date and time comparison how to
 

All,

I need help with a date and time comparison.

Say a user enters a date-n-time and a file on disk. I want to compare the date and time of the file to the entered date-n-time; if the file is newer than the entered date-n-time, add the file to a list to process.

How best to do? I have looked at the datetime module, tried a few things, no luck.

Is os.stat a part of it? Tried, not sure of the output, the st_mtime/st_ctime doesnt jive with the file's correct date and time. ??

Any help would be appreciated!

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

On 10/29/2012 04:13 PM, noydb wrote:
> All,
>
> I need help with a date and time comparison.
>
> Say a user enters a date-n-time and a file on disk. I want to compare the date and time of the file to the entered date-n-time; if the file is newer than the entered date-n-time, add the file to a list to process.
>
> How best to do? I have looked at the datetime module, tried a few things, no luck.
>
> Is os.stat a part of it? Tried, not sure of the output, the st_mtime/st_ctime doesnt jive with the file's correct date and time. ??
>
> Any help would be appreciated!

Use the datetime module (distributed with Python) to compare date/times.

You can turn a filesystem time into a datetime with something like the
following:
import datetime, os, stat
mtime = os.lstat(filename)[stat.ST_MTIME] // the
files modification time
dt = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(mtime)


--
Dr. Gary Herron
Department of Computer Science
DigiPen Institute of Technology
(425) 895-4418

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

On 2012-10-30 00:04, Gary Herron wrote:
> On 10/29/2012 04:13 PM, noydb wrote:
>> All,
>>
>> I need help with a date and time comparison.
>>
>> Say a user enters a date-n-time and a file on disk. I want to compare the date and time of the file to the entered date-n-time; if the file is newer than the entered date-n-time, add the file to a list to process.
>>
>> How best to do? I have looked at the datetime module, tried a few things, no luck.
>>
>> Is os.stat a part of it? Tried, not sure of the output, the st_mtime/st_ctime doesnt jive with the file's correct date and time. ??
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated!
>
> Use the datetime module (distributed with Python) to compare date/times.
>
> You can turn a filesystem time into a datetime with something like the
> following:
> import datetime, os, stat
> mtime = os.lstat(filename)[stat.ST_MTIME] // the
> files modification time
> dt = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(mtime)
>
>
Instead of os.lstat(filename)[stat.ST_MTIME] you could use
os.path.getmtime(filename).

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

Thanks, I did find this...

pdf_timeStamp = time.strftime("%m%d%y%H%M%S",time.localtime(os.pat h.getmtime(pdf)))

>> pdf_timestamp
>> '102909133000'

.... but now how to do the comparison? Cannot just do a raw string comparison, gotta declare it a date

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

Thanks, I did find this...

pdf_timeStamp = time.strftime("%m%d%y%H%M%S",time.localtime(os.pat h.getmtime(pdf)))

>> pdf_timestamp
>> '102909133000'

.... but now how to do the comparison? Cannot just do a raw string comparison, gotta declare it a date

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

if I do time.time() I get 1351562187.757, do it again I get 1351562212.2650001 --- so I can compare those, the latter is later then the former. Good.SO how do I turn pdf_timeStamp (a string) above into time in this (as from time.time()) format? Am I on the right track -- is that the way to do a time comparison?

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

if I do time.time() I get 1351562187.757, do it again I get 1351562212.2650001 --- so I can compare those, the latter is later then the former. Good.SO how do I turn pdf_timeStamp (a string) above into time in this (as from time.time()) format? Am I on the right track -- is that the way to do a time comparison?

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

I guess I get there eventually!
This seems to work

pdf_timeStamp = time.strftime("%m%d%y%H%M%S",time.localtime(os.pat h.getmtime(pdf)))
intermediateTime = time.strptime(pdf_timeStamp, "%m%d%y%H%M%S")
pdfFile_compareTime = time.mktime(intermediateTime)

(and I'll do the same to the user entered date-n-time and then compare)


Lastly, so can anyone chime in and tell me if this is a good method or not? Is there a better way?

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

I guess I get there eventually!
This seems to work

pdf_timeStamp = time.strftime("%m%d%y%H%M%S",time.localtime(os.pat h.getmtime(pdf)))
intermediateTime = time.strptime(pdf_timeStamp, "%m%d%y%H%M%S")
pdfFile_compareTime = time.mktime(intermediateTime)

(and I'll do the same to the user entered date-n-time and then compare)


Lastly, so can anyone chime in and tell me if this is a good method or not? Is there a better way?

Re: date and time comparison how to
 

On 10/29/2012 10:13 PM, noydb wrote:
> I guess I get there eventually!
> This seems to work
>
> pdf_timeStamp = time.strftime("%m%d%y%H%M%S",time.localtime(os.pat h.getmtime(pdf)))
> intermediateTime = time.strptime(pdf_timeStamp, "%m%d%y%H%M%S")
> pdfFile_compareTime = time.mktime(intermediateTime)
>
> (and I'll do the same to the user entered date-n-time and then compare)
>
>
> Lastly, so can anyone chime in and tell me if this is a good method or not? Is there a better way?

Please read the rest of the thread in particular the message 3 hours ago
from Gary Herron

import datetime, os, stat
mtime = os.lstat(filename)[stat.ST_MTIME] // the files
modification time
dt = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(mtime)

Now you can compare two datetimes simply by
if dt1 < dt2:

Or you can subtract them, and examine the difference.

What's the need for all that string conversion stuff?



--

DaveA