A fast general purpose date/time converter written in Rust with crates dateparser and chrono.
You can install the development version of timeless like so:
remotes::install_github("schochastics/timeless")
#or
pak::pak("schochastics/timeless")
the package is also available on CRAN
install.packages("timeless")
library(timeless)
timeless understands many different date(time) formats out of the box. A subset is included as a small benchmark dataset.
bench_date
#> [1] "1511648546" "1620021848429"
#> [3] "1620024872717915000" "2021-05-01T01:17:02.604456Z"
#> [5] "2017-11-25T22:34:50Z" "Wed, 02 Jun 2021 06:31:39 GMT"
#> [7] "2019-11-29 08:08-08" "2019-11-29 08:08:05-08"
#> [9] "2021-05-02 23:31:36.0741-07" "2021-05-02 23:31:39.12689-07"
#> [11] "2019-11-29 08:15:47.624504-08" "2017-07-19 03:21:51+00:00"
#> [13] "2014-04-26 05:24:37 PM" "2021-04-30 21:14"
#> [15] "2021-04-30 21:14:10" "2021-04-30 21:14:10.052282"
#> [17] "2014-04-26 17:24:37.123" "2014-04-26 17:24:37.3186369"
#> [19] "2012-08-03 18:31:59.257000000" "2017-11-25 13:31:15 PST"
#> [21] "2017-11-25 13:31 PST" "2014-12-16 06:20:00 UTC"
#> [23] "2014-12-16 06:20:00 GMT" "2014-04-26 13:13:43 +0800"
#> [25] "2014-04-26 13:13:44 +09:00" "2012-08-03 18:31:59.257000000 +0000"
#> [27] "2015-09-30 18:48:56.35272715 UTC" "2021-02-21"
#> [29] "2021-02-21 PST" "2021-02-21 UTC"
#> [31] "2020-07-20+08:00" "01:06:06"
#> [33] "4:00pm" "6:00 AM"
#> [35] "01:06:06 PST" "4:00pm PST"
#> [37] "6:00 AM PST" "6:00pm UTC"
#> [39] "May 6 at 9:24 PM" "May 27 02:45:27"
#> [41] "May 8, 2009 5:57:51 PM" "September 17, 2012 10:09am"
#> [43] "September 17, 2012, 10:10:09" "May 02, 2021 15:51:31 UTC"
#> [45] "May 02, 2021 15:51 UTC" "May 26, 2021, 12:49 AM PDT"
#> [47] "September 17, 2012 at 10:09am PST" "2021-Feb-21"
#> [49] "May 25, 2021" "oct 7, 1970"
#> [51] "oct 7, 70" "oct. 7, 1970"
#> [53] "oct. 7, 70" "October 7, 1970"
#> [55] "12 Feb 2006, 19:17" "12 Feb 2006 19:17"
#> [57] "14 May 2019 19:11:40.164" "7 oct 70"
#> [59] "7 oct 1970" "03 February 2013"
#> [61] "1 July 2013" "4/8/2014 22:05"
#> [63] "04/08/2014 22:05" "4/8/14 22:05"
#> [65] "04/2/2014 03:00:51" "8/8/1965 12:00:00 AM"
#> [67] "8/8/1965 01:00:01 PM" "8/8/1965 01:00 PM"
#> [69] "8/8/1965 1:00 PM" "8/8/1965 12:00 AM"
#> [71] "4/02/2014 03:00:51" "03/19/2012 10:11:59"
#> [73] "03/19/2012 10:11:59.3186369" "3/31/2014"
#> [75] "03/31/2014" "08/21/71"
#> [77] "8/1/71" "2014/4/8 22:05"
#> [79] "2014/04/08 22:05" "2014/04/2 03:00:51"
#> [81] "2014/4/02 03:00:51" "2012/03/19 10:11:59"
#> [83] "2012/03/19 10:11:59.3186369" "2014/3/31"
#> [85] "2014/03/31" "3.31.2014"
#> [87] "03.31.2014" "08.21.71"
#> [89] "2014.03.30" "2014.03"
#> [91] "171113 14:14:20" "2014年04月08日11时25分18秒"
#> [93] "2014年04月08日"
chronos()
is the powerhouse of the package and tries as hard as
possible to parse every input into either a date or a datetime,
depending on out_format
. The function can also return a raw character
vector which can be fed into faster converters, such as
fasttime.
