from pathlib import Path

def parse_datafile(data_file: Path, output_format: str) -> str | list:
    with open(data_file, 'r', encoding="utf-8") as data_file:
        match output_format:
            case 'string':
                return data_file.read().strip()
            case 'list':
                return data_file.read().strip().splitlines()
            case 'int_list':
                return [int(line) for line in data_file.read().strip().splitlines()]
    return []