delta

library0.4.2pypypi✓ verified 23d ago

Delta is a Python library designed for human-friendly, context-aware parsing of duration strings. It allows users to convert natural language descriptions of time durations (e.g., '1 year 2 months and 3 days') into `datetime.timedelta` objects, optionally considering a specific start date for accurate calculations (e.g., for '2 months' relative to January vs. April). The library is currently at version 0.4.2 and appears to have a low release cadence.

serialization data

pip install delta

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · DELTA

delta

serializationpythonv0.4.2

Install

2.4s avg

Import

17ms

Disk

17MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v0.4.2 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.018s · 19.2MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.95 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 2.4s · import 0.016s · 20MB

17MB installed

● package 17MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

delta.parse

✓ import delta from datetime import datetime duration = delta.parse('1 day')

The primary function for parsing duration strings.

This quickstart demonstrates how to use the `delta.parse()` function to interpret various human-readable duration strings. It shows examples with and without an explicit context date, highlighting how 'context-aware' parsing works for units like months.

import delta from datetime import datetime # Parse a duration without a specific context (defaults to current date) duration_no_context = delta.parse('1 year 2 months and 3 days') print(f"Duration without context: {duration_no_context}") # Parse a duration with an explicit context date context_date = datetime(2023, 1, 15) # January 15, 2023 duration_with_context = delta.parse('1 month and 2 weeks', context_date) print(f"Duration with context {context_date.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')}: {duration_with_context}") # Parse different string formats duration_short_form = delta.parse('2y 3m 4w 5d') print(f"Duration from short form: {duration_short_form}")

Debug

Known issues

gotchaThe `delta` library appears to be minimally maintained, with the last notable activity on its GitHub repository around 2017. Users should be aware that it may not receive updates for new Python versions, bug fixes, or new features.

fix

Consider testing thoroughly with your specific Python version and use case. For active development, explore alternatives like `pendulum` or `dateutil` if they meet your parsing needs.

affects: <=0.4.2

gotchaWhen `delta.parse()` is called without an explicit `context` argument, it defaults to the current date. This means that calculations for relative units like '1 month' or '1 year' will vary depending on when the code is executed, leading to non-reproducible results. For example, '1 month' from January 31st is different from '1 month' from February 28th.

fix

Always provide an explicit `datetime` object as the `context` argument to `delta.parse()` for reproducible and consistent duration calculations, especially when dealing with non-fixed time units like months or years.

affects: All versions

gotchaThe library's 'context-aware' parsing of durations for units like 'months' or 'years' relies on Python's `datetime` objects. However, the library does not explicitly handle timezone information in its parsing logic. If your applications involve timezone-aware `datetime` objects or cross daylight saving time boundaries, the calculations might produce unexpected results without careful management of the input `context` `datetime` objects.

fix

Ensure the `context` `datetime` objects are consistent with the expected timezone behavior of your application. If precise timezone handling is critical, consider pre-processing your `datetime` objects or using a library with explicit timezone support.

affects: All versions

gotchaWhile designed for 'human-friendly' parsing, highly unusual, ambiguous, or malformed duration strings might lead to unexpected parsing results or unhandled exceptions. The robustness to a very wide variety of informal inputs is not extensively documented.

fix

Test the library with the full range of expected input strings in your application. Implement robust error handling around `delta.parse()` calls to gracefully manage potential parsing failures.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'delta'

The 'delta' library is not installed in your Python environment or there is a conflict with a different 'delta' package (e.g., delta-spark).

fix

Ensure the correct 'delta' duration parsing library is installed: `pip install python-delta`.

ValueError: Could not parse duration string; it must specify at least one unit of time (e.g. '1 day', '2h', '3.5 weeks')

The input string provided to the `parse` function does not conform to a recognizable duration format.

fix

Provide a valid duration string, such as '1 day', '2 hours', '3.5 weeks', or '1y 2m 3d'.

TypeError: context_date must be a datetime.datetime object

The `context_date` argument provided to the `parse` function is not a `datetime.datetime` object.

fix

Ensure that the `context_date` argument is a valid `datetime.datetime` object.

Upgrade

Version history

0.4.2latest on PyPI · released Aug 6, 2016

Audit

Dependencies

No dependency data recorded yet.

Agent activity

22 hits · last 30 days

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OpenAI (training)

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/rlgomes/delta ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/delta/ ↗