dateparser.parse uses a default parser which tries to detect language every time it is called and is not the most efficient way while parsing dates from the same source.
DateDataParser <dateparser.date.DateDataParser> provides an alternate and efficient way to control language detection behavior.
The instance of DateDataParser <dateparser.date.DateDataParser> reduces the number of applicable languages, until only one or no language is left. It assumes the previously detected language for all the subsequent dates supplied and does not try to execute the language detection again after a language is discarded.
This class wraps around the core dateparser functionality, and by default assumes that all of the dates fed to it are in the same language.
dateparser.date.DateDataParser
Warning
It fails to parse English dates in the example below, because Spanish was detected and stored with the ddp instance:
>>> ddp.get_date_data('11 August 2012') {'date_obj': None, 'period': 'day'}
dateparser.date.DateDataParser can also be initialized with known languages:
>>> ddp = DateDataParser(languages=['de', 'nl']) >>> ddp.get_date_data(u'vr jan 24, 2014 12:49') {'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2014, 1, 24, 12, 49), 'period': u'day'} >>> ddp.get_date_data(u'18.10.14 um 22:56 Uhr') {'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2014, 10, 18, 22, 56), 'period': u'day'}
dateparser's parsing behavior can be configured like below:
TIMEZONE defaults to UTC. All dates, complete or relative, are assumed to be in UTC. When specified, resultant datetime <datetime.datetime> converts according to the supplied timezone:
>>> parse('January 12, 2012 10:00 PM') datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 12, 22, 0)
>>> parse('January 12, 2012 10:00 PM', settings={'TIMEZONE': 'US/Eastern'}) datetime.datetime(2012, 1, 12, 17, 0)
PREFER_DAY_OF_MONTH defaults to current and can have first and last as values:
>>> from dateparser import parse >>> parse(u'December 2015') # default behavior datetime.datetime(2015, 12, 16, 0, 0) >>> parse(u'December 2015', settings={'PREFER_DAY_OF_MONTH': 'last'}) datetime.datetime(2015, 12, 31, 0, 0) >>> parse(u'December 2015', settings={'PREFER_DAY_OF_MONTH': 'first'}) datetime.datetime(2015, 12, 1, 0, 0)
PREFER_DATES_FROM defaults to current_period and can have past and future as values. Assuming current date is June 16, 2015:
>>> from dateparser import parse >>> parse(u'March') datetime.datetime(2015, 3, 16, 0, 0) >>> parse(u'March', settings={'PREFER_DATES_FROM': 'future'}) datetime.datetime(2016, 3, 16, 0, 0)
SKIP_TOKENS is a list of tokens to discard while detecting language. Defaults to ['t'] which skips T in iso format datetime string .e.g. 2015-05-02T10:20:19+0000.:
>>> from dateparser.date import DateDataParser >>> DateDataParser(settings={'SKIP_TOKENS': ['de']}).get_date_data(u'27 Haziran 1981 de') # Turkish (at 27 June 1981) {'date_obj': datetime.datetime(1981, 6, 27, 0, 0), 'period': 'day'}
RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE is a flag to turn on timezone aware dates if timezone is detected or specified.:
>>> parse('12 Feb 2015 10:56 PM EST', settings={'RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE': True}) datetime.datetime(2015, 2, 13, 3, 56, tzinfo=<StaticTzInfo 'UTC'>)
>>> parse('12 Feb 2015 10:56 PM EST', settings={'RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE': True, 'TIMEZONE': 'EST'}) datetime.datetime(2015, 2, 12, 22, 56, tzinfo=<StaticTzInfo 'EST'>)
If RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE is set to True, and TIMEZONE is None, a timezone aware date is only returned if the input string explicitly specifies the time zone, otherwise an unaware date is returned:
>>> parse('12 Feb 2015 10:56 PM', settings={'RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE': True, 'TIMEZONE': None}) datetime.datetime(2015, 2, 12, 22, 56)
>>> parse('12 Feb 2015 10:56 PM EST', settings={'RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE': True, 'TIMEZONE': None}) datetime.datetime(2015, 2, 12, 22, 56, tzinfo=<StaticTzInfo 'EST'>)