Date extracting

date_extract.py

def date_to_datetime(date_str, fstrs=None):
    """
    Given date string, return datetime object
    2015 format: 2/8/13 0:00
    2016 format: 02/08/2013 00:00
                 02/12/2013 20:05
    """
    if fstrs is None:
        fstrs = ["%m/%d/%y %H:%M", "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M"]
    for f in fstrs:
        try:
            return datetime.strptime(date_str, f)
        except ValueError:
            pass
    raise ValueError("Date {0} matched no formats in list: {1}".format(
        date_str, fstrs))