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<title>NEP 7 — A proposal for implementing some date/time types in NumPy — NumPy Enhancement Proposals</title>
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<section id="nep-7-a-proposal-for-implementing-some-date-time-types-in-numpy">
<span id="nep07"></span><h1>NEP 7 — A proposal for implementing some date/time types in NumPy<a class="headerlink" href="#nep-7-a-proposal-for-implementing-some-date-time-types-in-numpy" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h1>
<dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Author<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><p>Travis Oliphant</p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Contact<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:oliphant%40enthought.com">oliphant<span>@</span>enthought<span>.</span>com</a></p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-odd">Date<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><p>2009-06-09</p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Status<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><p>Final</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<p>Revised only slightly from the third proposal by</p>
<dl class="field-list simple">
<dt class="field-odd">Author<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><p>Francesc Alted i Abad</p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Contact<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:faltet%40pytables.com">faltet<span>@</span>pytables<span>.</span>com</a></p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-odd">Author<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><p>Ivan Vilata i Balaguer</p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-even">Contact<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-even"><p><a class="reference external" href="mailto:ivan%40selidor.net">ivan<span>@</span>selidor<span>.</span>net</a></p>
</dd>
<dt class="field-odd">Date<span class="colon">:</span></dt>
<dd class="field-odd"><p>2008-07-30</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<section id="executive-summary">
<h2>Executive summary<a class="headerlink" href="#executive-summary" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>A date/time mark is something very handy to have in many fields where
one has to deal with data sets. While Python has several modules that
define a date/time type (like the integrated <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id9" id="id1" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>1<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a> or
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mx.DateTime</span></code> <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id10" id="id2" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>2<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a>), NumPy has a lack of them.</p>
<p>We are proposing the addition of date/time types to fill this gap.
The requirements for the proposed types are two-fold: 1) they have
to be fast to operate with and 2) they have to be as compatible as
possible with the existing <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> module that comes with Python.</p>
</section>
<section id="types-proposed">
<h2>Types proposed<a class="headerlink" href="#types-proposed" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>It is virtually impossible to come up with a single date/time type
that fills the needs of every use case. As a result, we propose two
general date-time types: 1) <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code> – a relative time and 2)
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code> – an absolute time.</p>
<p>Each of these times are represented internally as 64-bit signed
integers that refer to a particular unit (hour, minute, microsecond,
etc.). There are several pre-defined units as well as the ability to
create rational multiples of these units. A representation is also
supported such that the stored date-time integer can encode both the
number of a particular unit as well as a number of sequential events
tracked for each unit.</p>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code> represents an absolute time. Internally it is
represented as the number of time units between the intended time and
the epoch (12:00am on January 1, 1970 — POSIX time including its
lack of leap seconds).</p>
</section>
<section id="time-units">
<h2>Time units<a class="headerlink" href="#time-units" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>The 64-bit integer time can represent several different basic units as
well as derived units. The basic units are listed in the following
table:</p>
<div class="pst-scrollable-table-container"><table class="table">
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head" colspan="2"><p>Time unit</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Time span</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Time span (years)</p></th>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><th class="head"><p>Code</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Meaning</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Relative Time</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Absolute Time</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>Y</p></td>
<td><p>year</p></td>
<td><p>+- 9.2e18 years</p></td>
<td><p>[9.2e18 BC, 9.2e18 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>M</p></td>
<td><p>month</p></td>
<td><p>+- 7.6e17 years</p></td>
<td><p>[7.6e17 BC, 7.6e17 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>W</p></td>
<td><p>week</p></td>
<td><p>+- 1.7e17 years</p></td>
<td><p>[1.7e17 BC, 1.7e17 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>B</p></td>
<td><p>business day</p></td>
<td><p>+- 3.5e16 years</p></td>
<td><p>[3.5e16 BC, 3.5e16 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>D</p></td>
<td><p>day</p></td>
<td><p>+- 2.5e16 years</p></td>
<td><p>[2.5e16 BC, 2.5e16 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>h</p></td>
<td><p>hour</p></td>
<td><p>+- 1.0e15 years</p></td>
<td><p>[1.0e15 BC, 1.0e15 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>m</p></td>
<td><p>minute</p></td>
<td><p>+- 1.7e13 years</p></td>
