Datetime keeps complaining about string format

Question

The following lines

new_variable = dataset['Time'].units[14:].rstrip()
print ("NEW VARIABLE ", new_variable, type(new_variable), len(new_variable)) 
datetime_variable = datetime.datetime.strptime(new_variable, '%y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')

produces the following output

NEW VARIABLE  2025-02-07 00:00:00 <class 'str'> 19

but generates the following error

    datetime_variable = datetime.strptime(new_variable, '%y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/_strptime.py", line 568, in _strptime_datetime
    tt, fraction, gmtoff_fraction = _strptime(data_string, format)
  File "/usr/lib/python3.10/_strptime.py", line 349, in _strptime
    raise ValueError("time data %r does not match format %r" %
ValueError: time data '2025-02-07 00:00:00' does not match format '%y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'

I really don't understand why datetime complains about the string format or how to fix it.

docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#format-codes

jonrsharpe
– jonrsharpe

2025-02-15 20:03:51 +00:00
Commented Feb 15 at 20:03 — jonrsharpe
– jonrsharpe, Commented Feb 15 at 20:03
Thanks! What was I thinking?

afernandezody
– afernandezody

2025-02-15 20:42:17 +00:00
Commented Feb 15 at 20:42 — afernandezody
– afernandezody, Commented Feb 15 at 20:42

Proteus · Accepted Answer · 2025-02-16 14:19:00Z

0

The problem with your function is that it the %y placeholder expects a two-digit year (without the century). You should replace your code with %Y, which reads a full year (or, of course, modify your input accordingly):

import datetime
datetime_variable = datetime.datetime.strptime("2025-02-16 00:00:00", '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
print(datetime_variable)

answered Feb 16 at 14:19

Proteus

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