How to get data between two timestamps - if-statement

Question

I have one timestamp like 2015-08-31-21.43.47.986782 and I need to get all the data captured between this timestamp and the current system timestamp. How can i do it? Do i need to go for any kind of condition? If yes, please elaborate

Answer 1

I would use Python and regex. If your data is of the form
2015-08-31-21.43.47.986782 zero data data the data some thing else and
some more data
one data data the data some thing else and some more data
two data data the data some thing else and some more data
three data data the data some thing else and some more data
four data data the data some thing else and some more data
2015-08-31-22.43.47.986782 zero this is some other datathis is some other datathis is some other data
one this is some other data
two this is some other data
three this is some other data
four this is some other data
five this is some other data
2015-08-31-23.43.47.986782 zero This data is completely new
one This data is completely new
two This data is completely new
three This data is completely new
that is, if there are multiple lines between each date, then you have to take in to account accumulated data for each date. The following code
#!/usr/bin/env python
import re
fp = open('thefilename.log')
md = None
for thisRec in fp:
# get rid of the newline
thisRec = thisRec.rstrip('\n')
# Format EG; 2015-08-31-21.43.47.986782
myMatch = re.search(r'(?P<date>201\d-\d{2}-\d{2}-\d{2}.\d{2}.\d{2}.\d{6})(?P<msg2>.*)', \
thisRec)
if myMatch:
if md:
# A date has been found, so terminate the data
theData = md['msg2']
# and start again with a new date
newDate = md['date']
# print the data found
print theData
print '================================='
print 'New date: ' + newDate
# end if
# and start collecting data again
md = myMatch.groupdict()
else:
# a date has not been found, append the data with a new line
if md:
md['msg2'] += '\n' + thisRec
# end if
# end if
# next thisRec
# print the last msg
print md['msg2']
print '#####################END OF REPORT#################'
fp.close()
if you read a line that does not have the date on it, accumulate the data in the md['msg2'] dictionary. So within the loop, you can read the system time, and check md['date'] against it. If it is equal, you can break the next time a date is found. Something like:
import datetime.datetime as dt
...
mynow = dt.now()
if md['date'] == mynow.strftime('%Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S.%f'):
break
# end if
Not sure of the strftime format, but something like this. Depending on whether you want the log before or after, you would put this in the if myMatch: or else: