Python datetime to string without microsecond component
Question:
I’m adding UTC time strings to Bitbucket API responses that currently only contain Amsterdam (!) time strings. For consistency with the UTC time strings returned elsewhere, the desired format is 2011-11-03 11:07:04 (followed by +00:00, but that’s not germane).
What’s the best way to create such a string (without a microsecond component) from a datetime instance with a microsecond component?
>>> import datetime
>>> print unicode(datetime.datetime.now())
2011-11-03 11:13:39.278026
I’ll add the best option that’s occurred to me as a possible answer, but there may well be a more elegant solution.
Edit: I should mention that I’m not actually printing the current time – I used datetime.now to provide a quick example. So the solution should not assume that any datetime instances it receives will include microsecond components.
Answers:
>>> import datetime
>>> now = datetime.datetime.now()
>>> print unicode(now.replace(microsecond=0))
2011-11-03 11:19:07
If you want to format a datetime object in a specific format that is different from the standard format, it’s best to explicitly specify that format:
>>> import datetime
>>> datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
'2011-11-03 18:21:26'
See the documentation of datetime.strftime() for an explanation of the % directives.
Yet another option:
>>> import time
>>> time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
'2011-11-03 11:31:28'
By default this uses local time, if you need UTC you can use the following:
>>> time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", time.gmtime())
'2011-11-03 18:32:20'
Keep the first 19 characters that you wanted via slicing:
>>> str(datetime.datetime.now())[:19]
'2011-11-03 14:37:50'
Since not all datetime.datetime instances have a microsecond component (i.e. when it is zero), you can partition the string on a “.” and take only the first item, which will always work:
unicode(datetime.datetime.now()).partition('.')[0]
In Python 3.6:
from datetime import datetime
datetime.now().isoformat(' ', 'seconds')
'2017-01-11 14:41:33'
https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime.isoformat
This is the way I do it. ISO format:
import datetime
datetime.datetime.now().replace(microsecond=0).isoformat()
# Returns: '2017-01-23T14:58:07'
You can replace the ‘T’ if you don’t want ISO format:
datetime.datetime.now().replace(microsecond=0).isoformat(' ')
# Returns: '2017-01-23 15:05:27'
We can try something like below
import datetime
date_generated = datetime.datetime.now()
date_generated.replace(microsecond=0).isoformat(' ').partition('+')[0]
I found this to be the simplest way.
>>> t = datetime.datetime.now()
>>> t
datetime.datetime(2018, 11, 30, 17, 21, 26, 606191)
>>> t = str(t).split('.')
>>> t
['2018-11-30 17:21:26', '606191']
>>> t = t[0]
>>> t
'2018-11-30 17:21:26'
>>>
I usually do:
import datetime
now = datetime.datetime.now()
now = now.replace(microsecond=0) # To print now without microsecond.
# To print now:
print(now)
output:
2019-01-13 14:40:28
This I use because I can understand and hence remember it better (and date time format also can be customized based on your choice) :-
import datetime
moment = datetime.datetime.now()
print("{}/{}/{} {}:{}:{}".format(moment.day, moment.month, moment.year,
moment.hour, moment.minute, moment.second))
As of Python 3.6+, the best way of doing this is by the new timespec argument for isoformat.
isoformat(timespec='seconds', sep=' ')
Usage:
>>> datetime.now().isoformat(timespec='seconds')
'2020-10-16T18:38:21'
>>> datetime.now().isoformat(timespec='seconds', sep=' ')
'2020-10-16 18:38:35'
>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> dt = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %X")
>>> print(dt)
'2021-02-05 04:10:24'
Current TimeStamp without microsecond component:
timestamp = list(str(datetime.timestamp(datetime.now())).split('.'))[0]
You can also use the following method
import datetime as _dt
ts = _dt.datetime.now().timestamp()
print("TimeStamp without microseconds: ", int(ts)) #TimeStamp without microseconds: 1629275829
dt = _dt.datetime.now()
print("Date & Time without microseconds: ", str(dt)[0:-7]) #Date & Time without microseconds: 2021-08-18 13:07:09
f-string formatting
>>> import datetime
>>> print(f'{datetime.datetime.now():%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S}')
2021-12-01 22:10:07
I’m adding UTC time strings to Bitbucket API responses that currently only contain Amsterdam (!) time strings. For consistency with the UTC time strings returned elsewhere, the desired format is 2011-11-03 11:07:04 (followed by +00:00, but that’s not germane).
