Python time formatting different in Windows

Question

I'm probably missing an obvious platform difference that I should be accommodating but I'm getting this when trying to do a time format (Python2.7)...

in Linux env:

>>> import time
>>> time.strftime("%a, %d-%b-%Y %T GMT", time.gmtime())
'Tue, 29-May-2012 21:42:04 GMT'

in Windows:

>>> import time
>>> time.strftime("%a, %d-%b-%Y %T GMT", time.gmtime())
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
ValueError: Invalid format string

The tuples returned from time.gmtime() appear to be the same, so I'm not completely sure what I need to change.

just to make sure, you are using the exact same versions of Python on both platforms? — Levon
– Levon, Commented May 29, 2012 at 21:49

FatalError · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-29 21:51:05Z

21

In general, you'll find that python time.strftime() supports the same set of format specifiers as the platform (or that platform's libc to be more specific) it runs on. However, only a subset of these is portable. See http://docs.python.org/library/time.html for a list. To quote the docs:

Additional directives may be supported on certain platforms, but only the ones listed here have a meaning standardized by ANSI C.

In this case, %T can be replaced by %H:%M:%S.

answered May 29, 2012 at 21:51

FatalError

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2 Comments

Joakim Over a year ago

Here is a list of format characters that are supported by the Windows strftime: msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fe06s4ak.aspx

MarkHu Over a year ago

A small gotcha: Linux/Posix/Unix strftime seems to silently ignore [some] invalid formatting, which cause Windows fatal exception.

Levon · Accepted Answer · 2012-05-29 21:53:45Z

0

I don't see the %T format directive listed in the Python documentation - must not be available/implemented for the Windows platform (I tried with both Python v2.7.3 and 3.2.3 just now)

answered May 29, 2012 at 21:53

Levon

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Comments

coyot · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-14 14:39:04Z

0

I found that I had this problem because MacOS supports "%D" and I had to replace it with "%m/%d/%Y" to make it cross-platform. In general, combining 'simple' format strings like %m seems to be safer than using 'aggregate' strings like %T or %D.

answered Sep 14, 2016 at 14:39

coyot

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