Parse time with different formats

Question

I have a string that I need to convert to datetime format. The problem is that it doesn't always have the same format. Right now I'm using try, except to try all the formats that I might encounter (see code below). Is there a way to do this generically for all time formats?

import datetime

def get_time(start_time):    
        try:
            start_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(start_time, '%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S')                                    
            return start_time
        except:
            try:
                start_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(start_time, '%H:%M:%S')                
                return start_time
            except:
                try:
                    start_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(start_time, '%m/%d/%Y %H:%M')                    
                    return start_time
                except:
                    print("Error could not convert datetime format")

use list with patterns and for loop.

furas
– furas

2017-02-05 01:02:48 +00:00
Commented Feb 5, 2017 at 1:02 — furas
– furas, Commented Feb 5, 2017 at 1:02

miradulo · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-05 01:02:10Z

3

I think that dateutil would be very useful for a task like this - it can appropriately parse most formats.

>>> from dateutil import parser
>>> parser.parse(start_time)

Alternatively, I think you have the right idea with try/except statements, however you should just place all of the formats in a list and iterate over the list with a single try-except block instead of the ugly nesting.

formats = ['%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S', '%H:%M:%S', '%m/%d/%Y %H:%M']               
def get_time(start_time):
    for formt in formats:
        try:
            return datetime.strptime(start_time, formt)
        except ValueError:
            pass
    print('Could not convert datetime format')
    # or raise an error

answered Feb 5, 2017 at 1:02

miradulo

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