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pythonutcpython-2.6gmtpytz

Convert GMT based time to UTC python

I get a date like 2014/08/19 03:38:46 GMT-4 from the database.

How do I convert this into UTC formatted date in Python?

PS: I use Python 2.6.6

Solution

  • Having a non-naive datetime object, you only should invoke astimezone method with desired timezone

    >>> import pytz
>>> from dateutil import parser
# dateutil.parser get a datetime object from string, we ensure that is a non-naive datetime
>>> parser.parse('2014/08/19 03:38:46 GMT-4')
datetime.datetime(2014, 8, 19, 3, 38, 46, tzinfo=tzoffset(None, 14400))
>>> dt = parser.parse('2014/08/19 03:38:46 GMT-4')
>>> dt.astimezone (pytz.utc)
datetime.datetime(2014, 8, 18, 23, 38, 46, tzinfo=<UTC>)

    You are right in your comment, utc time should go behind, so while I think another solution, what about this

    >>> dt = parser.parse('2014/08/19 03:38:46 GMT-4')
>>> dt.replace(tzinfo=pytz.utc) + dt.tzinfo._offset
datetime.datetime(2014, 8, 19, 7, 38, 46, tzinfo=<UTC>)