Python time strftime() Method

Pythom time method strftime() converts a tuple or struct_time representing a time as returned by gmtime() or localtime() to a string as specified by the format argument.
If t is not provided, the current time as returned by localtime() is used. format must be a string. An exception ValueError is raised if any field in t is outside of the allowed range.
Following is the syntax for strftime() method −
time.strftime(format[, t])

t − This is the time in number of seconds to be formatted.
t − This is the time in number of seconds to be formatted.
format − This is the directive which would be used to format given time. The following directives can be embedded in the format string −
format − This is the directive which would be used to format given time. 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 method does not return any value.
The following example shows the usage of strftime() method.
#!/usr/bin/python
import time

t = (2009, 2, 17, 17, 3, 38, 1, 48, 0)
t = time.mktime(t)
print time.strftime("%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S", time.gmtime(t))
When we run above program, it produces following result −
Feb 18 2009 00:03:38


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