OrderedDict(config_parser.items("dummysection"))
 
 
-def file_to_list(file_path,
-                 newlines=0,
-                 comments=1,
-                 trim=0):
+def file_to_list(file_path, newlines=0, comments=1, trim=0):
     r"""
     Return the contents of a file as a list.  Each element of the resulting
     list is one line from the file.
@@ -354,7 +357,7 @@
     See file_to_list defined above for description of arguments.
     """
 
-    return '\n'.join(file_to_list(*args, **kwargs))
+    return "\n".join(file_to_list(*args, **kwargs))
 
 
 def append_file(file_path, buffer):
@@ -376,7 +379,7 @@
     the list will be normalized and have a trailing slash added.
     """
 
-    PATH_LIST = os.environ['PATH'].split(":")
+    PATH_LIST = os.environ["PATH"].split(":")
     PATH_LIST = [os.path.normpath(path) + os.sep for path in PATH_LIST]
 
     return PATH_LIST
@@ -402,7 +405,7 @@
     buffer                          The string whose quotes are to be escaped.
     """
 
-    return re.sub("\'", "\'\\\'\'", buffer)
+    return re.sub("'", "'\\''", buffer)
 
 
 def quote_bash_parm(parm):
@@ -424,19 +427,18 @@
     # Tilde expansion: ~
     # Piped commands: |
     # Bash re-direction: >, <
-    bash_special_chars = set(' \'"$*?[]+@!{}~|><')
+    bash_special_chars = set(" '\"$*?[]+@!{}~|><")
 
     if any((char in bash_special_chars) for char in parm):
         return "'" + escape_bash_quotes(parm) + "'"
 
-    if parm == '':
+    if parm == "":
         parm = "''"
 
     return parm
 
 
-def get_host_name_ip(host=None,
-                     short_name=0):
+def get_host_name_ip(host=None, short_name=0):
     r"""
     Get the host name and the IP address for the given host and return them as a tuple.
 
@@ -451,8 +453,11 @@
     try:
         host_ip = socket.gethostbyname(host)
     except socket.gaierror as my_gaierror:
-        message = "Unable to obtain the host name for the following host:" +\
-                  "\n" + gp.sprint_var(host)
+        message = (
+            "Unable to obtain the host name for the following host:"
+            + "\n"
+            + gp.sprint_var(host)
+        )
         gp.print_error_report(message)
         raise my_gaierror
 
@@ -488,8 +493,7 @@
     return True
 
 
-def to_signed(number,
-              bit_width=None):
+def to_signed(number, bit_width=None):
     r"""
     Convert number to a signed number and return the result.
 
@@ -530,7 +534,7 @@
 
     if number < 0:
         return number
-    neg_bit_mask = 2**(bit_width - 1)
+    neg_bit_mask = 2 ** (bit_width - 1)
     if number & neg_bit_mask:
         return ((2**bit_width) - number) * -1
     else:
@@ -538,7 +542,6 @@
 
 
 def get_child_pids(quiet=1):
-
     r"""
     Get and return a list of pids representing all first-generation processes that are the children of the
     current process.
@@ -564,24 +567,30 @@
         # Otherwise, find child pids using shell commands.
         print_output = not quiet
 
-        ps_cmd_buf = "ps --no-headers --ppid " + str(os.getpid()) +\
-            " -o pid,args"
+        ps_cmd_buf = (
+            "ps --no-headers --ppid " + str(os.getpid()) + " -o pid,args"
+        )
         # Route the output of ps to a temporary file for later grepping.  Avoid using " | grep" in the ps
         # command string because it creates yet another process which is of no interest to the caller.
         temp = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile()
         temp_file_path = temp.name
-        gc.shell_cmd(ps_cmd_buf + " > " + temp_file_path,
-                     print_output=print_output)
+        gc.shell_cmd(
+            ps_cmd_buf + " > " + temp_file_path, print_output=print_output
+        )
         # Sample contents of the temporary file:
         # 30703 sleep 2
         # 30795 /bin/bash -c ps --no-headers --ppid 30672 -o pid,args > /tmp/tmpqqorWY
         # Use egrep to exclude the "ps" process itself from the results collected with the prior shell_cmd
         # invocation.  Only the other children are of interest to the caller.  Use cut on the grep results to
         # obtain only the pid column.
-        rc, output = \
-            gc.shell_cmd("egrep -v '" + re.escape(ps_cmd_buf) + "' "
-                         + temp_file_path + " | cut -c1-5",
-                         print_output=print_output)
+        rc, output = gc.shell_cmd(
+            "egrep -v '"
+            + re.escape(ps_cmd_buf)
+            + "' "
+            + temp_file_path
+            + " | cut -c1-5",
+            print_output=print_output,
+        )
         # Split the output buffer by line into a list.  Strip each element of extra spaces and convert each
         # element to an integer.
         return map(int, map(str.strip, filter(None, output.split("\n"))))
@@ -671,8 +680,7 @@
     return re.sub("[^0-9\\.]", "", sys_version)
 
 
-python_version = \
-    version_tuple(get_python_version())
+python_version = version_tuple(get_python_version())
 ordered_dict_version = version_tuple("3.6")
 
 
@@ -714,11 +722,14 @@
         pass
 
     callers_stack_frame = inspect.stack()[1]
-    file_name_elements = \
-        [
-            gp.pgm_name, callers_stack_frame.function, "line_" + str(callers_stack_frame.lineno),
-            "pid_" + str(os.getpid()), str(random.randint(0, 1000000)), suffix
-        ]
+    file_name_elements = [
+        gp.pgm_name,
+        callers_stack_frame.function,
+        "line_" + str(callers_stack_frame.lineno),
+        "pid_" + str(os.getpid()),
+        str(random.randint(0, 1000000)),
+        suffix,
+    ]
     temp_file_name = delim.join(file_name_elements)
 
     temp_file_path = temp_dir_path + temp_file_name