16.3.

time Time access and conversions Page 1 of 11

16.3. time Time access and conversions

This module provides various time-related functions. For related functionality, see also th
datetime and calendar modules.

Although this module is always available, not all functions are available on all platforms. Mo
of the functions defined in this module call platform C library functions with the same name.
may sometimes be helpful to consult the platform documentation, because the semantics
these functions varies among platforms.

An explanation of some terminology and conventions is in order.

z The epoch is the point where the time starts. On January 1st of that year, at 0 hours, th
time since the epoch is zero. For Unix, the epoch is 1970. To find out what the epoc
is, look at gmtime(0) .

z The functions in this module may not handle dates and times before the epoch or far
the future. The cut-off point in the future is determined by the C library; for 32-
systems, it is typically in 2038.

z Year 2000 (Y2K) issues: Python depends on the platforms C library, which generally
doesnt have year 2000 issues, since all dates and times are represented internally a
seconds since the epoch. Function strptime() can parse 2-digit years when given %
format code. When 2-digit years are parsed, they are converted according to the POS
and ISO C standards: values 6999 are mapped to 19691999, and values 068 a
mapped to 20002068.

z UTC is Coordinated Universal Time (formerly known as Greenwich Mean Time,

GMT). The acronym UTC is not a mistake but a compromise between English an
French.

z DST is Daylight Saving Time, an adjustment of the timezone by (usually) one ho

during part of the year. DST rules are magic (determined by local law) and can chang
from year to year. The C library has a table containing the local rules (often it is rea
from a system file for flexibility) and is the only source of True Wisdom in this respect.

z The precision of the various real-time functions may be less than suggested by the un
in which their value or argument is expressed. E.g. on most Unix systems, the clo
ticks only 50 or 100 times a second.

z On the other hand, the precision of time() and sleep() is better than their Un
equivalents: times are expressed as floating point numbers, time() returns the mo
accurate time available (using Unix gettimeofday() where available), and sleep(
will accept a time with a nonzero fraction (Unix select() is used to implement th
where available).

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z The time value as returned by gmtime() , localtime() , and strptime() , an

accepted by asctime() , mktime() and strftime() , is a sequence of 9 integer
The return values of gmtime() , localtime() , and strptime() also offer attribu
names for individual fields.

See struct_time for a description of these objects.

Changed in version 3.3: The struct_time type was extended to provide th

tm_gmtoff and tm_zone attributes when platform supports corresponding struct t
members.

z Use the following functions to convert between time representations:

From To Use
seconds since the epoch struct_time in UTC gmtime()

seconds since the epoch struct_time in local localtime()

time
struct_time in UTC seconds since the epoch calendar.timegm()

struct_time in local seconds since the epoch mktime()

time

The module defines the following functions and data items:

time. altzone
The offset of the local DST timezone, in seconds west of UTC, if one is defined. This
negative if the local DST timezone is east of UTC (as in Western Europe, including th
UK). Only use this if daylight is nonzero.

time. asctime ([t])

Convert a tuple or struct_time representing a time as returned by gmtime()
localtime() to a string of the following form: 'Sun Jun 20 23:21:05 1993' . If t
not provided, the current time as returned by localtime() is used. Locale information
not used by asctime() .

Note Unlike the C function of the same name, asctime() does not add a trailing
newline.

time. clock ()
On Unix, return the current processor time as a floating point number expressed
seconds. The precision, and in fact the very definition of the meaning of processor time
depends on that of the C function of the same name, but in any case, this is the functio
to use for benchmarking Python or timing algorithms.

On Windows, this function returns wall-clock seconds elapsed since the first call to th

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function, as a floating point number, based on the Win32 functio

QueryPerformanceCounter() . The resolution is typically better than one microsecon

Deprecated since version 3.3: The behaviour of this function depends on the platform
use perf_counter() or process_time() instead, depending on your requirements
to have a well defined behaviour.

time. clock_getres (clk_id)

Return the resolution (precision) of the specified clock clk_id.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. clock_gettime (clk_id)

Return the time of the specified clock clk_id.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. clock_settime (clk_id, time)

Set the time of the specified clock clk_id.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_HIGHRES
The Solaris OS has a CLOCK_HIGHRES timer that attempts to use an optimal hardwa
source, and may give close to nanosecond resolution. CLOCK_HIGHRES is th
nonadjustable, high-resolution clock.

