def get_tags_from_file( lines ):
    """
    Extract the tags from a file and return them as a list
    """
    tags_header = "##$$##"
    for i, line in enumerate(lines):
        if tags_header in line:
            break
    else: # didn't break out of loop so no tags header
        return []
    tags_line = lines[i+1]
    just_tags = (''.join(ch for ch in tags_line if (ch.isalnum()) or ch == ',')).split(',')
    return [word.strip() for word in just_tags]