def readFPs(filepath):
    """Reads a list of fingerprints from a file"""
    try:
        myfile = open(filepath, "r")
    except:
        raise IOError("file does not exist:", filepath)
    else:
        fps = []
        for line in myfile:
            if line[0] != "#":  # ignore comments
                line = line.rstrip().split()
                fps.append(line[0])
        return fps