Adding format_timestamps preprocessor

AUTHORS

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ This project receives help from these awesome contributors:
 - Mel Dafert
 - Andrii Kohut
 - Roland Walker
+- Doug Harris
 
 Thanks
 ------

CHANGELOG

@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
+TBD
+---
+
+- Added format_timestamps preprocessor for per-column date/time formatting.
+
 ## Version 2.3.1
 
 - Don't escape newlines in `ascii` tables, and add `ascii_escaped` table format.

cli_helpers/tabular_output/preprocessors.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 """These preprocessor functions are used to process data prior to output."""
 
 import string
+from datetime import datetime
 
 from cli_helpers import utils
 from cli_helpers.compat import text_type, int_types, float_types, HAS_PYGMENTS, Token
@@ -353,3 +354,44 @@ def _format_number(field, column_type):
         [_format_number(v, column_types[i]) for i, v in enumerate(row)] for row in data
     )
     return data, headers
+
+
+def format_timestamps(data, headers, column_date_formats=None, **_):
+    """Format timestamps according to user preference.
+
+    This allows for per-column formatting for date, time, or datetime like data.
+
+    Add a `column_date_formats` section to your config file with separate lines for each column
+    that you'd like to specify a format using `name=format`. Use standard Python strftime
+    formatting strings
+
+    Example: `signup_date = "%Y-%m-%d"`
+
+    :param iterable data: An :term:`iterable` (e.g. list) of rows.
+    :param iterable headers: The column headers.
+    :param str column_date_format: The format strings to use for specific columns.
+    :return: The processed data and headers.
+    :rtype: tuple
+
+    """
+    if column_date_formats is None:
+        return iter(data), headers
+
+    def _format_timestamp(value, name, column_date_formats):
+        if name not in column_date_formats:
+            return value
+        try:
+            dt = datetime.fromisoformat(value)
+            return dt.strftime(column_date_formats[name])
+        except (ValueError, TypeError):
+            # not a date
+            return value
+
+    data = (
+        [
+            _format_timestamp(v, headers[i], column_date_formats)
+            for i, v in enumerate(row)
+        ]
+        for row in data
+    )
+    return data, headers

tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
     override_tab_value,
     style_output,
     format_numbers,
+    format_timestamps,
 )
 
 if HAS_PYGMENTS:
@@ -348,3 +349,25 @@ def test_enforce_iterable():
             assert False, "{} doesn't return iterable".format(name)
         if isinstance(preprocessed[1], types.GeneratorType):
             assert False, "{} returns headers as iterator".format(name)
+
+
+def test_format_timestamps():
+    data = (
+        ("name1", "2024-12-13T18:32:22", "2024-12-13T19:32:22", "2024-12-13T20:32:22"),
+        ("name2", "2025-02-13T02:32:22", "2025-02-13T02:32:22", "2025-02-13T02:32:22"),
+        ("name3", None, "not-actually-timestamp", "2025-02-13T02:32:22"),
+    )
+    headers = ["name", "date_col", "datetime_col", "unchanged_col"]
+    column_date_formats = {
+        "date_col": "%Y-%m-%d",
+        "datetime_col": "%I:%M:%S %m/%d/%y",
+    }
+    result_data, result_headers = format_timestamps(data, headers, column_date_formats)
+
+    expected = [
+        ["name1", "2024-12-13", "07:32:22 12/13/24", "2024-12-13T20:32:22"],
+        ["name2", "2025-02-13", "02:32:22 02/13/25", "2025-02-13T02:32:22"],
+        ["name3", None, "not-actually-timestamp", "2025-02-13T02:32:22"],
+    ]
+    assert expected == list(result_data)
+    assert headers == result_headers