chronos(bench_date, out_format = "datetime")
#> [1] "2017-11-25 22:22:26 CET" "2021-05-03 06:04:08 CEST"
#> [3] "2021-05-03 06:54:32 CEST" "2021-05-01 01:17:02 CEST"
#> [5] "2017-11-25 22:34:50 CET" "2021-06-02 06:31:39 CEST"
#> [7] "2019-11-29 16:08:00 CET" "2019-11-29 08:08:05 CET"
#> [9] "2021-05-02 23:31:36 CEST" "2021-05-02 23:31:39 CEST"
#> [11] "2019-11-29 08:15:47 CET" "2017-07-19 03:21:51 CEST"
#> [13] "2014-04-26 15:24:37 CEST" "2021-04-30 19:14:00 CEST"
#> [15] "2021-04-30 21:14:10 CEST" "2021-04-30 21:14:10 CEST"
#> [17] "2014-04-26 17:24:37 CEST" "2014-04-26 17:24:37 CEST"
#> [19] "2012-08-03 18:31:59 CEST" "2017-11-25 21:31:15 CET"
#> [21] "2017-11-25 21:31:00 CET" "2014-12-16 06:20:00 CET"
#> [23] "2014-12-16 06:20:00 CET" "2014-04-26 05:13:43 CEST"
#> [25] "2014-04-26 04:13:44 CEST" "2012-08-03 18:31:59 CEST"
#> [27] "2015-09-30 18:48:56 CEST" "2021-02-21 08:10:06 CET"
#> [29] "2021-02-22 07:10:06 CET" "2021-02-21 07:10:06 CET"
#> [31] "2020-07-20 07:10:06 CEST" "2024-08-31 23:06:06 CEST"
#> [33] "2024-09-01 14:00:00 CEST" "2024-09-01 04:00:00 CEST"
#> [35] "2024-08-31 09:06:06 CEST" "2024-09-01 00:00:00 CEST"
#> [37] "2024-08-31 14:00:00 CEST" "2024-09-01 18:00:00 CEST"
#> [39] "2024-05-06 19:24:00 CEST" "2024-05-27 00:45:27 CEST"
#> [41] "2009-05-08 15:57:51 CEST" "2012-09-17 08:09:00 CEST"
#> [43] "2012-09-17 08:10:09 CEST" "2021-05-02 15:51:31 CEST"
#> [45] "2021-05-02 15:51:00 CEST" "2021-05-26 07:49:00 CEST"
#> [47] "2012-09-17 18:09:00 CEST" "2021-02-21 08:10:06 CET"
#> [49] "2021-05-25 07:10:06 CEST" "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET"
#> [51] "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET" "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET"
#> [53] "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET" "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET"
#> [55] "2006-02-12 18:17:00 CET" "2006-02-12 18:17:00 CET"
#> [57] "2019-05-14 17:11:40 CEST" "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET"
#> [59] "1970-10-07 08:10:06 CET" "2013-02-03 08:10:06 CET"
#> [61] "2013-07-01 07:10:06 CEST" "2014-04-08 20:05:00 CEST"
#> [63] "2014-04-08 20:05:00 CEST" "2014-04-08 20:05:00 CEST"
#> [65] "2014-02-04 03:00:51 CET" "1965-08-07 23:00:00 CET"
#> [67] "1965-08-08 12:00:01 CET" "1965-08-08 13:00:00 CET"
#> [69] "1965-08-08 13:00:00 CET" "1965-08-08 00:00:00 CET"
#> [71] "2014-02-04 03:00:51 CET" "2012-03-19 10:11:59 CET"
#> [73] "2012-03-19 09:11:59 CET" "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST"
#> [75] "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST" "1971-08-21 08:10:06 CET"
#> [77] "1971-08-01 08:10:06 CET" "2014-04-08 20:05:00 CEST"
#> [79] "2014-04-08 20:05:00 CEST" "2014-04-02 03:00:51 CEST"
#> [81] "2014-04-02 03:00:51 CEST" "2012-03-19 10:11:59 CET"
#> [83] "2012-03-19 09:11:59 CET" "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST"
#> [85] "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST" "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST"
#> [87] "2014-03-31 07:10:06 CEST" "1971-08-21 08:10:06 CET"
#> [89] "2014-03-30 07:10:06 CEST" "2014-03-01 08:10:06 CET"
#> [91] "2017-11-13 13:14:20 CET" "2014-04-08 09:25:18 CEST"
#> [93] "2014-04-08 07:10:06 CEST"
Under the hood chronos()
calls three functions which can also be used
in isolation:
parse_datetime()
: a fast datetime parser that tries several
different formats until it can parse the input
parse_date()
: a fast date parser that tries several different
formats until it can parse the input
parse_epoch()
: a fast-ish epoch timestamp parser
anytime is the most accepted general purpose date(time) converter.
It does not recognize all accepted formats of timeless
out of the box.
(Note that the unrecognized formats can be added via
anytime::addFormats()
)
sum_na <- function(x) sum(is.na(x))
sum_na(dplyr::coalesce(
anytime::anytime(bench_date),
anytime::anydate(bench_date)
)) / length(bench_date)
#> [1] 0.215054
The list of formats supported out-of-the-box can be retrieved with
anytime::getFormats()
. timeless
implements these formats natively
too.
Concerning runtime, timeless
seems to be quite a bit faster than
anytime
.
microbenchmark::microbenchmark(
chronos(bench_date),
anytime::anytime(bench_date)
)
#> Unit: microseconds
#> expr min lq mean median uq
#> chronos(bench_date) 904.542 998.899 1124.3 1092.1 1194.86
#> anytime::anytime(bench_date) 30476.336 33626.440 34864.2 34598.4 36266.49
#> max neval
#> 1941.77 100
#> 47343.03 100
See this benchmark for more details.
Disclaimer:
While it might seem that timeless
has an edge over anytime
, it is
far less battle tested and mature. Date parsing can be very tricky. I am
grateful for everyone who can take the package for a spin and report
issues.