def getInputParameter(inputParametersPandas,key):
    """
    Parameters:
    -----------
    inputParametersPandas : pandas.df
        pandas dataframe with two columns
    key : string
        key string.
    Returns:
    -----------
    string
        the respective parameter value in the df
    """
    #this locates the row, gets the result out of its array form and strips whitespaces away
    return (((inputParametersPandas.loc[inputParametersPandas['key'] == key]).values)[0,1]).strip()