def separate(l):
    """
    Sweeps through l from left to right and separates the format into a list of three.

    If parens found, goes into collection mode before adding to result list
    """
    tmp = ''
    res = []
    coll = False
    for i in l:
        # Collection mode enable/disable
        if i == '(':
            coll = True
            tmp = ''
            continue
        elif i == ')':
            coll = False
            res.append(tmp)
            continue

        # if collection mode, add to temp, else directly append to result list
        if coll:
            tmp += i
        else:
            res.append(i)
    return res