randomtimestamp 2.0.0

Generate random time stamps

randomtimestamp ^(v2.0.0)

Random timestamp generator

Installation

You know it:

pip install randomtimestamp

Usage

randomtimestamp can be used from the command line or imported as a python module.

Command line usage

To use the script from command line

  $randomtimestamp
  30-08-1995 17:58:14

Python Module Usage

In v2.0.0, the function randomtimestamp takes six optional arguments:

randomtimestamp(
    start_year: int = 1950,
    text: bool = True,
    end_year: int = None,
    start: datetime.datetime = None,
    end: datetime.datetime = None,
    pattern: str = "%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S"
    )

Order of start_year & text hasn't been changed in v2.0.0 for backward compatibility. Future versions may not support the same order of arguments.

Order of resolution:

1. start/end
2. start_year/end_year

This means providing start_year/end_year to function call has no effect if start/end are also provided.

The default values of start_year and text are 1950 and True respectively. The timestamp is generated between January 1st, 1950, 00:00:00 and datetime.now().

Features:

1. Call without arguments returns a random timestamp as string (DD-MM-YYYY HH:MM:SS), where HH follows 24-hour format. Setting text=False returns a datetime object.

2. Lower limit of start_year = 1950 has been removed. Now 1 <= start_year <= 9999 is allowed. end_year has been added to provide upper limit of timestamp beyond current year (within 1-9999). If end_year is not given, current year is used as end_year.

   NOTE: Both are integers and start_year <= end_year is required. If end_year is provided, start_year is required too.

3. start and end arguments are datetime objects and can be used for more precise control over timestamp range. start_year & end_year have no effect if start and end are given. If end is not given, datetime.now() is used as end.

   NOTE: Both are datetime objects and start < end is required. If end is provided, start is required too.

4. pattern can be used to generate timestamps in desired format, using valid formats described in datetime documentation. The default pattern is "%d-%m-%Y %H:%M:%S".

   NOTE: pattern has no effect if text=False.

Examples:

Here are some examples of the possible syntaxes:

  >>> from randomtimestamp import randomtimestamp

  >>> randomtimestamp()
  '02-06-1970 23:34:10'

  >>> randomtimestamp(start_year=2020, end_year=2021)
  '05-09-2021 17:24:28'

  >>> randomtimestamp(start_year=2020, end_year=2021, text=False)
  datetime.datetime(2021, 1, 10, 5, 6, 19)

  >>> from datetime import datetime
  >>> start = datetime(2020, 5, 10, 0, 0, 0)
  >>> end = datetime(2020, 10, 10, 0, 0, 0)
  >>> randomtimestamp(start=start, end=end)
  '27-09-2020 20:42:55'

  >>> randomtimestamp(start=start, end=end, pattern='%d-%h-%Y %I:%M:%S %p')
  '03-Aug-2020 08:06:27 PM'

In any case, if you ever feel stuck, use help(randomtimestamp) inside Python's REPL.

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Footnote:

Type validation has been done, but it won't be required for most developers. If you're someone who likes to break the code with deliberately crafted inputs, you'd most likely receive a TypeError or a ValueError.

However, if you do find a bug, please report to make the experience better for other developers.

License

This project is released under GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE V3.