Can't convert string object to time

Question

I have a dataframe containing different recorded times as string objects, such as 1:02:45, 51:11, 54:24.

I can't convert to time objects, this is the error I am getting:

"time data '49:49' does not match format '%H:%M:%S"

This is the code I am using:

df_plot2 = df[['year', 'gun_time', 'chip_time']]
df_plot2['gun_time'] = pd.to_datetime(df_plot2['gun_time'], format = '%H:%M:%S')
df_plot2['chip_time'] = pd.to_datetime(df_plot2['chip_time'], format = '%H:%M:%S')

Thanks in advance for your help!

Because 49:49 doesn't have the hour part? Looks like the proper format should be '%M:%S' for this? — Soner Gönül
– Soner Gönül, Commented Nov 30, 2021 at 20:07
Hi Daniel, could you add some sample data? The issue seems to come from the fact your data is not alsways formated the same. — Fredaroo
– Fredaroo, Commented Nov 30, 2021 at 20:12

FObersteiner · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-01 10:40:55Z

1

you can create a common format in the time Series by checking string len and adding the hours as zero '00:' where there are only minutes and seconds. Then parse to datetime. Ex:

import pandas as pd

s = pd.Series(["1:02:45", "51:11", "54:24"])

m = s.str.len() <= 5
s.loc[m] = '00:' + s.loc[m]

dts = pd.to_datetime(s)

print(dts)
0   2021-12-01 01:02:45
1   2021-12-01 00:51:11
2   2021-12-01 00:54:24
dtype: datetime64[ns]

answered Dec 1, 2021 at 10:40

FObersteiner

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Comments

Djordje Petkovic · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-30 20:06:00Z

0

I believe it may be because for %H python expects to see 01, 02, 03 etc instead of 1, 2, 3. To use your specific example 1:02:45 may have to be in the 01:02:45 format for python to be able to convert it to a datetime variable with %H:%M:$S.

answered Nov 30, 2021 at 20:06

Djordje Petkovic

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