Python strptime() – How to convert String to Date Time?
In this Python article, we will discuss the use of strptime function, and how to use this to convert string to a datetime object. We will also discuss various examples to understand the concept better. Let’s get started.
1. What is the use of datetime strptime in Python?
We use the function or method
strptime()to convert a provided string into a DateTime object. The condition is that the string should be a valid representation of datetime.
The datetime.strptime() function intakes a time signifying string in different formats; a struct_time is returned in either gmtime() format or localtime() format.
The strptime takes the parameter similar to directives used by strftime function. The default format is “%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y”, its formatting is the same that is returned by ctime().
When the provided string format is invalid or when the parsed value has too much data then ValueError is thrown.
Syntax:
time.strptime(string[, format])
#or
datetime.strptime(date_string, format)Parameters
- string − The input time string which is parsed and converted to the object.
- format − To parse the provided string, format directive is used.
According to the provided string and format code, the strptime() function returns an equivalent datetime object.
2. Different format Code List
| Directive | Specification | Output |
|---|---|---|
| %a | used for an abbreviated name for weekdays | Sun, Mon, …, Sat |
| %A | used for the full name of a weekday | Sunday, Monday, …, Saturday |
| %w | used to represent the weekday in whole numbers with 0 as of Sunday and 6 as of Saturday and other values in between as different weekdays. | 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| %d | used to represent the day of a month in a zero-padded number way. | 01, 02, …, 31 |
| %b | used to represent the abbreviated name for the month. | Jan, Feb, …, Dec |
| %B | used to represent the full name for the month. | January, February, …, December |
| %m | used to represent the month in a zero-padded number way. | 01, 02 … 12 |
| %y | used to represent a specific year as a zero-padded decimal number without displaying the century. | 01, 02, … 99 |
| %Y | used to represent a specific year as a decimal number with displaying the century. | 0001, 0002, … , 9999 |
| %H | used to represent the hour in the 24-hour clock format in a zero-padded decimal number way. | 01, 02, … , 23 |
| %I | used to represent the hour in the 12-hour clock format in a zero-padded decimal number way. | 01, 02, … , 12 |
| %p | used to represent AM or PM. | AM, PM (en_US) |
| %M | used to represent the minute in a zero-padded decimal number way. | 01, 02, … , 59 |
| %S | used to represent the second in a zero-padded decimal number way. | 01, 02, … , 59 |
| %f | used to represent the Microsecond in a zero-padded decimal number way to its left. | 000000, 000001, …, 999999 Not applicable with time module. |
| %z | used to represent the ±HHMM[SS] calculated from the UTC according to the local time. (naive object returns an empty string). | (empty), +0000, -0400, +1030 |
| %Z | used to represent the name of the time zone. | (empty), UTC, IST, CST |
| %j | used to represent the particular day of the year in a zero-padded decimal number way. | 001, 002, …, 366 |
| %U | used to represent the particular week number of the year in a zero-padded decimal number way. After a new year, days after the first Sunday are marked to be in week 0. | 00, 01, …, 53 |
| %W | used to represent the particular week number of the year in a zero-padded decimal number way. After a new year, days after the first Monday are marked to be in week 0. | 00, 01, …, 53 |
| %c | used to represent the local appropriate date and time. | Tue Aug 16 21:30:00 1988 |
| %x | used to represent the local appropriate date. | 08/16/88 (None) 08/16/1988 |
| %X | used to represent the local appropriate time. | 21:30:00 |
| %% | used to represent a “%” character as a literal. | % |
3. datetime.strptime examples in Python
Let’s take some examples in different programs to see how to use them.
import datetime
provided_datetime_string_1 = "05/07/2021 12:15:32"
f1 = datetime.datetime.strptime(provided_datetime_string_1, "%d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S")
print("format1 =", f1)
f2 = datetime.datetime.strptime(provided_datetime_string_1, "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S")
print("format2 =", f2)Output format1 = 2021-07-05 12:15:32 format2 = 2021-05-07 12:15:32
import time
print(time.strptime('Fri Jul 05 13:01:02 2021'))Output time.struct_time(tm_year=2021, tm_mon=7, tm_mday=5, tm_hour=13, tm_min=1, tm_sec=2, tm_wday=4, tm_yday=186, tm_isdst=-1)
import datetime string = '12::17::39' f1 = datetime.datetime.strptime(string, '%H::%M::%S').time() print(type(f1)) print(f1)
Output 12:17:39
3. ValueError in datetime strptime()
When the string provided by the user and the prescribed format code in the strptime() function doesn’t match then an error is generated which is ValueError.
Read more about errors and error handling in Python
import datetime string = '12::two minutes::39' f1 = datetime.datetime.strptime(string, '%H::%M::%S').time() print(f1)
Output Traceback (most recent call last): File "main.py", line 4, inf1 = datetime.datetime.strptime(string, '%H::%M::%S').time()File "/usr/lib/python3.4/_strptime.py", line 337, in _strptime(data_string, format))ValueError: time data '12::two minutes::39' does not match format '%H::%M::%S'
We can remove such errors using exception handling by catching the exception and correcting it.
Let’s do it on one other example. Try the above yourself after watching one.
import datetime
import time
input_string_1 = '07/2021/05 12:45:49'
try:
object1 = datetime.datetime.strptime(input_string_1, '%m/%d/%y')
except ValueError as exception:
print('Error Raised: ', exception)
input_string_2 = '99::55::26'
try:
object2 = time.strptime(input_string_2, '%H::%M::%S')
except ValueError as exception:
print('Error Raised: ', exception)Output Error Raised: time data '07/2021/05 12:45:49' does not match format '%m/%d/%y' Error Raised: time data '99::55::26' does not match format '%H::%M::%S'
4. Conclusion
Finally, if we sum up, in this article we learned everything about the strptime function/method. We covered how to use and why to use the strptime function for milliseconds and different input formats, we also covered:
- What is the use of Strptime in python and how to use the strptime in python
- Different format Code List for the strptime function/method
- ValueError in strptime() and how to remove the valueerror in strptime() fucntion
Read More: We recommend going through another article to convert a datetime object to formatted string using strftime()
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