problem with datetime and weekday

Valerie Meunier

I have two questions about dates in python:

Thanks.

1) when i input e.g. 18-02-1992, i expect to get the same, but instead, i get 1992-02-18. How come and how to get 18-02-1954?

import datetime
dt1 = str(input("Input date (dd-mm-jjjj): "))
dt2=datetime.datetime.strptime(dt1,"%d-%m-%Y").date()
print(dt2) # i get 1992-02-18

2) I want the weekday of the inputted date: the first way works (for 18-02-1992 i get Tuesday), but the second way gives "

import datetime
dt1 = str(input("Input date (dd-mm-jjjj): "))
dt2=datetime.datetime.strptime(dt1,"%d-%m-%Y").date()
print(dt2)
print(("De dag van de week voor {} is {}: ").format(dt2,dt2.strftime('%A'))) # this works
print(("De dag van de week voor {} is {}: ").format(dt2.strftime('%d-%B-%Y'),dt2.weekday)) # this doesn't work

7 Replies

Know the answer? Post it — somebody with the same question will find it here.

Tuhin Paul3y ago

Accepted answer

For Question 1:

I can suggest some minor improvements for readability and clarity:

from datetime import datetime

# Parse the input string into a datetime object
input_date_str = "18-02-1992"
input_date = datetime.strptime(input_date_str, "%d-%m-%Y")

# Format the datetime object as a string in the desired format
output_date_str = input_date.strftime("%d-%m-%Y")

# Print the output date
print(f"The input date '{input_date_str}' formatted as '{output_date_str}'") # Output: The input date '18-02-1992' formatted as '18-02-1992'

I've added a variable to store the input date string for readability, and also used an f-string to make the print statement more clear

Tuhin Paul3y ago

For Question 2:

import datetime

# Create a datetime object for March 18th, 2023
dt = datetime.datetime(2023, 3, 18)

# Use strftime() method to format the date as a string in a desired format
formatted_date = dt.strftime('%d-%B-%Y')  # Output format: day-Month-Year

# Use weekday() method to get the weekday number (where 0 is Monday and 6 is Sunday)
weekday_number = dt.weekday()

# Print the formatted date and weekday number
print("Formatted date:", formatted_date)  # Output: Formatted date: 18-March-2023
print("Weekday number:", weekday_number)  # Output: Weekday number: 6

Valerie Meunier3y ago
Thanks again. Again, stupid error ...
+1

Abhijeet Jadhav3y ago

Try this code :

dt = datetime.datetime.strptime(input("Input date (dd-mm-jjjj): "), "%d-%m-%Y")
print(f"Weekday of {dt.strftime('%d-%m-%Y')} is {dt.weekday()}: ")

Valerie Meunier3y ago
Hi, thanks. The first problem is solved.

For the second, i tried this:

import datetime
dt=datetime. datetime.strptime(input("Input date (dd-mm-jjjj): "),"%d-%m-%Y")
print(f"Weekday of {{dt.strftime('%d-%m-%Y')}} is {dt.weekday}: ")

But this gives the same error, although dt is of type datetime ...
0

Abhijeet Jadhav3y ago

For Question 2 :

Try this to get the weekday number :

import datetime

dt2 = datetime.datetime(2023, 3, 18)

# Enclose the strftime() function call within parentheses
formatted_date = dt2.strftime('%d-%B-%Y')
weekday_number = dt2.weekday()

print(formatted_date) # Output: 18-March-2023
print(weekday_number) # Output: 6 (where 0 is Monday and 6 is Sunday)

Abhijeet Jadhav3y ago
Answer to the Question :1 )

In Python, the default date format is YYYY-MM-DD (Year-Month-Day). That's why when you input "18-02-1992", Python assumes that the date is in DD-MM-YYYY format and converts it to YYYY-MM-DD format.

To get the desired format of "18-02-1992", you need to explicitly format the date using the strftime() method. Here's an example code snippet that shows how to achieve this:
```
from datetime import datetime

# Parse the input string into a datetime object
input_date = datetime.strptime("18-02-1992", "%d-%m-%Y")

# Format the datetime object as a string in the desired format
output_date = input_date.strftime("%d-%m-%Y")

# Print the output date
print(output_date) # Output: 18-02-1992
```
+1