<td><p>[1.7e13 BC, 1.7e13 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>s</p></td>
<td><p>second</p></td>
<td><p>+- 2.9e12 years</p></td>
<td><p>[ 2.9e9 BC, 2.9e9 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>ms</p></td>
<td><p>millisecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 2.9e9 years</p></td>
<td><p>[ 2.9e6 BC, 2.9e6 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>us</p></td>
<td><p>microsecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 2.9e6 years</p></td>
<td><p>[290301 BC, 294241 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>ns</p></td>
<td><p>nanosecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 292 years</p></td>
<td><p>[ 1678 AD, 2262 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>ps</p></td>
<td><p>picosecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 106 days</p></td>
<td><p>[ 1969 AD, 1970 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>fs</p></td>
<td><p>femtosecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 2.6 hours</p></td>
<td><p>[ 1969 AD, 1970 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>as</p></td>
<td><p>attosecond</p></td>
<td><p>+- 9.2 seconds</p></td>
<td><p>[ 1969 AD, 1970 AD]</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p>A time unit is specified by a string consisting of a base-type given in
the above table</p>
<p>Besides these basic code units, the user can create derived units
consisting of multiples of any basic unit: 100ns, 3M, 15m, etc.</p>
<p>A limited number of divisions of any basic unit can be used to create
multiples of a higher-resolution unit provided the divisor can be
divided evenly into the number of higher-resolution units available.
For example: Y/4 is just short-hand for -> (12M)/4 -> 3M and Y/4 will be
represented after creation as 3M. The first lower unit found to have an
even divisor will be chosen (up to 3 lower units). The following
standardized definitions are used in this specific case to find
acceptable divisors</p>
<div class="pst-scrollable-table-container"><table class="table">
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head"><p>Code</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Interpreted as</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>Y</p></td>
<td><p>12M, 52W, 365D</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>M</p></td>
<td><p>4W, 30D, 720h</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>W</p></td>
<td><p>5B, 7D, 168h, 10080m</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>B</p></td>
<td><p>24h, 1440m, 86400s</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>D</p></td>
<td><p>24h, 1440m, 86400s</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>h</p></td>
<td><p>60m, 3600s</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>m</p></td>
<td><p>60s, 60000ms</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p>s, ms, us, ns, ps, fs (use 1000 and 1000000 of the next two available
lower units respectively).</p>
<p>Finally, a date-time data-type can be created with support for tracking
sequential events within a basic unit: [D]//100, [Y]//4 (notice the
required brackets). These <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">modulo</span></code> event units provide the following
interpretation to the date-time integer:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><ul class="simple">
<li><p>the divisor is the number of events in each period</p></li>
<li><p>the (integer) quotient is the integer number representing the base units</p></li>
<li><p>the remainder is the particular event in the period.</p></li>
</ul>
</div></blockquote>
<p>Modulo event-units can be combined with any derived units, but brackets
are required. Thus [100ns]//50 which allows recording 50 events for
every 100ns so that 0 represents the first event in the first 100ns
tick, 1 represents the second event in the first 100ns tick, while 50
represents the first event in the second 100ns tick, and 51 represents
the second event in the second 100ns tick.</p>
<p>To fully specify a date-time type, the time unit string must be
combined with either the string for a datetime64 (‘M8’) or a
timedelta64 (‘m8’) using brackets ‘[]’. Therefore, a fully-specified
string representing a date-time dtype is ‘M8[Y]’ or (for a more
complicated example) ‘M8[7s/9]//5’.</p>
<p>If a time unit is not specified, then it defaults to [us]. Thus ‘M8’ is
equivalent to ‘M8[us]’ (except when modulo event-units are desired –
i.e. you cannot specify ‘M8[us]//5’ as ‘M8//5’ or as ‘//5’</p>
</section>
<section id="datetime64">
<h2><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#datetime64" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>This dtype represents a time that is absolute (i.e. not relative). It
is implemented internally as an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">int64</span></code> type. The integer represents
units from the internal POSIX epoch (see <a class="footnote-reference brackets" href="#id11" id="id3" role="doc-noteref"><span class="fn-bracket">[</span>3<span class="fn-bracket">]</span></a>). Like POSIX, the
representation of a date doesn’t take leap seconds into account.</p>
<p>In time unit <em>conversions</em> and time <em>representations</em> (but not in other
time computations), the value -2**63 (0x8000000000000000) is interpreted
as an invalid or unknown date, <em>Not a Time</em> or <em>NaT</em>. See the section
on time unit conversions for more information.</p>
<p>The value of an absolute date is thus <em>an integer number of units of
the chosen time unit</em> passed since the epoch. If the integer is a
negative number, then the magnitude of the integer represents the
number of units prior to the epoch. When working with business days,
Saturdays and Sundays are simply ignored from the count (i.e. day 3 in
business days is not Saturday 1970-01-03, but Monday 1970-01-05).</p>
<section id="building-a-datetime64-dtype">
<h3>Building a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code> dtype<a class="headerlink" href="#building-a-datetime64-dtype" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The proposed ways to specify the time unit in the dtype constructor are:</p>
