Python Timestamp Regular Expression

Question

Can someone help me with my code where I have written data from a csv file into the timeStamp list? The data in the list is currently formatted like so 03.08.2012 07.11.15 PM. And I need the just the time 07:11:15 PM to be put into the actTime array. Here is my code:

import csv
import re
reader = csv.reader(open('main.csv','rb'), delimiter=',',quotechar="'")
timeStamp = []
ask = []
regexp = re.compile('\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{4}')
actTime = []
x = 0
try:
    for row in reader:
        ask.append(row[5:6])
        timeStamp.append(row[7:8])
except csv.Error, e:
    sys.exit('file %s, line %d: %s' % (filename, reader.line_num, e))
for item in timeStamp:
    actTime.append(timeStamp[x])
    match = regexp.match(timeStamp[x])
    if match:
        time = int(match.group[x])
    x = x + 1

Here is the error message I am getting:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "rates.py", line 17, in match = regexp.match(timeStamp[x]) TypeError: expected string or buffer

In `timeStamp.append(row[7:8])` you are appending *lists* containing exactly one element to the timeStamp list. Afterwards you pass this list to `regexp.match()`, which expects a string, not a list. Did you mean: `timeStamp.append(row[7])`? — Ferdinand Beyer, Mar 09 '12 at 16:13

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:16

Use the built-in timestamp parsing mechanism instead.

>>> import datetime
>>> t = "03.08.2012 07.11.15 PM"
>>> u = datetime.datetime.strptime(t, "%d.%m.%Y %I.%M.%S %p")
>>> u
datetime.datetime(2012, 8, 3, 19, 11, 15)
>>> u.strftime("%I:%M:%S %p")
'07:11:15 PM'

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:14

1

row[7:8] is a list of length 1, not a string. regexp needs a string. Use row[7] instead.

answered Mar 09 '12 at 16:14

alexis

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How would I add just the time into a new list? For example I only want 07:11:15 PM in a new list. Thank you. – scriptdiddy Mar 09 '12 at 16:23
Different question, right? Depends on what your timestamp looks like. You can probably get it with `stamp[:11]` (e.g. `row[7][:11]`) – alexis Mar 09 '12 at 16:27

Python Timestamp Regular Expression

2 Answers2