<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def getGroupIDs(self, groupNames,communityInfo=None):
 """ This function retrieves the group IDs Inputs: group_names - tuple of group names Output: dict - list of group IDs """

        group_ids=[]
        if communityInfo is None:
            communityInfo = self.communitySelf

        if isinstance(groupNames,list):
            groupNames = map(str.upper, groupNames)
        else:
            groupNames = groupNames.upper()
        if 'groups' in communityInfo:
            for gp in communityInfo['groups']:

                if str(gp['title']).upper() in groupNames:
                    group_ids.append(gp['id'])
        del communityInfo
        return group_ids