DateTime format in python

Question

I am trying to convert a column in a dataFrame to a TD format. The column looks like this (they are currently strings):

01/11/2012 00:00    
01/11/2012 01:00    
01/11/2012 02:00

This is what I have done now:

df['Sdate'] =  pd.to_datetime(df['Sdate'], format='%d%m%y %H:%M.%f')

But, it throws an error saying,

time data '01/11/2012 00:00' does not match format '%d%m%y %H:%M.%f' (match)

Not, sure why it does that. Isn't HH:MM 00:00 - 23:00?

Or, am I missing something really stupid here?

You're missing /, you don't need a microsecond directive, and %y should be %Y; instead use '%d/%m/%Y %H:%M'. — Alex Riley
– Alex Riley, Commented Nov 4, 2017 at 12:22

jezrael · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-04 12:21:51Z

2

Use to_datetime with dayfirst parameter:

df['Sdate'] =  pd.to_datetime(df['Sdate'], dayfirst=True)
print (df)
                Sdate
0 2012-11-01 00:00:00
1 2012-11-01 01:00:00
2 2012-11-01 02:00:00

If want specify format:

df['Sdate'] =  pd.to_datetime(df['Sdate'], format='%d/%m/%Y %H:%M')
print (df)
                Sdate
0 2012-11-01 00:00:00
1 2012-11-01 01:00:00
2 2012-11-01 02:00:00

answered Nov 4, 2017 at 12:21

jezrael

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2 Comments

RPT Over a year ago

Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks. Can you explain what effect the 'dayfirst=True' has?

jezrael Over a year ago

If omit it it will be parsed 2012-01-11 00:00:00 if all dates are not claer like 2012-11-21 00:00:00. So it can be obviusly omit, but if only a few dates and not clear DDMMYY vs MMDDYY it is helpful.

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