# String formatting
The `__str__` magic method is defined to allow `DateTime` instances to be printed
as a pretty date string when used in a string context.
The default string representation is the same as the one returned by the `isoformat()` method.
```python
>>> import pendulum
>>> dt = pendulum.datetime(1975, 12, 25, 14, 15, 16)
>>> print(dt)
'1975-12-25T14:15:16+00:00'
>>> dt.to_date_string()
'1975-12-25'
>>> dt.to_formatted_date_string()
'Dec 25, 1975'
>>> dt.to_time_string()
'14:15:16'
>>> dt.to_datetime_string()
'1975-12-25 14:15:16'
>>> dt.to_day_datetime_string()
'Thu, Dec 25, 1975 2:15 PM'
# You can also use the format() method
>>> dt.format('dddd Do [of] MMMM YYYY HH:mm:ss A')
'Thursday 25th of December 1975 02:15:16 PM'
# Of course, the strftime method is still available
>>> dt.strftime('%A %-d%t of %B %Y %I:%M:%S %p')
'Thursday 25th of December 1975 02:15:16 PM'
```
!!!note
For localization support see the [Localization](#localization) section.
## Common Formats
The following are methods to display a `DateTime` instance as a common format:
```python
>>> import pendulum
>>> dt = pendulum.now()
>>> dt.to_atom_string()
'1975-12-25T14:15:16-05:00'
>>> dt.to_cookie_string()
'Thursday, 25-Dec-1975 14:15:16 EST'
>>> dt.to_iso8601_string()
'1975-12-25T14:15:16-0500'
>>> dt.to_rfc822_string()
'Thu, 25 Dec 75 14:15:16 -0500'
>>> dt.to_rfc850_string()
'Thursday, 25-Dec-75 14:15:16 EST'
>>> dt.to_rfc1036_string()
'Thu, 25 Dec 75 14:15:16 -0500'
>>> dt.to_rfc1123_string()
'Thu, 25 Dec 1975 14:15:16 -0500'
>>> dt.to_rfc2822_string()
'Thu, 25 Dec 1975 14:15:16 -0500'
>>> dt.to_rfc3339_string()
'1975-12-25T14:15:16-05:00'
>>> dt.to_rss_string()
'Thu, 25 Dec 1975 14:15:16 -0500'
>>> dt.to_w3c_string()
'1975-12-25T14:15:16-05:00'
```
## Formatter
Pendulum uses its own formatter when using the `format()` method.
This format is more intuitive to use than the one used with `strftime()`
and supports more directives.
```python
>>> import pendulum
>>> dt = pendulum.datetime(1975, 12, 25, 14, 15, 16)
>>> dt.format('YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss')
'1975-12-25 14:15:16'
```
### Tokens
The following tokens are currently supported:
| | Token | Output |
| ------------------------------ | ------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Year** | YYYY | 2000, 2001, 2002 ... 2012, 2013 |
| | YY | 00, 01, 02 ... 12, 13 |
| | Y | 2000, 2001, 2002 ... 2012, 2013 |
| **Quarter** | Q | 1 2 3 4 |
| | Qo | 1st 2nd 3rd 4th |
| **Month** | MMMM | January, February, March ... |
| | MMM | Jan, Feb, Mar ... |
| | MM | 01, 02, 03 ... 11, 12 |
| | M | 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12 |
| | Mo | 1st 2nd ... 11th 12th |
| **Day of Year** | DDDD | 001, 002, 003 ... 364, 365 |
| | DDD | 1, 2, 3 ... 4, 5 |
| **Day of Month** | DD | 01, 02, 03 ... 30, 31 |
| | D | 1, 2, 3 ... 30, 31 |
| | Do | 1st, 2nd, 3rd ... 30th, 31st |
| **Day of Week** | dddd | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday ... |
| | ddd | Mon, Tue, Wed ... |
| | dd | Mo, Tu, We ... |
| | d | 0, 1, 2 ... 6 |
| **Days of ISO Week** | E | 1, 2, 3 ... 7 |
| **Hour** | HH | 00, 01, 02 ... 23 |
| | H | 0, 1, 2 ... 23 |
| | hh | 01, 02, 03 ... 11, 12 |
| | h | 1, 2, 3 ... 11, 12 |
| **Minute** | mm | 00, 01, 02 ... 58, 59 |
| | m | 0, 1, 2 ... 58, 59 |
| **Second** | ss | 00, 01, 02 ... 58, 59 |
| | s | 0, 1, 2 ... 58, 59 |
| **Fractional Second** | S | 0 1 ... 8 9 |
| | SS | 00, 01, 02 ... 98, 99 |
| | SSS | 000 001 ... 998 999 |
| | SSSS ... | 000[0..] 001[0..] ... 998[0..] 999[0..] |
| | SSSSSS | |
| **AM / PM** | A | AM, PM |
| **Timezone** | Z | -07:00, -06:00 ... +06:00, +07:00 |
| | ZZ | -0700, -0600 ... +0600, +0700 |
| | z | Asia/Baku, Europe/Warsaw, GMT ... |
| | zz | EST CST ... MST PST |
| **Seconds timestamp** | X | 1381685817, 1234567890.123 |
| **Milliseconds timestamp** | x | 1234567890123 |
### Localized Formats
Because preferred formatting differs based on locale,
there are a few tokens that can be used to format an instance based on its locale.
| | | |
| ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Time** | LT | 8:30 PM |
| **Time with seconds** | LTS | 8:30:25 PM |
| **Month numeral, day of month, year** | L | 09/04/1986 |
| **Month name, day of month, year** | LL | September 4 1986 |
| **Month name, day of month, year, time** | LLL | September 4 1986 8:30 PM |
| **Month name, day of month, day of week, year, time** | LLLL | Thursday, September 4 1986 8:30 PM |
### Escaping Characters
To escape characters in format strings, you can wrap the characters in square brackets.
```python
>>> import pendulum
>>> dt = pendulum.now()
>>> dt.format('[today] dddd')
'today Sunday'
```