scrapinghub / scrapinghub/dateparser

'1,000,000 days ago' parses as the current time; thousands separators truncate the relative number

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Description

A number with a thousands separator parses as a much smaller relative date. With two separators it comes back as the base time.

from datetime import datetime
import dateparser

base = datetime(2024, 6, 15, 12, 0, 0)
S = {"RELATIVE_BASE": base}

dateparser.parse("1000 days ago", settings=S)        # 2021-09-19  correct
dateparser.parse("1,000 days ago", settings=S)       # 2024-06-14  one day
dateparser.parse("12,345 days ago", settings=S)      # 2024-06-03  12.345 days
dateparser.parse("1,000,000 days ago", settings=S)   # 2024-06-15 12:00, the base, unchanged

The first three follow from float(num.replace(",", ".")) in get_kwargs, and #876 added that on purpose so "1,5 hours" works. That should stay. In a locale where the comma is a decimal mark those readings are right, and there is no locale information at that point to tell the two apart.

The last one is different. Translation rewrites the string first:

"1,000,000 days ago"  ->  "1 000,000 day ago"
PATTERN.findall       ->  [(" 000,000", "day")]
float("000.000")      ->  0.0

The leading 1 is dropped, not misread. The \s* in ([+-]?\s*\d++[.,]?\d*+), which is there for "+ 5 days", lets the match start partway through the number. No reading of "1,000,000 days ago" gives the current time, so this one is wrong in every locale.

Worth deciding together, since a fix for the second probably settles the first. The options I can see are to use the detected locale for the separator, treat a separator followed by exactly three digits as grouping, or fail instead of returning a truncated number. Happy to send a patch once you say which way you want it.

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 by reproducing the examples with RELATIVE_BASE, then inspect get_kwargs and the translation step before PATTERN.findall. Trace how the \s* in the numeric pattern handles grouped numbers and compare the existing comma-decimal behavior. Done means the multi-separator case cannot silently truncate or return the unchanged base time, while the intended decimal behavior remains covered.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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