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Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
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Description:
 def read(env_file=".env"):
 """ Pulled from Honcho code with minor updates, reads local default environment variables from a .env file located in the project root directory. """

    try:
        with open(env_file) as f:
            content = f.read()

    except IOError:
        content = ''

    for line in content.splitlines():

        m1 = re.match(r'\A([A-Za-z_0-9]+)=(.*)\Z', line)
        if m1:
            key, val = m1.group(1), m1.group(2)
            m2 = re.match(r"\A'(.*)'\Z", val)
            if m2:
                val = m2.group(1)
            m3 = re.match(r'\A"(.*)"\Z', val)
            if m3:
                val = re.sub(r'\\(.)', r'\1', m3.group(1))
            os.environ.setdefault(key, val)