import re


def count_header_comment_skips(nodefile):
    """
    count the number of file head comments lines to skip before the first
    keyword (line starting with *)
    """
    node = re.compile('\*')
    count = 1
    with open(nodefile) as f:
        for line in f:
            if node.match(line):
                return count
            else:
                count = count + 1