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Convert Python UTC Datetime Object To UNIX Timestamp

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7K views

Convert Python UTC Datetime Object To UNIX Timestamp

python

Uploaded by

bluebird1969
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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10/27/2014

How to convert Python UTC datetime object to UNIX timestamp

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How to convert Python UTC datetime object to


UNIX timestamp
by Ruslan Spivak on July 20, 2011
I seem to get this question every half a year and every time I have difficulties remembering how to do
it.
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4

>>> from datetime import datetime


>>> d = datetime.utcnow()
>>> d
datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 21, 3, 13, 22, 259901)

So here is the snippet that I use to convert datetime to timestamp:


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>>> import calendar


>>> calendar.timegm(d.utctimetuple())
1311218002

Lets verify it:


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$ date -ud @1311218002


Thu Jul 21 03:13:22 UTC 2011

Looks fine, but I cant for the life of me understand why the function timegm is part of the calendar
module.
From Python official documentation:
calendar.timegm(tuple)

An unrelated but handy function that takes a time tuple such as returned by the gmtime()
function in the time module, and returns the corresponding Unix timestamp value, assuming an
epoch of 1970, and the POSIX encoding. In fact, time.gmtime() and timegm() are each others
inverse.
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{ 13 comments read them below or add one }

Michael July 21, 2011 at 6:05 AM


http://ruslanspivak.com/2011/07/20/how-to-convert-python-utc-datetime-object-to-unix-timestamp/

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10/27/2014

How to convert Python UTC datetime object to UNIX timestamp

datetime objects can do that as well using `strftime`:


In [7]: d = datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 21, 3, 13, 22, 259901)
In [8]: d.strftime(%s)
Out[8]: 1311210802
Reply

Ruslan Spivak July 21, 2011 at 8:00 PM


Unfortunately timezone-aware datetime objects (UTC) incorrectly calculate UNIX
timestamp:
[sourcecode language="python"]
>>> import pytz
>>> import datetime
>>> utc = pytz.timezone(UTC)
>>> toronto = pytz.timezone(America/Toronto)
>>> a = datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 21, 3, 13, 22, tzinfo=utc)
>>> b = a.astimezone(toronto)
>>> a.strftime(%s)
1311236002
>>> b.strftime(%s)
1311218002
[/sourcecode]
Reply

Christoph Burgmer July 21, 2011 at 2:11 PM


>>> import datetime
>>> import time
>>> d = datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 21, 3, 13, 22, 259901)
>>> time.mktime(d.timetuple())
1311210802.0
Probably the more basic way.
Reply

Ruslan Spivak July 21, 2011 at 8:09 PM


time.mktime(t) returns timestamp in local time:
[sourcecode language="python"]
>>> import pytz
>>> import datetime
>>> import time
>>>
>>> utc = pytz.timezone(UTC)
>>> d = datetime.datetime(2011, 7, 21, 3, 13, 22, tzinfo=utc)
http://ruslanspivak.com/2011/07/20/how-to-convert-python-utc-datetime-object-to-unix-timestamp/

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10/27/2014

How to convert Python UTC datetime object to UNIX timestamp

>>> time.mktime(d.timetuple())
1311236002.0
[/sourcecode]
Reply

cesium62 August 14, 2014 at 6:35 PM


There is no such thing as a timestamp in local time. A timestamp is the number
of seconds since the epoch and the epoch is specified in UTC.
So, are you saying that time.mktime ignores the timezone on the timetuple and uses
the host local timezone instead?
Reply

fylefou July 22, 2011 at 1:54 AM


So why so much way to do it ?
why not totimestamp in datetime like the fromtimestamp method?
Reply

Ruslan Spivak July 22, 2011 at 5:42 AM


Well, technically there are not many correct ways to do it. But I agree with the API
question, having that call would make conversion process clear and unambiguous.
Reply

Phlip July 20, 2014 at 9:24 PM


This is fixed as you suggest in Python 3.3, which now has a datetime.timestamp()
method to return the timestamp (and yes, it handles timezones correctly, giving the
number of seconds since epoch UTC).
But for earlier versions of Python (including even the latest Python2) you need to do it
like the post here says.
As an alternative, timestamp() is actually implemented for timezone-aware datetime
objects in the library in a rather direct manner:
EPOCH = datetime(1970, 1, 1, tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
return (d EPOCH).total_seconds()
Reply

Cat March 21, 2012 at 11:59 PM


http://ruslanspivak.com/2011/07/20/how-to-convert-python-utc-datetime-object-to-unix-timestamp/

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10/27/2014

How to convert Python UTC datetime object to UNIX timestamp

Thank God for this post, I had wasted half a day looking for an easy way to get the UTC
timestamp before running into this.
Reply

Benjamin Riggs December 16, 2012 at 7:43 PM


If you want the current timestamp, calendar.timegm(time.gmtime()) is cleaner (and quicker)
than utcnow().
Reply

Rufus V. Smith May 31, 2013 at 3:29 PM


My day was like yours, CAT!
Im thinking I dont want a stinkin tuple!
I can get tuples from timestamps easy!
I can parse a string into a tuple easy!
I just want a way to parse a string (mm/dd/yy HH:MM:SS) into a stinkin timestamp!
Is that too much to ask it should be easy!
(actually Im starting with a wx.DateTime)
After reading this thread, I ended up with:
time.mktime(time.strptime(str(dvalue),%m/%d/%y %H:%M:%S))
Is this really the one good way to do it?
Reply

Abe Kazemzadeh June 10, 2013 at 6:29 PM


Thanks! I was having a lot of trouble figuring out the right way to do this.
Reply

Simon July 12, 2013 at 11:09 AM


Thanks! This was a huge help!!!!
Writing an open source FTP sync tool (dropbox clone) so timezones are a huge factor!
Reply
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