What’s the best way to create such a string (without a microsecond component) from a datetime instance with a microsecond component?
>>> import datetime
>>> print unicode(datetime.datetime.now())
2011-11-03 11:13:39.278026
I’ll add the best option that’s occurred to me as a possible answer, but there may well be a more elegant solution.
Edit: I should mention that I’m not actually printing the current time – I used datetime.now to provide a quick example. So the solution should not assume that any datetime instances it receives will include microsecond components.
>>> import datetime
>>> now = datetime.datetime.now()
>>> print unicode(now.replace(microsecond=0))
2011-11-03 11:19:07
If you want to format a datetime object in a specific format that is different from the standard format, it’s best to explicitly specify that format:
>>> import datetime
>>> datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
'2011-11-03 18:21:26'
See the documentation of datetime.strftime() for an explanation of the % directives.
Yet another option:
>>> import time
>>> time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
'2011-11-03 11:31:28'
By default this uses local time, if you need UTC you can use the following:
>>> time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", time.gmtime())
'2011-11-03 18:32:20'
Keep the first 19 characters that you wanted via slicing:
>>> str(datetime.datetime.now())[:19]
'2011-11-03 14:37:50'
Since not all datetime.datetime instances have a microsecond component (i.e. when it is zero), you can partition the string on a “.” and take only the first item, which will always work:
unicode(datetime.datetime.now()).partition('.')[0]
In Python 3.6:
from datetime import datetime
datetime.now().isoformat(' ', 'seconds')
'2017-01-11 14:41:33'
https://docs.python.org/3.6/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime.isoformat
This is the way I do it. ISO format:
import datetime
datetime.datetime.now().replace(microsecond=0).isoformat()
# Returns: '2017-01-23T14:58:07'
You can replace the ‘T’ if you don’t want ISO format:
datetime.datetime.now().replace(microsecond=0).isoformat(' ')
# Returns: '2017-01-23 15:05:27'
We can try something like below
import datetime
date_generated = datetime.datetime.now()
date_generated.replace(microsecond=0).isoformat(' ').partition('+')[0]
I found this to be the simplest way.
>>> t = datetime.datetime.now()
>>> t
datetime.datetime(2018, 11, 30, 17, 21, 26, 606191)
>>> t = str(t).split('.')
>>> t
['2018-11-30 17:21:26', '606191']
>>> t = t[0]
>>> t
'2018-11-30 17:21:26'
>>>
I usually do:
import datetime
now = datetime.datetime.now()
now = now.replace(microsecond=0) # To print now without microsecond.
# To print now:
print(now)
output:
2019-01-13 14:40:28
This I use because I can understand and hence remember it better (and date time format also can be customized based on your choice) :-
import datetime
moment = datetime.datetime.now()
print("{}/{}/{} {}:{}:{}".format(moment.day, moment.month, moment.year,
moment.hour, moment.minute, moment.second))
As of Python 3.6+, the best way of doing this is by the new timespec argument for isoformat.
isoformat(timespec='seconds', sep=' ')
Usage:
>>> datetime.now().isoformat(timespec='seconds')
'2020-10-16T18:38:21'
>>> datetime.now().isoformat(timespec='seconds', sep=' ')
'2020-10-16 18:38:35'
>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> dt = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %X")
>>> print(dt)
'2021-02-05 04:10:24'
Current TimeStamp without microsecond component:
timestamp = list(str(datetime.timestamp(datetime.now())).split('.'))[0]
You can also use the following method
import datetime as _dt
ts = _dt.datetime.now().timestamp()
print("TimeStamp without microseconds: ", int(ts)) #TimeStamp without microseconds: 1629275829
dt = _dt.datetime.now()
print("Date & Time without microseconds: ", str(dt)[0:-7]) #Date & Time without microseconds: 2021-08-18 13:07:09
f-string formatting
>>> import datetime
>>> print(f'{datetime.datetime.now():%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S}')
2021-12-01 22:10:07