Question

My input string is '16-MAR-2010 03:37:04' and i want to store it as datetime.

I am trying to use:

db_inst.HB_Create_Ship_Date = datetime.strptime(fields[7]," %d-%b-%Y %H:%M:%S ") 
fields[7] = '16-MAR-2010 03:37:04' 

I am getting an error:

::ValueError: time data '16-MAR-2010 03:37:04' does not match format ' %d-%b-%Y %H:%M:%S ' 

Answer 1

Edit:
As John mentions, make it easier on yourself and remove the leading and trailing spaces.

Another thought:
Your current locale may not specify “MAR” as a month abbreviation.

What does the output of this code give?:

import locale
locale.getdefaultlocale()

I tested your code on a Linux machine (Ubuntu 9.10, Python 2.6.4) and got the ValueError.
I removed the spaces, changed to non-English locale (Czech), and got the ValueError.

Academic note:
Oddly your code works on Windows XP Python 2.5.5 with the extraneous spaces:

>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> dt = '16-MAR-2010 03:37:04'
>>> datetime.strptime(dt, " %d-%b-%Y %H:%M:%S ")
datetime.datetime(2010, 3, 16, 3, 37, 4)