date2epoch

date2epoch.py

#!/usr/bin/env python

# Notes
# One can easily get the current epoch using the date command, like so:
#
#    in your timezone:
#
#       $ date -j +"%s"
#       1363104249
#
#    in UTC:
#
#       $ date -uj +"%s"
#       1363104259
#
import datetime
import calendar
import sys

def usage(args):
    return 'usage: %s [year] [month] [day] [hour] [minute] [second]' % (args[0]) 

def fill_defaults(int_args):
    """ fill in "minimum" default time values for any values omitted """
    min_vals = [2000, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]
    for i in range(6):
        if not int_args[i:i+1]:
            int_args.append(min_vals[i])

if (__name__ == '__main__'):
    try:
        arg_count = len(sys.argv)
        int_args = [int(a) for a in sys.argv[1:]]
        fill_defaults(int_args)

        if arg_count == 1:
            dt = datetime.datetime.utcnow()
        elif arg_count > 1:
            dt = datetime.datetime(*int_args)

        print calendar.timegm(dt.utctimetuple())
    except Exception as e:
        print 'Error: %s' % (e.message)
        print '\n' + usage(sys.argv)