<p>Using the long string notation:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'datetime64[us]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Using the short string notation:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'M8[us]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If a time unit is not specified, then it defaults to [us]. Thus ‘M8’
is equivalent to ‘M8[us]’.</p>
</section>
<section id="setting-and-getting-values">
<h3>Setting and getting values<a class="headerlink" href="#setting-and-getting-values" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The objects with this dtype can be set in a series of ways:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">'M8[s]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">1199164176</span> <span class="c1"># assign to July 30th, 2008 at 17:31:00</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">2008</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">7</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">30</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">17</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">01</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># with datetime module</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s1">'2008-07-30T17:31:02'</span> <span class="c1"># with ISO 8601</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>And can be get in different ways too:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">30</span><span class="n">T17</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1199164177</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'s'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">())</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">30</span> <span class="mi">17</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span> <span class="c1"># datetime module object</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">())</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">2008</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">7</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">30</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">17</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># idem</span>
<span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">30</span><span class="n">T17</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span> <span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">30</span><span class="n">T17</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">01</span> <span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">30</span><span class="n">T17</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">31</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">02</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">1199164176</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1199164177</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1199164178</span><span class="p">],</span>
<span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">'datetime64[s]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="comparisons">
<h3>Comparisons<a class="headerlink" href="#comparisons" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The comparisons will be supported too:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s1">'1980'</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'M8[Y]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s1">'1979'</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'M8[Y]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>including applying broadcasting:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s1">'1979'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'1980'</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'M8[Y]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'1980'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'Y'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The following should also work:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s1">'1979'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'1980'</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'M8[Y]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="s1">'1980-01-01'</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>because the right hand expression can be broadcasted into an array of 2
elements of dtype ‘M8[Y]’.</p>
</section>
<section id="compatibility-issues">
<h3>Compatibility issues<a class="headerlink" href="#compatibility-issues" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>This will be fully compatible with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> class of the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> module of Python only when using a time unit of
microseconds. For other time units, the conversion process will lose
precision or will overflow as needed. The conversion from/to a
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> object doesn’t take leap seconds into account.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="timedelta64">
<h2><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#timedelta64" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>It represents a time that is relative (i.e. not absolute). It is
implemented internally as an <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">int64</span></code> type.</p>
<p>In time unit <em>conversions</em> and time <em>representations</em> (but not in other
time computations), the value -2**63 (0x8000000000000000) is interpreted
as an invalid or unknown time, <em>Not a Time</em> or <em>NaT</em>. See the section
on time unit conversions for more information.</p>
<p>The value of a time delta is <em>an integer number of units of the
chosen time unit</em>.</p>
<section id="building-a-timedelta64-dtype">
<h3>Building a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code> dtype<a class="headerlink" href="#building-a-timedelta64-dtype" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The proposed ways to specify the time unit in the dtype constructor are:</p>
<p>Using the long string notation:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'timedelta64[us]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Using the short string notation:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'m8[us]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If a time unit is not specified, then a default of [us] is assumed.
