ENH: Refactored DATETIME_getitem and the function it calls

6 files changed, 449 insertions, 1277 deletions

diff --git a/numpy/core/_mx_datetime_parser.py b/numpy/core/_mx_datetime_parser.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d8db18793..000000000
--- a/numpy/core/_mx_datetime_parser.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,962 +0,0 @@
-#-*- coding: latin-1 -*-
-"""
-Date/Time string parsing module.
-
-This code is a slightly modified version of Parser.py found in mx.DateTime
-version 3.0.0
-
-As such, it is subject to the terms of the eGenix public license version 1.1.0.
-
-FIXME: Add license.txt to NumPy
-"""
-
-__all__ = ['date_from_string', 'datetime_from_string']
-
-import types
-import re
-import datetime as dt
-
-class RangeError(Exception): pass
-
-# Enable to produce debugging output
-_debug = 0
-
-# REs for matching date and time parts in a string; These REs
-# parse a superset of ARPA, ISO, American and European style dates.
-# Timezones are supported via the Timezone submodule.
-
-_year = '(?P<year>-?\d+\d(?!:))'
-_fullyear = '(?P<year>-?\d+\d\d(?!:))'
-_year_epoch = '(?:' + _year + '(?P<epoch> *[ABCDE\.]+)?)'
-_fullyear_epoch = '(?:' + _fullyear + '(?P<epoch> *[ABCDE\.]+)?)'
-_relyear = '(?:\((?P<relyear>[-+]?\d+)\))'
-
-_month = '(?P<month>\d?\d(?!:))'
-_fullmonth = '(?P<month>\d\d(?!:))'
-_litmonth = ('(?P<litmonth>'
-             'jan|feb|mar|apr|may|jun|jul|aug|sep|oct|nov|dec|'
-             'mär|mae|mrz|mai|okt|dez|'
-             'fev|avr|juin|juil|aou|aoû|déc|'
-             'ene|abr|ago|dic|'
-             'out'
-             ')[a-z,\.;]*')
-litmonthtable = {
-    # English
-    'jan':1, 'feb':2, 'mar':3, 'apr':4, 'may':5, 'jun':6,
-    'jul':7, 'aug':8, 'sep':9, 'oct':10, 'nov':11, 'dec':12,
-    # German
-    'mär':3, 'mae':3, 'mrz':3, 'mai':5, 'okt':10, 'dez':12,
-    # French
-    'fev':2, 'avr':4, 'juin':6, 'juil':7, 'aou':8, 'aoû':8,
-    'déc':12,
-    # Spanish
-    'ene':1, 'abr':4, 'ago':8, 'dic':12,
-    # Portuguese
-    'out':10,
-    }
-_relmonth = '(?:\((?P<relmonth>[-+]?\d+)\))'
-
-_day = '(?P<day>\d?\d(?!:))'
-_usday = '(?P<day>\d?\d(?!:))(?:st|nd|rd|th|[,\.;])?'
-_fullday = '(?P<day>\d\d(?!:))'
-_litday = ('(?P<litday>'
-           'mon|tue|wed|thu|fri|sat|sun|'
-           'die|mit|don|fre|sam|son|'
-           'lun|mar|mer|jeu|ven|sam|dim|'
-           'mie|jue|vie|sab|dom|'
-           'pri|seg|ter|cua|qui'
-           ')[a-z]*')
-litdaytable = {
-    # English
-    'mon':0, 'tue':1, 'wed':2, 'thu':3, 'fri':4, 'sat':5, 'sun':6,
-    # German
-    'die':1, 'mit':2, 'don':3, 'fre':4, 'sam':5, 'son':6,
-    # French
-    'lun':0, 'mar':1, 'mer':2, 'jeu':3, 'ven':4, 'sam':5, 'dim':6,
-    # Spanish
-    'mie':2, 'jue':3, 'vie':4, 'sab':5, 'dom':6,
-    # Portuguese
-    'pri':0, 'seg':1, 'ter':2, 'cua':3, 'qui':4,
-    }
-_relday = '(?:\((?P<relday>[-+]?\d+)\))'
-
-_hour = '(?P<hour>[012]?\d)'
-_minute = '(?P<minute>[0-6]\d)'
-_second = '(?P<second>[0-6]\d(?:[.,]\d+)?)'
-
-_days = '(?P<days>\d*\d(?:[.,]\d+)?)'
-_hours = '(?P<hours>\d*\d(?:[.,]\d+)?)'
