Convert a raw string into an appropriate datatype by using trial and error!

try_catch_conversion.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
from dateutil.parser import parse

def convert(value):
        """
        Be aware that this script is likely very incomplete. For instance, I don't even consider float!
        """
        if value.lower() == "true":
                return True

        if value.lower() == "false":
                return False

        if value == "":
                return None

        # attempt to convert to integer
        try:
                return int(value)

        except:
                pass

        # attempt to convert to datetime
        try:
                return parse(value)
        except:
                pass

        # after all failures, just return a string
        return str(value)

if __name__ == "__main__":
        print(convert("2"))
        print(convert("ab3"))
        print(convert("2011-03-18T16:14:00Z"))
        print(convert("FALSE"))