Using DateDataParser¶
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.
dateparser.date.DateDataParser
provides an alternate and efficient way
to control language detection behavior.
The instance of 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 next dates 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.
-
class
dateparser.date.
DateDataParser
(languages=None, allow_redetect_language=False)[source]¶ Class which handles language detection, translation and subsequent generic parsing of string representing date and/or time.
Parameters: - languages (list) – A list of two letters language codes.e.g. [‘en’, ‘es’]. If languages are given, it will not attempt to detect the language.
- allow_redetect_language (bool) – Enables/disables language re-detection.
Returns: A parser instance
Raises: ValueError - Unknown Language, TypeError - Languages argument must be a list
-
get_date_data
(date_string, date_formats=None)[source]¶ Parse string representing date and/or time in recognizeable localized formats. Supports parsing multiple languages.
Parameters: - date_string (str|unicode) – A string representing date and/or time in a recognizably valid format.
- date_formats (list) – A list of format strings using directives as given here. The parser applies formats one by one, taking into account the detected languages.
Returns: a dict mapping keys to
datetime.datetime
object and period. For example: {‘date_obj’: datetime.datetime(2015, 6, 1, 0, 0), ‘period’: u’day’}Raises: ValueError - Unknown Language
Note
Period values can be a ‘day’ (default), ‘week’, ‘month’, ‘year’.
Period represent the granularity of date parsed from the given string.
In the example below, since no day information is present, the day is assumed to be current day
16
from current date (which is June 16, 2015, at the moment of writing this). Hence, the level of precision ismonth
.>>> DateDataParser().get_date_data(u'March 2015') {'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2015, 3, 16, 0, 0), 'period': u'month'}
Similarly, for date strings with no day and month information present, level of precision is
year
and day16
and month6
are from current_date.>>> DateDataParser().get_date_data(u'2014') {'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2014, 6, 16, 0, 0), 'period': u'year'}
TODO: Timezone issues
Once initialized, dateparser.date.DateDataParser.get_date_data()
parses date strings:
>>> from dateparser.date import DateDataParser
>>> ddp = DateDataParser()
>>> ddp.get_date_data(u'Martes 21 de Octubre de 2014') # Spanish
{'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2014, 10, 21, 0, 0), 'period': u'day'}
>>> ddp.get_date_data(u'13 Septiembre, 2014') # Spanish
{'date_obj': datetime.datetime(2014, 9, 13, 0, 0), 'period': u'day'}
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'}