diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index b0a9e81..3346254 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 [package]
 name = "simil"
-version = "0.1.0-alpha.2"
+version = "0.1.0-alpha.3"
 edition = "2021"
-authors = ["Philippe Braum <philippebraum@pm.me"]
+authors = ["Philippe Braum <philippebraum@pm.me>"]
 
 # See more keys and their definitions at https://doc.rust-lang.org/cargo/reference/manifest.html
 
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 99549fb..ea6eae6 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -4,24 +4,18 @@ use simil::similarities;
 mod utils;
 use std::env;
 
-// Ignore
-// Ignore-starts-with
-
 fn main() {
     // command line args
     let args = utils::check_args(env::args().collect());
     //dbg!(&args);
 
-    let data = utils::parse_toml();
+    let data = utils::parse_toml(&args.options);
     //dbg!(&data);
 
     // construct paths to files to analyze from args
     let (path1, path2) = utils::construct_filepaths(&args);
     //dbg!(&path1);
     //dbg!(&path2);
-
-    //let path1 = "/Users/pbr/PycharmProjects/bids_programming/data_science_script.py";
-    //let path2 = "/Users/pbr/PycharmProjects/bids_programming/exercises_script.py";
     
     similarities(Path::new(&path1), Path::new(&path2), &data.config);
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/simil.rs b/src/simil.rs
index c937efc..764de9e 100644
--- a/src/simil.rs
+++ b/src/simil.rs
@@ -93,8 +93,14 @@ pub fn similarities(
             }
             // end ignore starts with
             if text1 == text2 {
-                if fl1 == fl1_last_found + 1 || fl2 == fl2_last_found + 1 {
-                    println!("... {}", text1);
+                // print subsequent finds formatted with "..."
+                // ignore for first line
+                if (fl1 == fl1_last_found + 1 || fl2 == fl2_last_found + 1) && !(fl1_last_found == 0 || fl2_last_found == 0) {
+                    if text1.is_empty() {
+                        println!("... empty");
+                    } else {
+                        println!("... {}", text1);
+                    }
                 } else {
                     println!(
                         "\n{4}{5}{0}{2} {3}({fl1}){2}\n{4}{5}{1}{2} {3}({fl2}){2}",
@@ -105,7 +111,11 @@ pub fn similarities(
                         utils::TEXTMODE_DIM,
                         utils::TEXTMODE_UNDERLINE,
                     );
-                    println!(">>> {}", text1);
+                    if text1.is_empty() {
+                        println!(">>> empty");
+                    } else {
+                        println!(">>> {}", text1);
+                    }
                 }
                 n_found += 1;
                 fl1_last_found = fl1;
diff --git a/src/utils.rs b/src/utils.rs
index 8ad218d..b55888a 100644
--- a/src/utils.rs
+++ b/src/utils.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,29 @@ pub const TEXTMODE_UNDERLINE: &'static str = "\x1B[4m";
 // reset styles
 pub const RESET_STYLES: &'static str = "\x1B[0m";
 
+const ACCEPTED_OPTIONS: [&'static str; 4] = [
+        "--abspath",
+        "--ignore-config",
+        "--ignore-empty",
+        "--trim",
+    ];
+
+const USAGE_STR: &str = "
+Usage: simil [-h] [--abspath] [--ignore-config [[--ignore-empty] [--trim]] file1 file2
+
+positional arguments:
+    file
+
+options:
+    -h, --help      Show this help message and exit
+    -v, --version   Show version number and exit
+    --abspath       Using absolute filepaths (relative to cwd by default)
+    --ignore-config Do not use simil.toml config
+        + --ignore-empty  Omit empty lines in output
+        + --trim          Trim whitespace
+
+";
+
 
 // Top level struct to hold the TOML data.
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -37,11 +60,23 @@ pub struct Config {
 
 const VERSION: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
 
-pub fn parse_toml() -> Data {
+pub fn parse_toml(args_options: &Vec<String>) -> Data {
     /*
     Parsing the toml config and returning the Data struct.
     Only finds the config if in the same dir as the executable.
     */
+    // check for flag to ignore config
+    if args_options.contains(&"--ignore-config".to_string()) {
+        // return empty Config struct
+        return Data {
+            config: Config {
+                ignore: if args_options.contains(&"--ignore-empty".to_string()) {vec!["".to_string()]} else {vec![]},
+                ignore_beginning: vec![],
+                trim_whitespace: if args_options.contains(&"--trim".to_string()) {true} else {false},
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     // search for toml in exe dir first
     let mut path: PathBuf = env::current_exe().unwrap().parent().unwrap().into();
     let toml_filename = Path::new("simil.toml");
@@ -136,11 +171,8 @@ pub fn check_args(args: Vec<String>) -> Args {
     };
 
     // check options provided
-    let accepted_options = vec![
-        "--abspath"
-    ];
     for option in &args.options {
-        if !accepted_options.iter().any(|&i| i == option) {
+        if !ACCEPTED_OPTIONS.iter().any(|i| i == option) {
             // option not recognized
             eprintln!("{0}error:{2} unexpected argument {1}'{3}'{2} found", COLOR_RED, COLOR_YELLOW, RESET_STYLES, option);
             print_usage(true);
@@ -150,20 +182,6 @@ pub fn check_args(args: Vec<String>) -> Args {
     return args;
 }
 
-
-const USAGE_STR: &str = "
-Usage: simil [-h] [--abspath] file1 file2
-
-positional arguments:
-    file
-
-options:
-    -h, --help      Show this help message and exit
-    -v, --version   Show version number and exit
-    --abspath       Using absolute filepaths (relative to cwd by default)
-
-";
-
 pub fn print_usage(as_error: bool) {
     if as_error {
         eprint!("{}", USAGE_STR);