protected function combine($array, $section_sep) {
		foreach ($array as $section_spec => $settings) {
			$section_spec = array_map("trim", explode($section_sep, $section_spec));
			if (count($section_spec) > 1) {
				$sections[$section_spec[0]] = array_merge(
					$sections[$section_spec[1]], 
					$settings
				);
			} else {
				$sections[$section_spec[0]] = $settings;
			}
		}
		return $sections;
	}