
ISO 8601 date/time parser
=========================

This module implements ISO 8601 date, time and duration parsing.
The implementation follows ISO8601:2004 standard, and implements only
date/time representations mentioned in the standard. If something is not
mentioned there, then it is treated as non existent, and not as an allowed 
option. 

For instance, ISO8601:2004 never mentions 2 digit years. So, it is not
intended by this module to support 2 digit years. (while it may still
be valid as ISO date, because it is not explicitly forbidden.)
Another example is, that if no time zone designation is given for a time,
the it is a local time, and not UTC.

As this module maps ISO 8601 dates/times to standard Python data types, like
*date*, *time*, *datetime* and *timedelta*, it is not possible to convert
all possible ISO 8601 dates/times. For instance, dates before 0001-01-01 are
not allowed by the Python *date* and *datetime* classes.

Documentation
-------------

Currently there are four parsing methods available.
   * parse_time:
        parses an ISO 8601 time string into a *time* object
   * parse_date:
        parses an ISO 8601 date string into a *date* object
   * parse_datetime:
        parses an ISO 8601 date-time string into a *datetime* object
   * parse_duration:
        parses an ISO 8601 duration string into a *timedelta* or *Duration*
        object.	 

As ISO 8601 allows to define durations in years and months, and *timedelta*
does not handle years and months, this module provides a *Duration* class,
which can be used almost like a *timedelta* object (with some limitations).
However, a *Duration* object can be converted into a *timedelta* object.

Installation:
-------------

This module can easily be installed with Python standard installation methods.
Just use *setuptools* or *easy_instal* as usual.

Limitations:
------------

   * The parser accepts several date/time representation which should be invalid
     according to ISO 8601 standard.

     1. for date and time together, this parser accepts a mixture of basic and extended format.
        e.g. the date could be in basic format, while the time is accepted in extended format.
        It also allows short dates and times in date-time strings.
     2. For incomplete dates, the first day is chosen. e.g. 19th century results in a date of
        1901-01-01.

Further information:
--------------------

The doc strings and unit tests should provide rather detailed information about
the methods and their limitations.

The source release provides a *setup.py* script and a *buildout.cfg*. Both can
be used to run the unit tests included.

Source code is available at `<http://hg.proclos.com/isodate>`_.

