How to convert the time now into a custom data format?

Question

I am using an API, and the API needs this data format:

Wed Jan 07 2015 18:58:40

How I can convert the time now to this data format, using the datetime and time modules?

Answer 1

print(datetime.now().strftime('%a %b %d %Y %H:%M:%S'))

Would display something like:

Thu Mar 24 2016 10:09:18

The formatting options used are as follows:

• %a Weekday as locale’s abbreviated name.
• %b Month as locale’s abbreviated name.
• %d Day of the month as a zero-padded decimal number.
• %Y Year with century as a decimal number.
• %H Hour (24-hour clock) as a zero-padded decimal number.
• %M Minute as a zero-padded decimal number.
• %S Second as a zero-padded decimal number.

---

To then convert this to a format for sending, you probably want to investigate quote_plus(), for example:

from datetime import datetime
import urllib

now = datetime.now().strftime('%a %b %d %Y %H:%M:%S')
print(urllib.parse.quote_plus(now))

This would give you:

Thu+Mar+24+2016+10%3A32%3A51