ToDateTime / String Layer

Convert string values to datetime with timezone support. Similar to Python's datetime.strptime() with pytz or Rust's chrono::DateTime::parse_from_str(). Creates a datetime column with configurable precision and timezone handling.

Example conversions:

Common applications:

• Standardizing date formats from diverse data sources
• Parsing log file timestamps (web server, application, database logs)
• Converting historical records for time series analysis
• Processing financial transaction timestamps across timezones
• Normalizing IoT device readings from different regions
• Preparing event data for temporal analysis
• Harmonizing dates from international data sources
• Working with API responses from different platforms

Format specifiers compatible with Rust's chrono library:

Date specifiers:

• %Y - Full year (2024)
• %y - Year, last two digits (24)
• %C - Century (20)
• %m - Month, zero-padded (01-12)
• %b or %h - Abbreviated month name (Jan)
• %B - Full month name (January)
• %d - Day of month, zero-padded (01-31)
• %e - Day of month, space-padded ( 1-31)
• %j - Day of year, zero-padded (001-366)
• %a - Abbreviated weekday name (Mon)
• %A - Full weekday name (Monday)
• %w - Weekday, 0-based from Sunday (0-6)
• %u - Weekday, 1-based from Monday (1-7)

Time specifiers:

• %H - Hour (00-23), zero-padded
• %k - Hour (0-23), space-padded
• %I - Hour in 12-hour clock (01-12), zero-padded
• %l - Hour in 12-hour clock (1-12), space-padded
• %p - AM/PM (uppercase)
• %P - am/pm (lowercase)
• %M - Minute (00-59), zero-padded
• %S - Second (00-60), zero-padded (60 for leap seconds)
• %f - Nanoseconds (9 digits)
• %.f - Decimal fraction of a second with leading dot
• %.3f - Milliseconds with decimal point (3 digits)
• %.6f - Microseconds with decimal point (6 digits)
• %.9f - Nanoseconds with decimal point (9 digits)

Timezone specifiers:

• %z - Timezone offset in form +HHMM or -HHMM
• %:z - Timezone offset in form +HH:MM or -HH:MM
• %Z - Timezone name or abbreviation
• Z - The literal 'Z' character for UTC (zero offset) in ISO 8601 format

Combined format shortcuts:

• %F - ISO 8601 date (equivalent to %Y-%m-%d)
• %D - US date (equivalent to %m/%d/%y)
• %T - ISO 8601 time (equivalent to %H:%M:%S)
• %R - 24-hour clock time (equivalent to %H:%M)
• %c - Locale's date and time representation
• %+ - ISO 8601 / RFC 3339 date & time format

Most common real-world formats directly supported by chrono:

• ISO 8601 with Z: %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ (2024-01-31T15:30:45.123Z)
• ISO 8601 with offset: %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z (2024-01-31T15:30:45+0000)
• RFC 2822: %a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S %z (Wed, 31 Jan 2024 15:30:45 +0000)
• RFC 3339: %Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%.f%:z (2024-01-31T15:30:45.123+00:00)
• Unix timestamp: %s (1706713845)
• US format: %m/%d/%Y %I:%M:%S %p (01/31/2024 03:30:45 PM)
• UK format: %d/%m/%Y %H:%M:%S (31/01/2024 15:30:45)
• European format: %d.%m.%Y %H:%M:%S (31.01.2024 15:30:45)
• Database: %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S%.f (2024-01-31 15:30:45.123)
• Apache log: [%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %z] ([31/Jan/2024:15:30:45 +0000])
• JavaScript: %a %b %d %Y %H:%M:%S %Z (Wed Jan 31 2024 15:30:45 GMT)
• Compact date-only: %Y%m%d (20240131)
• Month-year: %b %Y or %m/%Y (Jan 2024 or 01/2024)

Note: When timezone information is missing from input strings, the specified TimeZone parameter is applied. If both are missing, the system's local timezone is used as the default. Some specialized formats like Unix millisecond timestamps, Excel dates, or regional calendar systems may require preprocessing before conversion.