spanish datetime return NaT

Question

I have a date column with the format 19 dic 2020 23:59 (spanish date) and I want to convert it into a datetime type.

df["Time"] = pd.to_datetime(df.Time, format='%d %b %Y %H:%M', errors = "coerce")

After running the code column is the right type datetime but it only contains NaT values.

what am I doing wrong?

@adirabargil Rather country-specific datetime format. This should be specified in the question. Ignacio: Please do not post images of code/data/error messages. Post the text directly here on SO. — Mr. T, Dec 22 '20 at 13:51

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 22 '20 at 13:52

3

I believe this is an error that is associated with pandas' function not supporting other locales such as es_ES as in your case. I would recommend changing the locale or iterating as is described in these two answers. The first uses a locale change via datetime and the second recommends using substitution.

answered Dec 22 '20 at 13:52

Aasim Sani

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SO has the duplicate flag for a reason – Mr. T Dec 22 '20 at 13:55
for `%b`, the spanish month name abbreviation input must be e.g. `dic.`; notice the dot. this is neither a pandas nor a locale problem - even if you set the locale correctly, you still need to supply the correct input to strptime. – FObersteiner Dec 22 '20 at 15:02

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 22 '20 at 15:04

This is neither a pandas nor a locale problem. For one, your strptime directive is slightly wrong, and second, your input just doesn't match %b. pd.to_datetime works fine if you set the correct locale, supply the correct input and set the correct format directive:

import locale
locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, 'es_ES')

import pandas as pd

s = '19 dic 2020 23:59'
print(pd.to_datetime(s.replace('dic', 'dic.'), format='%d %b %Y %H:%M'))
# 2020-12-19 23:59:00

spanish datetime return NaT

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