How do you convert a naive datetime to DST-aware datetime in Python?

Question

I'm currently working on the backend for a calendaring system that returns naive Python datetimes. The way the front end works is the user creates various calendar events, and the frontend returns the naive version of the event they created (for example, if the user selects October 5, 2020 from 3:00pm-4:00pm, the frontend returns datetime.datetime(2020, 10, 5, 15, 0, 0) as the start and datetime.datetime(2011, 10, 5, 16, 0, 0) as the end.

What I need to do is to take the naive datetime and convert it into UTC for storage in a database. Each user of the system has already specified their timezone preference, so the naive datetime is considered to be of the same timezone as their timezone preference. Obviously the datetimes need to be stored relative to UTC so that if users change their timezone, existing events will still render at the correct time that they scheduled them.

The frontend is outside my control, so I can't change the data that I'm receiving. The database design is also outside my control, so I can't change what data is being stored and how.

Here is the approximate approach I have taken so far:

import pytz
def convert_to_UTC(naive_datetime, user_tz_preference):
    user_datetime = naive_datetime.replace(tzinfo=user_tz_preference)
    utc_datetime = user_datetime.astimezone(pytz.utc)

The problem I ran into is related to Daylight Savings Time:

>>> from datetime import datetime
>>> import pytz
>>> user_tz_preference = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific')
>>> naive_datetime = datetime(2011, 10, 26, 12, 0, 0)
>>> user_datetime = naive_datetime.replace(tzinfo=user_tz_preference)
>>> user_datetime
datetime.datetime(2011, 10, 26, 12, 0, tzinfo=<DstTzInfo 'US/Pacific' PST-1 day, 16:00:00 STD>)
>>> received_utc = user_datetime.astimezone(pytz.utc)
>>> received_utc
datetime.datetime(2011, 10, 26, 20, 0, tzinfo=<UTC>)
>>> expected_utc = datetime(2011, 10, 26, 19, 0, tzinfo=pytz.utc)
>>> expected_utc == received_utc
False

Notice that using 'replace' sets the timezone to PST instead of PDT regardless of the date, which gives it a UTC offset of 8 hours instead of the expected 7 hours DST offset, so the time ends up being saved incorrectly.

What options do I have for converting the naive datetime to the correct PDT (or other timezone-relative DST) tzinfo?

(Also, please note that not all users live in a timezone that observes DST, or may live in a timezone that switches over at different times, so in order to do a solution like a timedelta correction before saving, I would need to know if the timezone supports DST, and on which dates it switches over).

Answer 1

Pytz's localize function can do this: http://pytz.sourceforge.net/#localized-times-and-date-arithmetic

from datetime import datetime
import pytz    

tz = pytz.timezone('US/Pacific')
naive_dt = datetime(2020, 10, 5, 15, 0, 0) 
utc_dt = tz.localize(naive_dt, is_dst=None).astimezone(pytz.utc)
# -> 2020-10-05 22:00:00+00:00

Answer 2

With zoneinfo from Python 3.9's standard lib:

from datetime import datetime
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo   

naive_datetime = datetime(2011, 10, 26, 12, 0, 0)
user_tz_preference = ZoneInfo('US/Pacific')

# it is safe to replace the tzinfo:
user_datetime = naive_datetime.replace(tzinfo=user_tz_preference)
# ...or set it directly:
user_datetime = datetime(2011, 10, 26, 12, tzinfo=ZoneInfo('US/Pacific'))

# astimezone works as before:
utc_datetime = user_datetime.astimezone(ZoneInfo('UTC'))

print(repr(user_datetime))
# datetime.datetime(2011, 10, 26, 12, 0, tzinfo=zoneinfo.ZoneInfo(key='US/Pacific'))
print(user_datetime.isoformat())
# 2011-10-26T12:00:00-07:00
print(utc_datetime.isoformat())
# 2011-10-26T19:00:00+00:00

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