How to arrange events and data in chronological order in python

Question

I have a task to sort out the below data in chronological order and list the data based on the timestamp.

If someone can guide me through the logic, I can try to write the code by myself.

Input:

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : linkManager/link-event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:26.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : linkManager/link-event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet29, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:26.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Expected Output:

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : linkManager/link-event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : linkManager/link-event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet29, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:26.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:26.040000 UTC
Event Name        : eventManager/event
DataFields        : [srcSwName:X, srcPortName:ethernet30, dstSwName:X, dstPortName:ethernet3, fabricLinkEventType:X, reason:Port Down]

Answer 1

lets imagine this is in a file

import itertools

with open('filename') as f:
    # Extract blocks by splitting on empty lines
    blocks = [list(val) for key, val in 
              itertools.groupby(f, lambda x: bool(x.rstrip()))
              if key]

    # Now the top line on each block has a timestamp so compare it:
    blocks.sort(key=lambda x: x[0].split(':')[-1])

with open('out_file', 'w') as f:
    # Write back the blocks with a new line separator to new file:
    for block in blocks:
       f.writelines(block + ['\n'])

Answer 2

You need to read your file and load it into, for example, a list . Then convert the first value field of TimeStamp which is represented into UTC timezone into timestamp .

For example:

Timestamp         : 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 UTC

which contains 2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000 could be replaced by timestamp using datetime module like this example:

from datetime import datetime
a = '2017-02-13 12:07:25.040000'
b = datetime.datetime.strptime(a, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f").timestamp()
print(b)
>>> 1486984045.04

Now, you can create a method or you can simply use a lambda function like this way:

# Note: x should be a string
get_timestamp = lambda x: datetime.datetime.strptime(x, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%f").timestamp()

Then, you can sort your list by the returned timestamp data of your new method or lmabda function.