8.2. Datetime Parsing and Formatting¶

8.2.1. Date formats¶

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country

8.2.1.1. Date format in USA¶

Listing 8.65. Formal date format in USA [Wik19d]¶

4/12/61
April 12, 1961

8.2.1.2. Date format in Japan¶

Listing 8.66. Formal date format in Japan [Wik19c]¶

20/12/31

8.2.1.3. Date format in Germany¶

Listing 8.67. Formal date format in Germany¶

12.04.1961

8.2.1.4. Date format in Poland¶

Which format is a formal standard in Poland?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601

4.1961
04.1961

IV 1961
IV.1961

12/4/1961
12/04/1961

kwietnia 1961
kwiecień 1961

8.2.2. Time formats¶

8.2.2.1. 24 and 12 hour clock¶

What AM stands for?
What PM stands for?

17:00
5:00 PM

8.2.2.2. Noon and Midnight¶

Which time is a midnight?
Which time is a noon?
Confusion at noon and midnight
Is 12:00 a noon (in 24h format), or someone just simply forgot to put AM/PM?

8.2.2.3. Times after 24:00¶

Times after 24:00

23:59:59
23:59:60

8.2.2.4. Military time¶

1200J
1200Z

8.2.3. ISO 8601 Standard¶

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601

8.2.3.1. Dates¶

1961-04-12

8.2.3.2. Date and time¶

"Z" (Zulu) means UTC
"T" separates date and time

Listing 8.68. Date and time¶

1961-04-12T06:07:00Z
1961-04-12T06:07:00.123Z
1961-04-12T06:07:00.123456Z

8.2.3.3. Noon and Midnight¶

"00:00" - midnight, at the beginning of a day
"24:00" - midnight, at the end of a day (not recommended)
"2007-04-05T24:00" is equal to "2007-04-06T00:00"

8.2.3.4. Weeks¶

Listing 8.69. Note year/month changes during the week¶

2009-W01            # First week of 2009
2009-W01-1          # Monday 29 December 2008
2009-W53-7          # Sunday 3 January 2010

8.2.3.5. Timezone¶

"Z" (Zulu) means UTC

Listing 8.70. Time zone notation¶

<time>UTC
<time>Z
<time>±hh:mm
<time>±hhmm
<time>±hh

8.2.3.6. Duration¶

Format: P[n]Y[n]M[n]DT[n]H[n]M[n]S

Table 8.1. Duration format¶
Format	Designator	Description
`P`	duration (period)	placed at the start of the duration representation
`Y`	year	number of years
`M`	month	number of months
`W`	week	number of weeks
`D`	day	number of days
`T`	time	precedes the time components of the representation
`H`	hour	number of hours
`M`	minute	number of minutes
`S`	second	number of seconds

Listing 8.71. Example¶

P8Y3M8DT20H49M15S

# Period of:
#   8 years
#   3 months
#   8 days
#   20 hours
#   49 minutes
#   15 seconds

8.2.4. Date and time parsing and formatting parameters¶

https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-behavior
%-I or %_I on *nix systems (macOS, BSD, Linux) to remove leading zero
%#I on Windows to remove leading zero
*nix: %-d, %-H, %-I, %-j, %-m, %-M, %-S, %-U, %-w, %-W, %-y, %-Y
Windows: %#d, %#H, %#I, %#j, %#m, %#M, %#S, %#U, %#w, %#W, %#y, %#Y

Note

Almost any programming language has very similar date formatting parameters. There are only some minor differences like in JavaScript minutes are i, not M.

