Checking if a python variable is a date?

Question

One thing that I'm finding hard with the pandas/numpy combo is dealing with dates. My dataframe time series indices are often DateTimeIndexes containing Timestamps but sometimes seem to be something else (e.g. datetime.Date or numpy.datetime64).

Is there a generic way to check if a particular object is a date, i.e. any of the known date variable types? Or is that a function I should look to create myself?

Thanks!

Doesnt seem to be. Why not just create your own function that checks for any those types? — Paul Rooney
– Paul Rooney, Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 1:08
Some other ways can be found here: stackoverflow.com/questions/44988301/… — JohnE
– JohnE, Commented Feb 1, 2018 at 2:07

jpp · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-01 01:20:37Z

4

I use this function to convert a series to a consistent datetime object in pandas / numpy. It works with both scalars and series.

import pandas as pd
x = '2018-12-11'
pd.to_datetime(x)  # Timestamp('2018-12-11 00:00:00')

answered Feb 1, 2018 at 1:20

jpp

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2 Comments

Chris Harris Over a year ago

Thanks, this is helpful. As a general practice do you try to keep all time formats as Timestamps, to keep things simple?

jpp Over a year ago

if i'm working with pandas, yes. it's guaranteed to understand it because you are using pandas to cast it. it also has a host of convenience features: pandas.pydata.org/pandas-docs/stable/generated/…

AsankaJ · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-01 01:17:51Z

2

if isinstance(yourVariable,datetime.datetime):
   print("it's a date")

answered Feb 1, 2018 at 1:17

AsankaJ

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2 Comments

Chris Harris Over a year ago

Thanks! - that works for timestamps but not for datetime.date so it's not perfect.

offbyone Over a year ago

you can include multiple types, e.g. `isinstance(var, (datetime.datetime, np.datetime64, datetime.date))

rekteridae · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-01 01:10:53Z

1

I would try converting the string representation of what I suspect to be a datetime into a datetime object, using the parse function from dateutil.parser.

https://chrisalbon.com/python/basics/strings_to_datetime/

answered Feb 1, 2018 at 1:10

rekteridae

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