How to convert an H:MM:SS time string to seconds in Python?

Basically I have the inverse of this problem: Python Time Seconds to h:m:s

I have a string in the format H:MM:SS (always 2 digits for minutes and seconds), and I need the integer number of seconds that it represents. How can I do this in python?

For example:

• “1:23:45” would produce an output of 5025
• “0:04:15” would produce an output of 255
• “0:00:25” would produce an output of 25

etc

Answers:

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Method 1

def get_sec(time_str):
    """Get seconds from time."""
    h, m, s = time_str.split(':')
    return int(h) * 3600 + int(m) * 60 + int(s)


print(get_sec('1:23:45'))
print(get_sec('0:04:15'))
print(get_sec('0:00:25'))

Method 2

ts = '1:23:45'
secs = sum(int(x) * 60 ** i for i, x in enumerate(reversed(ts.split(':'))))
print(secs)

Method 3

Using datetime module

import datetime
t = '10:15:30'
h,m,s = t.split(':')
print(int(datetime.timedelta(hours=int(h),minutes=int(m),seconds=int(s)).total_seconds()))

Output: 36930

Method 4

Without many checks, and assuming it’s either “SS” or “MM:SS” or “HH:MM:SS” (although not necessarily two digits per part):

def to_seconds(timestr):
    seconds= 0
    for part in timestr.split(':'):
        seconds= seconds*60 + int(part, 10)
    return seconds

>>> to_seconds('09')
9
>>> to_seconds('2:09')
129
>>> to_seconds('1:02:09')
3729

This is a different “spelling” of FMc’s answer 🙂

Method 5

Using datetime module is also posible and more robust

import datetime as dt

def get_total_seconds(stringHMS):
   timedeltaObj = dt.datetime.strptime(stringHMS, "%H:%M:%S") - dt.datetime(1900,1,1)
   return timedeltaObj.total_seconds()

datetime.strptime parses the string according to format %H:%M:%S, and it creates a datetime object as year 1900, month1, day 1, hour H, minute M, and second S.

That’s why to get the total of seconds is necessary to subtract the year, month and day.

print(get_total_seconds('1:23:45'))
>>> 5025.0

print(get_total_seconds('0:04:15'))
>>> 255.0

print(get_total_seconds('0:00:25'))
>>>25.0

Method 6

You can use lambda and reduce a list and the fact that m=60s and h=60m. (see “Reducing a List” at http://www.python-course.eu/lambda.php)

timestamp = "1:23:45"
seconds = reduce(lambda x, y: x*60+y, [int(i) for i in (timestamp.replace(':',',')).split(',')])

Method 7

You can split the time into a list and add each individual time component, multiplying the hours component by 3600 (the number of seconds in an hour) and the minutes component by 60 (number of seconds in a minute), like:

timeInterval ='00:35:01'
list = timeInterval.split(':')
hours = list[0]
minutes = list[1]
seconds = list[2]
total = (int(hours) * 3600 + int(minutes) * 60 + int(seconds))
print("total = ", total)

Method 8

For %H:%M:%S.%f

def get_sec(time_str):
    h, m, s = time_str.split(':')
    return int(h) * 3600 + int(m) * 60 + float(s)

Method 9

parts = time_string.split(":")
seconds = int(parts[0])*(60*60) + int(parts[1])*60 + int(parts[2])

Method 10

I didn’t really like any of the given answers, so I used the following:

def timestamp_to_seconds(t):
    return sum(float(n) * m for n,
               m in zip(reversed(time.split(':')), (1, 60, 3600))
               )

Method 11

Expanding on @FMc’s solution which embodies half of Horner’s method. Advantage of Horner’s method: Skip reversing the list, avoid power calculation.

from functools import reduce

timestamp = "1:23:45"
seconds = reduce(lambda s, d: s * 60 + int(d), timestamp.split(":"), 0)

or, if you dislike reduce (as does Guido van Rossum and @0xc0de below):

timestamp = "1:23:45"
seconds = 0
for d in timestamp.split(":"):
    seconds = seconds * 60 + int(d)

If you prefer zip (as does @nathan-rice below):

from itertools import accumulate, repeat
from operator import mul

def timestamp_to_seconds(t):
    return sum(int(n) * m for n, m in
       zip(reversed(t.split(":")), accumulate(repeat(60), func=mul, initial=1)))

Method 12

Another alternative if you have days on string:

def duration2sec(string):
    if "days" in string:
        days = string.split()[0]
        hours = string.split()[2].split(':')
        return int(days) * 86400 + int(hours[0]) * 3600 + int(hours[1]) * 60 + int(hours[2])
    else:
        hours = string.split(':')
        return int(hours[0]) * 3600 + int(hours[1]) * 60 + int(hours[2])

Method 13

Just a simple generalization to the great response of taskinoor

In the context of my problem the format is similar, but includes AM or PM.

Format ‘HH:MM:SS AM’ or ‘HH:MM:SS PM’

For this case the function changes to:

def get_sec(time_str):
"""Get Seconds from time."""
if 'AM' in time_str:
    time_str = time_str.strip('AM')
    h, m, s = time_str.split(':')
    seconds = int(h) * 3600 + int(m) * 60 + int(s)
if 'PM' in time_str:
    time_str = time_str.strip('PM')
    h, m, s = time_str.split(':')
    seconds = (12 + int(h)) * 3600 + int(m) * 60 + int(s)

return seconds

Method 14

In Pandas using @JayRizzo ‘s cool function and a list comprehension:

def get_sec(time_str):
    """Get Seconds from time."""
    h, m, s = time_str.split(':')
    return int(h) * 3600 + int(m) * 60 + int(s)

df['secs']=[get_sec(x) for x in df['original_time_string']]

All methods was sourced from stackoverflow.com or stackexchange.com, is licensed under cc by-sa 2.5, cc by-sa 3.0 and cc by-sa 4.0