Table 8.2. Date and time parsing and formatting parameters¶
Directive	Example	Meaning
`%a`	Sun, Mon, …, Sat	Weekday as locale's abbreviated name
`%A`	Sunday, Monday, …, Saturday (en_US)	Weekday as locale's full name
`%w`	0, 1, …, 6	Weekday as a decimal number, where 0 is Sunday and 6 is Saturday
`%d`	01, 02, …, 31	Day of the month as a zero-padded decimal number
`%b`	Jan, Feb, …, Dec (en_US)	Month as locale's abbreviated name
`%B`	January, February, …, December (en_US)	Month as locale’s full name
`%m`	01, 02, …, 12	Month as a zero-padded decimal number
`%y`	00, 01, …, 99	Year without century as a zero-padded decimal number
`%Y`	0001, 0002, …, 2013, 2014, …, 9998, 9999	Year with century as a decimal number
`%H`	00, 01, …, 23	Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number
`%I`	01, 02, …, 12	Hour (12-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number
`%p`	AM, PM (en_US)	Locale’s equivalent of either AM or PM
`%M`	00, 01, …, 59	Minute as a zero-padded decimal number
`%S`	00, 01, …, 59	Second as a zero-padded decimal number
`%f`	000000, 000001, …, 999999	Microsecond as a decimal number, zero-padded on the left
`%z`	(empty), +0000, -0400, +1030	UTC offset in the form +HHMM or -HHMM (empty string if the object is naive)
`%Z`	(empty), UTC, EST, CST	Time zone name (empty string if the object is naive)
`%j`	001, 002, …, 366	Day of the year as a zero-padded decimal number
`%U`	00, 01, …, 53	Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) as a zero padded decimal number. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0
`%W`	00, 01, …, 53	Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0
`%c`	Tue Aug 16 21:30:00 1988 (en_US)	Locale’s appropriate date and time representation
`%x`	08/16/1988 (en_US); 16.08.1988 (de_DE)	Locale’s appropriate date representation
`%X`	21:30:00	Locale’s appropriate time representation
`%%`	%	A literal `%` character
`%G`	0001, 0002, …, 2013, 2014, …, 9998, 9999	ISO 8601 year with century representing the year that contains the greater part of the ISO week (`%V`)
`%u`	1, 2, …, 7	ISO 8601 weekday as a decimal number where 1 is Monday
`%V`	01, 02, …, 53	ISO 8601 week as a decimal number with Monday as the first day of the week. Week 01 is the week containing Jan 4

Todo

Convert table into smaller parts, based on categories: months, day, hour etc.

8.2.5. Date formatting¶

8.2.5.1. ISO Format¶

Listing 8.72. Datetime formatting to ISO format¶

from datetime import datetime

dt = datetime(1969, 7, 21, 2, 56, 15)

dt.isoformat()
# 1969-07-21T02:56:15

Listing 8.73. Date formatting to ISO format¶

from datetime import date

d = date(1969, 7, 21)

d.isoformat()
# 1969-07-21

8.2.5.2. `f-string` formatting¶

Listing 8.74. Datetime formatting as string with f'...'¶

from datetime import datetime

gagarin = datetime(1961, 4, 12, 6, 7)

print(f'Gagarin launched on {gagarin:%Y-%m-%d}')
# Gagarin launched on 1961-04-12

Listing 8.75. Datetime formatting as string with f'...'¶

from datetime import datetime

gagarin = datetime(1961, 4, 12, 6, 7)

print(f'Gagarin launched on {gagarin:%Y-%m-%d %H:%M}')
# Gagarin launched on 1961-04-12 06:07

Listing 8.76. Datetime formatting as string with f'...'¶

from datetime import datetime

gagarin = datetime(1961, 4, 12, 6, 7)
format = '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M'

print(f'Gagarin launched on {gagarin:{format}}')
# Gagarin launched on 1961-04-12 06:07

8.2.5.3. Format to string¶

Listing 8.77. Datetime formatting as string with .strftime()¶

from datetime import datetime

gagarin = datetime(1961, 4, 12, 6, 7)
formatted = gagarin.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M')

print(f'Gagarin launched on {formatted}')
# Gagarin launched on 1961-04-12 06:07

8.2.6. Parsing dates¶

Parsing - analyze (a sentence) into its parts and describe their syntactic roles.

