python / python/cpython

`datetime.strptime(dt.strftime("%c"), "%c"))` fails when year is <1000.

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stdlib type-bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Bug report

Bug description:
>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> datetime.strptime(datetime(1000, 1, 1).strftime("%c"), "%c")
datetime.datetime(1000, 1, 1, 0, 0)
>>> datetime.strptime(datetime(999, 1, 1).strftime("%c"), "%c")
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<python-input-1>", line 1, in <module>
    datetime.strptime(datetime(999, 1, 1).strftime("%c"), "%c")
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/nlx5/Documents/Programming/Python/cpython/Lib/_strptime.py", line 573, in _strptime_datetime
    tt, fraction, gmtoff_fraction = _strptime(data_string, format)
                                    ~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/home/nlx5/Documents/Programming/Python/cpython/Lib/_strptime.py", line 352, in _strptime
    raise ValueError("time data %r does not match format %r" %
                     (data_string, format))
ValueError: time data 'Tue Jan  1 00:00:00 999' does not match format '%c'

Discovered this when adding some hypothesis tests for strptime/strftime. I doubt this is a real problem anyone is going to have in the real world, but maybe.

I do not know if this is locale-specific or OS specific.

CPython versions tested on:

CPython main branch

Operating systems tested on:

Linux

Linked PRs
  • gh-124778

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the datetime.strptime/strftime reproduction in the issue and inspect Lib/_strptime.py, especially the parsing path for %c. Check the behavior across years below 1000 and the reported Linux environment; done means the year-999 round trip succeeds without breaking existing parsing behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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