Convert a tuple or struct_time representing a time as returned by gmtime() or localtime() to a string as specified by the format argument. If t is not provided, the current time as returned by localtime() is used. format must be a string. ValueError 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 is forced to a correct one.

The following directives can be embedded in the format string. They are shown without the optional field width and precision specification, and are replaced by the indicated characters in the strftime() result:

Directive

Meaning

Notes

%a

Locale’s abbreviated weekday name.

%A

Locale’s full weekday name.

%b

Locale’s abbreviated month name.

%B

Locale’s full month name.

%c

Locale’s appropriate date and time representation.

%d

Day of the month as a decimal number [01,31].

%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

Locale’s 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) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Sunday are considered to be in week 0.

(3)

%w

Weekday as a decimal number [0(Sunday),6].

%W

Week number of the year (Monday as the first day of the week) as a decimal number [00,53]. All days in a new year preceding the first Monday are considered to be in week 0.

(3)

%x

Locale’s appropriate date representation.

%X

Locale’s 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]. [1]

%Z

Time zone name (no characters if no time zone exists). Deprecated. [1]

%%

A literal '%' character.

Notes:

When used with the strptime() function, the %p directive only affects the output hour field if the %I directive is used to parse the hour.

The range really is 0 to 61; value 60 is valid in timestamps representing leap seconds and value 61 is supported for historical reasons.

When used with the strptime() function, %U and %W are only used in calculations 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 2822 Internet email standard. [1]

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

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