converting timestamp to datetime in python

Question

I have a timestamp which is coming from a remote Linux box. This is the timestamp 1356354496. When I am using the fromtimestamp function I am getting a different output then what it should be.

Example:

from datetime import datetime
import time
print(time.ctime(int("1356354496")))
cwStartTimeDisplay=datetime.fromtimestamp(int("1356354496")).strftime("%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y")
print(cwStartTimeDisplay)

Output

Mon Dec 24 05:08:16 2012 Mon Dec 24 05:08:16 2012

Whereas I should be getting 12/24/2012 6:38:16 PM. I am a beginner and don't really know if tz parameter is the answer to this. Can anybody help please?

likely a tz issue. what are the local timezones of the two machines? How do you obtain the timestamp on the remote machine? using time.time()? — shx2
– shx2, Commented Jun 14, 2013 at 7:46

mata · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-14 10:31:33Z

3

Your timestamp seems to be UTC, so if you need id represented in IST, you need to convert it.

The recommended library to work with timezone data in python is pytz

from datetime import datetime
import pytz
ist = pytz.timezone("Asia/Kolkata")

utcdate = pytz.utc.localize(datetime.utcfromtimestamp(1356354496))
print("UTC:", utcdate)
istdate = ist.normalize(utcdate)
print("IST:", istdate)

# or shorter:
date = datetime.fromtimestamp(1356354496, ist)
print("IST:", date)

output:

UTC: 2012-12-24 13:08:16+00:00
IST: 2012-12-24 18:38:16+05:30
IST: 2012-12-24 18:38:16+05:30

answered Jun 14, 2013 at 10:31

mata

69.3k10 gold badges168 silver badges162 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

aniruddha saundattikar Over a year ago

Thanks Mata!! There was a problem with my machine. When I tested the same sample code and the code implemented in the project on another machine it worked fine. :)

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

converting timestamp to datetime in python

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related