Availability: Solaris.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_MONOTONIC
Clock that cannot be set and represents monotonic time since some unspecified startin
point.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW
Similar to CLOCK_MONOTONIC , but provides access to a raw hardware-based time that

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not subject to NTP adjustments.

Availability: Linux 2.6.28 or later.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_PROCESS_CPUTIME_ID
High-resolution per-process timer from the CPU.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_REALTIME
System-wide real-time clock. Setting this clock requires appropriate privileges.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. CLOCK_THREAD_CPUTIME_ID
Thread-specific CPU-time clock.

Availability: Unix.

New in version 3.3.

time. ctime ([secs])

Convert a time expressed in seconds since the epoch to a string representing local tim
If secs is not provided or None , the current time as returned by time() is used. ctim
(secs) is equivalent to asctime(localtime(secs)) . Locale information is not use
by ctime() .

time. daylight
Nonzero if a DST timezone is defined.

time. get_clock_info (name)

Get information on the specified clock as a namespace object. Supported clock name
and the corresponding functions to read their value are:

z 'clock' : time.clock()
z 'monotonic' : time.monotonic()
z 'perf_counter' : time.perf_counter()
z 'process_time' : time.process_time()
z 'time' : time.time()

The result has the following attributes:

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z adjustable: True if the clock can be changed automatically (e.g. by a NTP daemo
or manually by the system administrator, False otherwise
z implementation: The name of the underlying C function used to get the clock value
z monotonic: True if the clock cannot go backward, False otherwise
z resolution: The resolution of the clock in seconds ( float )

New in version 3.3.

time. gmtime ([secs])

Convert a time expressed in seconds since the epoch to a struct_time in UTC
which the dst flag is always zero. If secs is not provided or None , the current time a
returned by time() is used. Fractions of a second are ignored. See above for
description of the struct_time object. See calendar.timegm() for the inverse of th
function.

time. localtime ([secs])

Like gmtime() but converts to local time. If secs is not provided or None , the curre
time as returned by time() is used. The dst flag is set to 1 when DST applies to th
given time.

time. mktime (t)

This is the inverse function of localtime() . Its argument is the struct_time or full
tuple (since the dst flag is needed; use -1 as the dst flag if it is unknown) whic
expresses the time in local time, not UTC. It returns a floating point number, f
compatibility with time() . If the input value cannot be represented as a valid time, eith
OverflowError or ValueError will be raised (which depends on whether the inva
value is caught by Python or the underlying C libraries). The earliest date for which it ca
generate a time is platform-dependent.

time. monotonic ()
Return the value (in fractional seconds) of a monotonic clock, i.e. a clock that cannot g
backwards. The clock is not affected by system clock updates. The reference point of th
returned value is undefined, so that only the difference between the results
consecutive calls is valid.

On Windows versions older than Vista, monotonic() detects GetTickCount() integ

overflow (32 bits, roll-over after 49.7 days). It increases an internal epoch (reference tim
by 232 each time that an overflow is detected. The epoch is stored in the process-loc
state and so the value of monotonic() may be different in two Python processe
running for more than 49 days. On more recent versions of Windows and on oth
operating systems, monotonic() is system-wide.

Availability: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris.

New in version 3.3.

time. perf_counter ()

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Return the value (in fractional seconds) of a performance counter, i.e. a clock with th
highest available resolution to measure a short duration. It does include time elapse
during sleep and is system-wide. The reference point of the returned value is undefine
so that only the difference between the results of consecutive calls is valid.

New in version 3.3.

time. process_time ()
Return the value (in fractional seconds) of the sum of the system and user CPU time
the current process. It does not include time elapsed during sleep. It is process-wide
definition. The reference point of the returned value is undefined, so that only th
difference between the results of consecutive calls is valid.

New in version 3.3.

time. sleep (secs)

Suspend execution for the given number of seconds. The argument may be a floatin
point number to indicate a more precise sleep time. The actual suspension time may b
less than that requested because any caught signal will terminate the sleep() followin
execution of that signals catching routine. Also, the suspension time may be longer tha
requested by an arbitrary amount because of the scheduling of other activity in th
system.

time. strftime (format[, t])

Convert a tuple or struct_time representing a time as returned by gmtime()
localtime() to a string as specified by the format argument. If t is not provided, th
current time as returned by localtime() is used. format must be a string. ValueErro
is raised if any field in t is outside of the allowed range.

