Python strptime parsing year without century: assume prior to this year?

Question

I am parsing some datetime strings in Python 2.7, using datetime.strptime. I want to assume that a date is prior to now.

But strptime\'s %y operator do

Answer 1

If your input is in the local timezone:

from datetime import date

then = datetime.strptime('10/12/68', '%d/%m/%y').date()
if date.today() <= then: # *then* must be in the past
    then = then.replace(year=then.year - 100)

It should work ok until 2100 (excluding). See here for more details on arithmetic with calendar years.

Answer 2

It's easy to fix after the fact:

from datetime import datetime, timedelta
dt = datetime.strptime(...)
if dt > datetime.now():
    dt -= timedelta(years=100)