Python - Converting string to datetime object

Question

I've been trying to convert a timestamp that is a string to a datetime object. The problem is the timestamps formatting. I haven't been able to properly parse the timestamp using datetime.datetime.strptime. I could write my own little parser as its a simple problem but I was hoping to use strptime function, I just need help on the formatting.

Example

import datetime

formater = "%y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ"
str_timestamp = "2021-03-13T18:27:37.60918Z"
timestamp = datetime.datetime.strptime(str_timestamp, formater)

print (timestamp)

Output

builtins.ValueError: time data '2021-03-13T18:27:37.60918Z' does not match format '%y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'

I'm clearly not symbolizing the formatter properly, the T and Z parts are what I can't account for.

Does this answer your question? How do I parse an ISO 8601-formatted date? — FObersteiner
– FObersteiner, Commented Apr 1, 2021 at 22:44

DeepSpace · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-01 21:23:21Z

2

y should be Y. y is for 2 digits year.
You should also take care for the milliseconds with .%f:

%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ

answered Apr 1, 2021 at 21:23

DeepSpace

82.1k12 gold badges119 silver badges166 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

4 Comments

Brandon Nadeau Over a year ago

Awesome it works. I haven't parsed timestamps in a while. Thanks.

FObersteiner Over a year ago

Z denotes UTC, that shouldn't be just ignored by using a literal Z in the strftime directive

Brandon Nadeau Over a year ago

Are you saying I should or shouldn't include the Z in the formatter

FObersteiner Over a year ago

@Crispy you can replace it with %z - then you should get a datetime object with tzinfo set to UTC. This makes a difference because if tzinfo is not set, Python will treat datetime objects as local time (your OS setting).

Vedank Pande · Accepted Answer · 2021-04-01 21:26:28Z

0

This format works:

formater = "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ"

output:

2021-03-13 18:27:37.609180

answered Apr 1, 2021 at 21:26

Vedank Pande

4464 silver badges13 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Python - Converting string to datetime object

Example

Output

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Example

Output

2 Answers 2

4 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related