Listing 8.78. Datetime parsing from string¶

from datetime import datetime

sputnik = '4 October 1957, 19:28:34 [UTC]'

result = datetime.strptime(sputnik, '%d %B %Y, %H:%M:%S [%Z]')
# datetime.datetime(1957, 10, 4, 19, 28, 34)

print(result)
# 1957-10-04 19:28:34

8.2.7. Examples¶

from datetime import datetime


log = '1969-07-21T02:56:15.123 [WARNING] First step on the Moon'

date, level, message = log.split(maxsplit=2)
format = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f'
date = datetime.strptime(date, format)

print(date)
# 1969-07-21 02:56:15.123000

print(level)
# [WARNING]

print(message)
# First step on the Moon

8.2.8. Assignments¶

8.2.8.1. Example¶

Complexity level: easy
Lines of code to write: 1 lines
Estimated time of completion: 5 min
Solution: solution/datetime_from_iso.py

English

Use data from "Input" section (see below)
The date and time is given in ISO format:
Convert it to datetime object

Polish

Użyj danych z sekcji "Input" (patrz poniżej)
Dana jest data w formacie ISO
Przedstaw datę jako obiekt datetime

Input

DATA = '1969-07-21T02:56:15.123Z'

Solution:

from datetime import datetime


DATA = '1969-07-21T02:56:15.123Z'
format = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ'

result = datetime.strptime(DATA, format)
print(result)

8.2.8.2. To ISO date format¶

Complexity level: easy
Lines of code to write: 3 lines
Estimated time of completion: 5 min
Solution: solution/datetime_to_iso.py

Enlish

Use data from "Input" section (see below)
Create datetime object by parsing the given date
Using formatting parameters print the date and time in ISO format
Compare result with "Output" section (see below)

Polish

Użyj danych z sekcji "Input" (patrz poniżej)
Podaną datę przekonwertuj do obiektu datetime
Używając parametrów formatujących wyświetl datę i czas w formacie ISO
Porównaj wyniki z sekcją "Output" (patrz poniżej)

Input

DATA = 'April 12, 1961 6:07 local time'

Output

data: datetime
# datetime.datetime(1961, 4, 12, 6, 7)

print(result)
# 1961-04-12T06:07:00.000000Z

Hint

Add string local time to format statement

8.2.8.3. US date and time format¶

Complexity level: easy
Lines of code to write: 5 lines
Estimated time of completion: 5 min
Solution: solution/datetime_from_us.py

English

Use data from "Input" section (see below)
Using given date and time from below (copy with quotes inside)
Create datetime object by parsing the date
Using formatting parameters print american short date format
Make sure, that hour is without leading zero
Compare result with "Output" section (see below)

Polish

Użyj danych z sekcji "Input" (patrz poniżej)
Używając podaną poniżej datę i czas (skopiuj z cudzysłowami)
Parsując stwórz obiekt datetime
Używając parametrów formatowania wyświetl datę w formacie amerykańskim krótkim
Upewnij się, że godzina jest bez wiodącego zera
Porównaj wyniki z sekcją "Output" (patrz poniżej)

Input

DATA = '"July 21st, 1969 2:56:15 AM UTC"'

Output

data: datetime
# datetime.datetime(1969, 7, 21, 2, 56)

print(result)
# 7/21/69 2:56 AM

Hint

Add quote sign " like normal text to fmt parameter of .strptime()
Use %-I or %_I on *nix systems (macOS, BSD, Linux) to remove leading zero
Use %#I on Windows to remove leading zero

8.2.8.4. Log parsing¶

Complexity level: medium
Lines of code to write: 25 lines
Estimated time of completion: 15 min
Solution: solution/datetime_logs.py

English

Use data from "Input" section (see below)
Save input data to file apollo11-timeline.log
Extract datetime object, level name and message from each line
Collect data to result: List[dict]
Print result
Compare result with "Output" section (see below)

Polish

Użyj danych z sekcji "Input" (patrz poniżej)
Zapisz dane wejściowe do pliku apollo11-timeline.log
Wyciągnij obiekt datetime, poziom logowania oraz wiadomość z każdej linii
Zbierz dane do result: List[dict]
Wyświetl result
Porównaj wyniki z sekcją "Output" (patrz poniżej)

Input

Listing 8.79. Apollo 11 timeline https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_11i_Timeline.htm¶

