🔍 Code Extractor

function format_datetime

Maturity: 51

Formats a datetime object into a standardized string representation for display purposes, returning an empty string if the input is None.

File:
/tf/active/vicechatdev/CDocs/utils/__init__.py
Lines:
35 - 47
Complexity:
simple

Purpose

This utility function provides consistent datetime formatting across the CDocs application. It handles None values gracefully by returning empty strings, making it safe to use in display contexts where datetime values may be optional. The function relies on a DATETIME_FORMAT constant (not shown in the code) that defines the application's standard datetime format.

Source Code

def format_datetime(date_obj: Optional[datetime]) -> str:
    """
    Format datetime for display.
    
    Args:
        date_obj: Datetime to format
        
    Returns:
        Formatted datetime string or empty string if None
    """
    if date_obj is None:
        return ""
    return date_obj.strftime(DATETIME_FORMAT)

Parameters

Name Type Default Kind
date_obj Optional[datetime] - positional_or_keyword

Parameter Details

date_obj: An optional datetime object to be formatted. Can be None, in which case the function returns an empty string. When provided, should be a valid Python datetime object from the datetime module.

Return Value

Type: str

Returns a string representation of the datetime formatted according to the DATETIME_FORMAT constant. If the input date_obj is None, returns an empty string (''). The exact format of the returned string depends on the DATETIME_FORMAT constant defined elsewhere in the codebase.

Dependencies

  • datetime

Required Imports

from datetime import datetime
from typing import Optional

Usage Example

from datetime import datetime
from typing import Optional

# Define the required constant
DATETIME_FORMAT = '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'

def format_datetime(date_obj: Optional[datetime]) -> str:
    if date_obj is None:
        return ""
    return date_obj.strftime(DATETIME_FORMAT)

# Example usage
now = datetime.now()
formatted = format_datetime(now)
print(f"Formatted datetime: {formatted}")
# Output: Formatted datetime: 2024-01-15 14:30:45

# Handle None case
formatted_none = format_datetime(None)
print(f"Formatted None: '{formatted_none}'")
# Output: Formatted None: ''

# Use in display context
user_last_login = None
print(f"Last login: {format_datetime(user_last_login) or 'Never'}")
# Output: Last login: Never

Best Practices

  • Ensure DATETIME_FORMAT constant is defined before calling this function
  • Use this function consistently throughout the application for uniform datetime display
  • The function is null-safe, making it ideal for optional datetime fields in data models
  • Consider the timezone implications - the function formats whatever timezone is in the datetime object without conversion
  • For user-facing displays, ensure DATETIME_FORMAT is set to a user-friendly format appropriate for your locale
  • When using in templates or UI contexts, the empty string return for None values allows for clean display without additional null checks

Tags

datetime formatting display utility string-conversion date-formatting null-safe presentation-layer

Similar Components

AI-powered semantic similarity - components with related functionality:

  • function format_date 95.1% similar

    Formats a datetime object into a string representation according to a predefined DATE_FORMAT constant, returning an empty string if the input is None.

    From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/CDocs/utils/__init__.py

  • function parse_date 63.3% similar

    Parses a date string in YYYY-MM-DD format into a datetime object, returning None if parsing fails or input is empty.

    From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/CDocs/utils/__init__.py

  • function format_datetime_v1 62.2% similar

    Converts an ISO format datetime string into a human-readable UTC datetime string formatted as 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS UTC'.

    From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/SPFCsync/dry_run_test.py

  • function parse_datetime 59.1% similar

    Parses a datetime string in YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS format into a Python datetime object, returning None if parsing fails.

    From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/CDocs/utils/__init__.py

  • function parse_datetime_v1 48.5% similar

    Converts various date representations (string, integer, pandas Timestamp) into a numpy datetime64 object using pandas datetime parsing capabilities.

    From: /tf/active/vicechatdev/patches/util.py
← Back to Browse