Returns string representation of datetime objects. #python #datetime

datetimestamp.py

import datetime


def get_datetimestamp(sep_date="", sep_group="_", sep_time="", moment=None):
    """
    Returns string representation of datetime objects.

    By default, the value will look like "20121212_120102" and it
    is safe to use it on file names.

    sep_date:
        string, separator between year, month and day
    sep_group:
        string, separator between the date and time.
    sep_time:
        string, separator between hour, minute and second
    moment:
        an instance of datetime.datetime.
        if it is None(the default), now() will be used.

    Requires:
        import datetime

    >>> import datetime
    >>> some_date = datetime.datetime(2012, 12, 12, 12, 1, 2)
    >>> print get_datetimestamp(moment=some_date)
    20121212_120102
    >>> print get_datetimestamp(sep_date="/", sep_group="-", moment=some_date)
    2012/12/12-120102
    >>> print get_datetimestamp(sep_group="-", sep_time=":", moment=some_date)
    20121212-12:01:02

    """
    date_format = (sep_date.join(["%Y", "%m", "%d"]) +
                   sep_group +
                   sep_time.join(["%H", "%M", "%S"]))
    if moment is None:
        moment = datetime.datetime.now()
    stamp = moment.strftime(date_format)
    return stamp


def apply_doctest():
    """
    Applies the doctest to the module.
    http://docs.python.org/2/library/doctest.html
    """
    import doctest
    doctest.testmod()


if __name__ == "__main__":
    apply_doctest()