如何使用python将日期（如“ Apr 15 2014 16:21:16 UTC”）转换为UTC时间

Question

I have dates in the following format that are used to name zip files:

Apr 15 2014 16:21:16 UTC

I would like to convert that to UTC numbers using Python. Does python recognize the 3-character month?

Answer 1

Use:

import datetime

datetime.datetime.strptime(yourstring, '%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S UTC')

%b is the abbreviated month name. By default, Python uses the C (English) locale, regardless of environment variables used.

Demo:

>>> import datetime
>>> yourstring = 'Apr 15 2014 16:21:16 UTC'
>>> datetime.datetime.strptime(yourstring, '%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S UTC')
datetime.datetime(2014, 4, 15, 16, 21, 16)

The value is timezone neutral, which for UTC timestamps is fine, provided you don't mix local objects into the mix (eg stick to datetime.datetime.utcnow() and similar methods).

Answer 2

An easier way is to use dateutil :

>>> from dateutil import parser
>>> parser.parse("Apr 15 2014 16:21:16 UTC")
datetime.datetime(2014, 4, 15, 16, 21, 16, tzinfo=tzutc())

Timezone is handled, and it supports other common datetime formats as well.