Python time strptime() Method

Python time method strptime() parses a string representing a time according to a format. The return value is a struct_time as returned by gmtime() or localtime().
The format parameter uses the same directives as those used by strftime(); it defaults to "%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y" which matches the formatting returned by ctime().
If string cannot be parsed according to format, or if it has excess data after parsing, ValueError is raised.
Following is the syntax for strptime() method −
time.strptime(string[, format])

string − This is the time in string format which would be parsed based on the given format.
string − This is the time in string format which would be parsed based on the given format.
format − This is the directive which would be used to parse the given string.
format − This is the directive which would be used to parse the given string.
The following directives can be embedded in the format string −
%a - abbreviated weekday name
%a - abbreviated weekday name
%A - full weekday name
%A - full weekday name
%b - abbreviated month name
%b - abbreviated month name
%B - full month name
%B - full month name
%c - preferred date and time representation
%c - preferred date and time representation
%C - century number (the year divided by 100, range 00 to 99)
%C - century number (the year divided by 100, range 00 to 99)
%d - day of the month (01 to 31)
%d - day of the month (01 to 31)
%D - same as %m/%d/%y
%D - same as %m/%d/%y
%e - day of the month (1 to 31)
%e - day of the month (1 to 31)
%g - like %G, but without the century
%g - like %G, but without the century
%G - 4-digit year corresponding to the ISO week number (see %V).
%G - 4-digit year corresponding to the ISO week number (see %V).
%h - same as %b
%h - same as %b
%H - hour, using a 24-hour clock (00 to 23)
%H - hour, using a 24-hour clock (00 to 23)
%I - hour, using a 12-hour clock (01 to 12)
%I - hour, using a 12-hour clock (01 to 12)
%j - day of the year (001 to 366)
%j - day of the year (001 to 366)
%m - month (01 to 12)
%m - month (01 to 12)
%M - minute
%M - minute
%n - newline character
%n - newline character
%p - either am or pm according to the given time value
%p - either am or pm according to the given time value
%r - time in a.m. and p.m. notation
%r - time in a.m. and p.m. notation
%R - time in 24 hour notation
%R - time in 24 hour notation
%S - second
%S - second
%t - tab character
%t - tab character
%T - current time, equal to %H:%M:%S
%T - current time, equal to %H:%M:%S
%u - weekday as a number (1 to 7), Monday=1. Warning: In Sun Solaris Sunday=1
%u - weekday as a number (1 to 7), Monday=1. Warning: In Sun Solaris Sunday=1
%U - week number of the current year, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of the first week
%U - week number of the current year, starting with the first Sunday as the first day of the first week
%V - The ISO 8601 week number of the current year (01 to 53), where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week
%V - The ISO 8601 week number of the current year (01 to 53), where week 1 is the first week that has at least 4 days in the current year, and with Monday as the first day of the week
%W - week number of the current year, starting with the first Monday as the first day of the first week
%W - week number of the current year, starting with the first Monday as the first day of the first week
%w - day of the week as a decimal, Sunday=0
%w - day of the week as a decimal, Sunday=0
%x - preferred date representation without the time
%x - preferred date representation without the time
%X - preferred time representation without the date
%X - preferred time representation without the date
%y - year without a century (range 00 to 99)
%y - year without a century (range 00 to 99)
%Y - year including the century
%Y - year including the century
%Z or %z - time zone or name or abbreviation
%Z or %z - time zone or name or abbreviation
%% - a literal % character
%% - a literal % character
This return value is struct_time as returned by gmtime() or localtime().
The following example shows the usage of strptime() method.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time

struct_time = time.strptime("30 Nov 00", "%d %b %y")
print "returned tuple: %s " % struct_time
When we run above program, it produces following result −
returned tuple: (2000, 11, 30, 0, 0, 0, 3, 335, -1)


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