python 3.x - Extract Datetime information from a string in a DataFrame column

Question

So I have the Edition Column which contains data in unevenly pattern, as some have ',' followed by the date and some have ',-' pattern.

df.head()

17                Paperback,– 1 Nov 2016
18    Mass Market Paperback,– 1 Jan 1991
19                      Paperback,– 2016
20               Hardcover,– 24 Nov 2018
21        Paperback,– Import, 4 Oct 2018

How can I extract the date to a separate column. I tried using str.split() but can't find specific pattern to extract.Is there any method I could do it?

Answer 1

obj = df['Edition']
obj.str.split('((?:d+s+w+s+)?d{4}$)', expand=True)

or

obj.str.split('[,–]+').str[0]
obj.str.split('[,–]+').str[-1] # date