0 is a legal argument for any position in the time tuple; if it is normally illegal the value
forced to a correct one.

The following directives can be embedded in the format string. They are shown witho
the optional field width and precision specification, and are replaced by the indicate
characters in the strftime() result:

Directive Meaning Notes

%a Locales abbreviated weekday name.
%A Locales full weekday name.
%b Locales abbreviated month name.
%B Locales full month name.
%c Locales appropriate date and time representation.
%d Day of the month as a decimal number [01,31].

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%H Hour (24-hour clock) as a decimal number [00,23].

%I Hour (12-hour clock) as a decimal number [01,12].
%j Day of the year as a decimal number [001,366].
%m Month as a decimal number [01,12].
%M Minute as a decimal number [00,59].
%p Locales equivalent of either AM or PM. (1)
%S Second as a decimal number [00,61]. (2)
%U Week number of the year (Sunday as the first day of the week) (3)
as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding
the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0.
%w Weekday as a decimal number [0(Sunday),6].
%W Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the (3)
week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year
preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0.
%x Locales appropriate date representation.
%X Locales appropriate time representation.
%y Year without century as a decimal number [00,99].
%Y Year with century as a decimal number.
%z Time zone offset indicating a positive or negative time
difference from UTC/GMT of the form +HHMM or -HHMM,
where H represents decimal hour digits and M represents
decimal minute digits [-23:59, +23:59].
%Z Time zone name (no characters if no time zone exists).
%% A literal '%' character.

Notes:

1. When used with the strptime() function, the %p directive only affects the outp
hour field if the %I directive is used to parse the hour.
2. The range really is 0 to 61 ; value 60 is valid in timestamps representing lea
seconds and value 61 is supported for historical reasons.
3. When used with the strptime() function, %U and %W are only used in calculatio
when the day of the week and the year are specified.
Here is an example, a format for dates compatible with that specified in the RFC 282
Internet email standard. [1]

>>> from time import gmtime, strftime

>>> strftime("%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S +0000", gmtime())
'Thu, 28 Jun 2001 14:17:15 +0000'

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Additional directives may be supported on certain platforms, but only the ones listed he
have a meaning standardized by ANSI C. To see the full set of format codes supporte
on your platform, consult the strftime(3) documentation.

On some platforms, an optional field width and precision specification can immediate
follow the initial '%' of a directive in the following order; this is also not portable. The fie
width is normally 2 except for %j where it is 3.

time. strptime (string[, format])

Parse a string representing a time according to a format. The return value is
struct_time as returned by gmtime() or localtime() .

The format parameter uses the same directives as those used by strftime() ;
defaults to "%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y" which matches the formatting returned by ctim
() . If string cannot be parsed according to format, or if it has excess data after parsin
ValueError is raised. The default values used to fill in any missing data when mo
accurate values cannot be inferred are (1900, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, -1) . Bo
string and format must be strings.

For example:

>>> import time

>>> time.strptime("30 Nov 00", "%d %b %y")
time.struct_time(tm_year=2000, tm_mon=11, tm_mday=30, tm_hour=0, tm
t 0 t d 3 t d 335 t i d t 1)

Support for the %Z directive is based on the values contained in tzname and wheth
daylight is true. Because of this, it is platform-specific except for recognizing UTC an
GMT which are always known (and are considered to be non-daylight saving
timezones).

Only the directives specified in the documentation are supported. Because strftime(
is implemented per platform it can sometimes offer more directives than those listed. B
strptime() is independent of any platform and thus does not necessarily support
directives available that are not documented as supported.

class time. struct_time

The type of the time value sequence returned by gmtime() , localtime() ,

and strptime() . It is an object with a named tuple interface: values can be
accessed by index and by attribute name. The following values are present:

Index Attribute Values

0 tm_year (for example, 1993)
1 tm_mon range [1, 12]

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2 tm_mday range [1, 31]

3 tm_hour range [0, 23]
4 tm_min range [0, 59]
5 tm_sec range [0, 61]; see (2) in strftime()
description
6 tm_wday range [0, 6], Monday is 0
7 tm_yday range [1, 366]
8 tm_isdst 0, 1 or -1; see below
N/A tm_zone abbreviation of timezone name
N/A tm_gmtoff offset east of UTC in seconds

Note that unlike the C structure, the month value is a range of [1, 12], not [0,
11]. A -1 argument as the daylight savings flag, passed to mktime() will
usually result in the correct daylight savings state to be filled in.

