def read_txt_as_strs(txt_path, strip=' ', cmnt=None):
  """

  Read a txt file. Each line will be treated
  as a string.

  Empty lines will be skipped. Spaces will be
  automatically stripped.

  Parameters
  ----------
  txt_path: str
  Path to the txt file.

  strip: bool
  Character(s) stripped from the beginning and
  the end of each line. Defaults to whitespace.
  Use `None` to indicate no-op.

  cmnt: str
  Comment character. If a line (after stripping,
  if strip character(s) is not `None`) starts with
  `cmnt` will not be read.

  Returns
  ----------
  list
  A list of strings, where each string represents
  a line in the txt file.

  """
  __lines = []
  with open(txt_path, 'r') as __f:
    for __l in __f.readlines():
      if strip is not None:
        __l = __l.strip().strip(strip)
      if not __l: continue
      if cmnt is not None:
        if __l.startswith(cmnt): continue
      __lines.append(__l.strip('\n'))
  return __lines