1969-07-14, 21:00:00, INFO, Terminal countdown started
1969-07-16, 13:31:53, WARNING, S-IC engine ignition (#5)
1969-07-16, 13:33:23, DEBUG, Maximum dynamic pressure (735.17 lb/ft^2)
1969-07-16, 13:34:44, WARNING, S-II ignition
1969-07-16, 13:35:17, DEBUG, Launch escape tower jettisoned
1969-07-16, 13:39:40, DEBUG, S-II center engine cutoff
1969-07-16, 16:22:13, INFO, Translunar injection
1969-07-16, 16:56:03, INFO, CSM docked with LM/S-IVB
1969-07-16, 17:21:50, INFO, Lunar orbit insertion ignition
1969-07-16, 21:43:36, INFO, Lunar orbit circularization ignition
1969-07-20, 17:44:00, INFO, CSM/LM undocked
1969-07-20, 20:05:05, WARNING, LM powered descent engine ignition
1969-07-20, 20:10:22, ERROR, LM 1202 alarm
1969-07-20, 20:14:18, ERROR, LM 1201 alarm
1969-07-20, 20:17:39, WARNING, LM lunar landing
1969-07-21, 02:39:33, DEBUG, EVA started (hatch open)
1969-07-21, 02:56:15, WARNING, 1st step taken lunar surface (CDR)
1969-07-21, 02:56:15, WARNING, That's one small step for [a] man... one giant leap for mankind
1969-07-21, 03:05:58, DEBUG, Contingency sample collection started (CDR)
1969-07-21, 03:15:16, INFO, LMP on lunar surface
1969-07-21, 05:11:13, DEBUG, EVA ended (hatch closed)
1969-07-21, 17:54:00, WARNING, LM lunar liftoff ignition (LM APS)
1969-07-21, 21:35:00, INFO, CSM/LM docked
1969-07-22, 04:55:42, WARNING, Transearth injection ignition (SPS)
1969-07-24, 16:21:12, INFO, CM/SM separation
1969-07-24, 16:35:05, WARNING, Entry
1969-07-24, 16:50:35, WARNING, Splashdown (went to apex-down)
1969-07-24, 17:29, INFO, Crew egress

Output

result: List[dict] = [

     {'date': datetime.datetime(1969, 7, 14, 21, 0),
      'level': 'INFO',
      'message': 'Terminal countdown started'},

     {'date': datetime.datetime(1969, 7, 16, 13, 31, 53),
      'level': 'WARNING',
      'message': 'S-IC engine ignition (#5)'},

     {'date': datetime.datetime(1969, 7, 16, 13, 33, 23),
      'level': 'DEBUG',
      'message': 'Maximum dynamic pressure (735.17 lb/ft^2)'},

...]

8.2. Datetime Parsing and Formatting¶

8.2.1. Date formats¶

8.2.1.1. Date format in USA¶

8.2.1.2. Date format in Japan¶

8.2.1.3. Date format in Germany¶

8.2.1.4. Date format in Poland¶

8.2.2. Time formats¶

8.2.2.1. 24 and 12 hour clock¶

8.2.2.2. Noon and Midnight¶

8.2.2.3. Times after 24:00¶

8.2.2.4. Military time¶

8.2.3. ISO 8601 Standard¶

8.2.3.1. Dates¶

8.2.3.2. Date and time¶

8.2.3.3. Noon and Midnight¶

8.2.3.4. Weeks¶

8.2.3.5. Timezone¶

8.2.3.6. Duration¶

8.2.4. Date and time parsing and formatting parameters¶

8.2.5. Date formatting¶

8.2.5.1. ISO Format¶

8.2.5.2. f-string formatting¶

8.2.5.3. Format to string¶

8.2.6. Parsing dates¶

8.2.7. Examples¶

8.2.8. Assignments¶

8.2.8.1. Example¶

8.2.8.2. To ISO date format¶

8.2.8.3. US date and time format¶

8.2.8.4. Log parsing¶

8.2.5.2. `f-string` formatting¶