When a tuple with an incorrect length is passed to a function expecting a

struct_time , or having elements of the wrong type, a TypeError is raised.

Changed in version 3.3: tm_gmtoff and tm_zone attributes are available on platform
with C library supporting the corresponding fields in struct tm .

time. time ()
Return the time in seconds since the epoch as a floating point number. Note that eve
though the time is always returned as a floating point number, not all systems provid
time with a better precision than 1 second. While this function normally returns no
decreasing values, it can return a lower value than a previous call if the system clock ha
been set back between the two calls.

time. timezone
The offset of the local (non-DST) timezone, in seconds west of UTC (negative in most
Western Europe, positive in the US, zero in the UK).

time. tzname
A tuple of two strings: the first is the name of the local non-DST timezone, the second
the name of the local DST timezone. If no DST timezone is defined, the second strin
should not be used.

time. tzset ()
Resets the time conversion rules used by the library routines. The environment variab
TZ specifies how this is done.

Availability: Unix.

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Note Although in many cases, changing the TZ environment variable may affect the
output of functions like localtime() without calling tzset() , this behavior should
not be relied on.
The TZ environment variable should contain no whitespace.

The standard format of the TZ environment variable is (whitespace added for clarity):

std offset [dst [offset [,start[/time], end[/time]]]]

Where the components are:

std and dst

Three or more alphanumerics giving the timezone abbreviations. These will b
propagated into time.tzname
offset
The offset has the form: hh[:mm[:ss]] . This indicates the value added the loc
time to arrive at UTC. If preceded by a -, the timezone is east of the Prime Meridia
otherwise, it is west. If no offset follows dst, summer time is assumed to be one ho
ahead of standard time.
start[/time], end[/time]
Indicates when to change to and back from DST. The format of the start and en
dates are one of the following:

Jn
The Julian day n (1 <= n <= 365). Leap days are not counted, so in all yea
February 28 is day 59 and March 1 is day 60.
n
The zero-based Julian day (0 <= n <= 365). Leap days are counted, and it
possible to refer to February 29.
Mm.n.d
The dth day (0 <= d <= 6) or week n of month m of the year (1 <= n <= 5, 1 <=
<= 12, where week 5 means the last d day in month m which may occur
either the fourth or the fifth week). Week 1 is the first week in which the dth da
occurs. Day zero is Sunday.

time has the same format as offset except that no leading sign (- or +)
allowed. The default, if time is not given, is 02:00:00.

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>>> os.environ['TZ'] = 'EST+05EDT,M4.1.0,M10.5.0'

>>> time.tzset()
>>> time.strftime('%X %x %Z')
'02:07:36 05/08/03 EDT'
>>> os.environ['TZ'] = 'AEST-10AEDT-11,M10.5.0,M3.5.0'
>>> time.tzset()
>>> time.strftime('%X %x %Z')
'16:08:12 05/08/03 AEST'

On many Unix systems (including *BSD, Linux, Solaris, and Darwin), it is mo

convenient to use the systems zoneinfo (tzfile(5)) database to specify the timezone rule
To do this, set the TZ environment variable to the path of the required timezone datafi
relative to the root of the systems zoneinfo timezone database, usually locate
at /usr/share/zoneinfo . For example, 'US/Eastern' , 'Australia/Melbourne
'Egypt' or 'Europe/Amsterdam' .

>>> os.environ['TZ'] = 'US/Eastern'

>>> time.tzset()
>>> time.tzname
('EST', 'EDT')
>>> os.environ['TZ'] = 'Egypt'
>>> time.tzset()
>>> time.tzname
('EET', 'EEST')

See also

Module datetime
More object-oriented interface to dates and times.
Module locale
Internationalization services. The locale setting affects the interpretation of man
format specifiers in strftime() and strptime() .
Module calendar
General calendar-related functions. timegm() is the inverse of gmtime() from thi
module.

Footnotes

[1] The use of %Z is now deprecated, but the %z escape that expands to the preferred
hour/minute offset is not supported by all ANSI C libraries. Also, a strict reading of the
original 1982 RFC 822 standard calls for a two-digit year (%y rather than %Y), but
practice moved to 4-digit years long before the year 2000. After that, RFC 822 became
obsolete and the 4-digit year has been first recommended by RFC 1123 and then
mandated by RFC 2822.

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