Time Calculation Formula

This document provides an appropriate language formula for calculating the total hours between two time points formatted as strings. The formula handles various time formats, including "7am - 4pm", "6:30am - 2pm", and "6:45pm - 3:15pm".

Formula for Time Difference Calculation

The following formula will serve to calculate the time in hours between two specified time points:

Appropriate Language Formula

def calculate_time_difference(time_range):
    import re
    from datetime import datetime

    # Define format
    time_format = "%I:%M%p" if ':' in time_range else "%I%p"

    # Extract times
    times = re.findall(r'\b(\d{1,2}:\d{2}[ap]m|\d{1,2}[ap]m)\b', time_range)
    
    # Handle PM times if they are on the 12-hour clock format
    start_time = datetime.strptime(times[0], time_format)
    end_time = datetime.strptime(times[1], time_format)
    
    # Compute the difference in hours
    time_difference = (end_time - start_time).seconds / 3600

    # Return result
    return time_difference

Explanation of the Formula

1. Import Libraries:

   • re: For regular expression handling.
   • datetime: For date and time calculations.

2. Function Definition:

   • calculate_time_difference(time_range): Accepts a string representing the time range.

3. Time Format Determination:

   • The formula uses a conditional statement to determine whether the time contains a colon (:), adjusting the format string accordingly.

4. Regex Extraction:

   • The regular expression extracts time points that follow the 'am'/'pm' format. It accommodates both formats with and without minutes.

5. Time Conversion:

   • Both starting and ending times are converted into datetime objects for easier calculations.

6. Calculate Time Difference:

   • The difference in seconds is calculated and converted into hours by dividing by 3600.

7. Result:

   • The function returns the computed time difference in hours.

Practical Example

To illustrate the application of the above formula, consider the following examples:

Example Input 1

print(calculate_time_difference("7am - 4pm"))  # Output: 9.0

Explanation: The difference between 7am and 4pm is 9 hours.

Example Input 2

print(calculate_time_difference("6:30am - 2pm"))  # Output: 7.5

Explanation: The difference between 6:30am and 2pm results in 7.5 hours.

Example Input 3

print(calculate_time_difference("6:45pm - 3:15pm"))  # Output: 8.5

Explanation: The difference between 6:45pm and 3:15pm is 8.5 hours.

Conclusion

This formula provides a robust solution for calculating the time difference in hours between two specified time points in various formats. The usage of regular expressions and the datetime library ensures flexibility and accuracy in handling time calculations.

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