Thus ‘m8’ and ‘m8[us]’ are equivalent.</p>
</section>
<section id="id4">
<h3>Setting and getting values<a class="headerlink" href="#id4" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The objects with this dtype can be set in a series of ways:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">'m8[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="mi">12</span> <span class="c1"># assign to 12 ms</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13000</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># 13 ms</span>
<span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s1">'0:00:00.014'</span> <span class="c1"># 14 ms</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>And can be get in different ways too:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.012</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">])</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'ms'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">())</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.012000</span> <span class="c1"># datetime module object</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">())</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">12000</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># idem</span>
<span class="nb">str</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.012</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.014</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.014</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">--></span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"timedelta64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="id5">
<h3>Comparisons<a class="headerlink" href="#id5" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The comparisons will be supported too:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'m8[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'m8[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>or by applying broadcasting:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'m8[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'ms'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The following should work too:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="s1">'m8[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="s1">'0:00:00.012'</span>
<span class="o">--></span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="kc">True</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="kc">False</span><span class="p">]</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>because the right hand expression can be broadcasted into an array of 3
elements of dtype ‘m8[ms]’.</p>
</section>
<section id="id6">
<h3>Compatibility issues<a class="headerlink" href="#id6" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>This will be fully compatible with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta</span></code> class of the
<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime</span></code> module of Python only when using a time unit of
microseconds. For other units, the conversion process will lose
precision or will overflow as needed.</p>
</section>
</section>
<section id="examples-of-use">
<h2>Examples of use<a class="headerlink" href="#examples-of-use" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<p>Here is an example of use for the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">42</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">42</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">6</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">42</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="mi">1970</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="n">T00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000042</span> <span class="c1"># representation in ISO 8601 format</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">7</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mf">367.7</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'D'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># decimal part is lost</span>
<span class="mi">1971</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">02</span> <span class="c1"># still ISO 8601 format</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'2008-07-18T12:23:18'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'m'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># from ISO 8601</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">20273063</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'m'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">9</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'2008-07-18T12:23:18'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'m'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">9</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">18</span><span class="n">T12</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">23</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"datetime64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">now</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="c1"># setter in action</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">t</span>
<span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">2008</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">07</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">16</span><span class="n">T13</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">39</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">25.315</span> <span class="mi">1970</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="n">T00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000</span>
<span class="mi">1970</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="n">T00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000</span> <span class="mi">1970</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="n">T00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000</span>
<span class="mi">1970</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="o">-</span><span class="mi">01</span><span class="n">T00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">267859210457</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"datetime64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="c1"># getter in action</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">datetime</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">2008</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">7</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">16</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">39</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">25</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">315000</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">15</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dtype</span>
<span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'datetime64[ms]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>And here it goes an example of use for the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code>:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">6</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'us'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">00.000010</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">7</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mf">3600.2</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'m'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># decimal part is lost</span>
<span class="mi">2</span> <span class="n">days</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">8</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t1</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"datetime64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">9</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"datetime64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">t2</span> <span class="o">-</span> <span class="n">t1</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">24</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># setter in action</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">t</span>
<span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">24.000</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">01.000</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">01.000</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">01.000</span> <span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mi">00</span><span class="p">:</span><span class="mf">01.000</span><span class="p">]</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="nb">repr</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">t</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">13</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">24000</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"timedelta64[ms]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">]</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">item</span><span class="p">()</span> <span class="c1"># getter in action</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">14</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">datetime</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">0</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">24</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">15</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="nb">print</span> <span class="n">t</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dtype</span>
<span class="n">dtype</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s1">'timedelta64[s]'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section id="operating-with-date-time-arrays">
<h2>Operating with date/time arrays<a class="headerlink" href="#operating-with-date-time-arrays" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h2>
<section id="datetime64-vs-datetime64">
<h3><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code> vs <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#datetime64-vs-datetime64" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>The only arithmetic operation allowed between absolute dates is
subtraction:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[s]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[s]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">timedelta64</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">])</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>But not other operations:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[s]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">+</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[s]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="ne">TypeError</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">unsupported</span> <span class="n">operand</span> <span class="nb">type</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="o">+</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">'numpy.ndarray'</span> <span class="ow">and</span> <span class="s1">'numpy.ndarray'</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Comparisons between absolute dates are allowed.</p>
<section id="casting-rules">
<h4>Casting rules<a class="headerlink" href="#casting-rules" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h4>
<p>When operating (basically, only the subtraction will be allowed) two
absolute times with different unit times, the outcome would be to raise
an exception. This is because the ranges and time-spans of the different
time units can be very different, and it is not clear at all what time
unit will be preferred for the user. For example, this should be
allowed:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">array([1, 1, 1], dtype="timedelta64[Y]")</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>But the next should not:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">3</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s2">"M8[ns]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="go">raise numpy.IncompatibleUnitError # what unit to choose?</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section id="datetime64-vs-timedelta64">
<h3><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">datetime64</span></code> vs <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#datetime64-vs-timedelta64" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>It will be possible to add and subtract relative times from absolute
dates:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">zeros</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">+</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"m8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">10</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">1971</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1971</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1971</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1971</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1971</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">Y</span><span class="p">])</span>
<span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">-</span> <span class="mi">2</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"m8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">Out</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">11</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="mi">1969</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1969</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1969</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1969</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="mi">1969</span><span class="p">],</span> <span class="n">dtype</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="n">datetime64</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="n">Y</span><span class="p">])</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>But not other operations:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="n">In</span> <span class="p">[</span><span class="mi">12</span><span class="p">]:</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"M8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="o">*</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">ones</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">5</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s2">"m8[Y]"</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="ne">TypeError</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="n">unsupported</span> <span class="n">operand</span> <span class="nb">type</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">for</span> <span class="o">*</span><span class="p">:</span> <span class="s1">'numpy.ndarray'</span> <span class="ow">and</span> <span class="s1">'numpy.ndarray'</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<section id="id7">
<h4>Casting rules<a class="headerlink" href="#id7" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h4>
<p>In this case the absolute time should have priority for determining the
time unit of the outcome. That would represent what the people wants to
do most of the times. For example, this would allow to do:</p>
<div class="highlight-default notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">series</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">array</span><span class="p">([</span><span class="s1">'1970-01-01'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'1970-02-01'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'1970-09-01'</span><span class="p">],</span>
<span class="go">dtype='datetime64[D]')</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">series2</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">series</span> <span class="o">+</span> <span class="n">numpy</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">timedelta</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="mi">1</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s1">'Y'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># Add 2 relative years</span>
<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">series2</span>
<span class="go">array(['1972-01-01', '1972-02-01', '1972-09-01'],</span>
<span class="go">dtype='datetime64[D]') # the 'D'ay time unit has been chosen</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
</section>
</section>
<section id="timedelta64-vs-timedelta64">
<h3><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code> vs <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">timedelta64</span></code><a class="headerlink" href="#timedelta64-vs-timedelta64" title="Link to this heading">#</a></h3>
<p>Finally, it will be possible to operate with relative times as if they
were regular int64 dtypes <em>as long as</em> the result can be converted back