-_minutes = '(?P<minutes>\d*\d(?:[.,]\d+)?)'
-_seconds = '(?P<seconds>\d*\d(?:[.,]\d+)?)'
-
-_reldays = '(?:\((?P<reldays>[-+]?\d+(?:[.,]\d+)?)\))'
-_relhours = '(?:\((?P<relhours>[-+]?\d+(?:[.,]\d+)?)\))'
-_relminutes = '(?:\((?P<relminutes>[-+]?\d+(?:[.,]\d+)?)\))'
-_relseconds = '(?:\((?P<relseconds>[-+]?\d+(?:[.,]\d+)?)\))'
-
-_sign = '(?:(?P<sign>[-+]) *)'
-_week = 'W(?P<week>\d?\d)'
-_zone = '(?P<zone>[A-Z]+|[+-]\d\d?:?(?:\d\d)?)'
-_ampm = '(?P<ampm>[ap][m.]+)'
-
-_time = (_hour + ':' + _minute + '(?::' + _second + '|[^:]|$) *'
-         + _ampm + '? *' + _zone + '?')
-_isotime = _hour + ':?' + _minute + ':?' + _second + '? *' + _zone + '?'
-
-_yeardate = _year
-_weekdate = _year + '-?(?:' + _week + '-?' + _day + '?)?'
-_eurodate = _day + '\.' + _month + '\.' + _year_epoch + '?'
-_usdate = _month + '/' + _day + '(?:/' + _year_epoch + '|[^/]|$)'
-_altusdate = _month + '-' + _day + '-' + _fullyear_epoch
-_isodate = _year + '-' + _month + '-?' + _day + '?(?!:)'
-_altisodate = _year + _fullmonth + _fullday + '(?!:)'
-_usisodate = _fullyear + '/' + _fullmonth + '/' + _fullday
-_litdate = ('(?:'+ _litday + ',? )? *' +
-            _usday + ' *' +
-            '[- ] *(?:' + _litmonth + '|'+ _month +') *[- ] *' +
-            _year_epoch + '?')
-_altlitdate = ('(?:'+ _litday + ',? )? *' +
-               _litmonth + '[ ,.a-z]+' +
-               _usday +
-               '(?:[ a-z]+' + _year_epoch + ')?')
-_eurlitdate = ('(?:'+ _litday + ',?[ a-z]+)? *' +
-               '(?:'+ _usday + '[ a-z]+)? *' +
-               _litmonth +
-               '(?:[ ,.a-z]+' + _year_epoch + ')?')
-
-_relany = '[*%?a-zA-Z]+'
-
-_relisodate = ('(?:(?:' + _relany + '|' + _year + '|' + _relyear + ')-' +
-               '(?:' + _relany + '|' + _month + '|' + _relmonth + ')-' +
-               '(?:' + _relany + '|' + _day + '|' + _relday + '))')
-
-_asctime = ('(?:'+ _litday + ',? )? *' +
-                _usday + ' *' +
-                '[- ] *(?:' + _litmonth + '|'+ _month +') *[- ]' +
-                '(?:[0-9: ]+)' +
-                _year_epoch + '?')
-
-_relisotime = ('(?:(?:' + _relany + '|' + _hour + '|' + _relhours + '):' +
-               '(?:' + _relany + '|' + _minute + '|' + _relminutes + ')' +
-               '(?::(?:' + _relany + '|' + _second + '|' + _relseconds + '))?)')
-
-_isodelta1 = (_sign + '?' +
-              _days + ':' + _hours + ':' + _minutes + ':' + _seconds)
-_isodelta2 = (_sign + '?' +
-              _hours + ':' + _minutes + ':' + _seconds)
-_isodelta3 = (_sign + '?' +
-              _hours + ':' + _minutes)
-_litdelta = (_sign + '?' +
-             '(?:' + _days + ' *d[a-z]*[,; ]*)?' +
-             '(?:' + _hours + ' *h[a-z]*[,; ]*)?' +
-             '(?:' + _minutes + ' *m[a-z]*[,; ]*)?' +
-             '(?:' + _seconds + ' *s[a-z]*[,; ]*)?')
-_litdelta2 = (_sign + '?' +
-             '(?:' + _days + ' *d[a-z]*[,; ]*)?' +
-              _hours + ':' + _minutes + '(?::' + _seconds + ')?')
-
-_timeRE = re.compile(_time, re.I)
-_isotimeRE = re.compile(_isotime, re.I)
-_isodateRE = re.compile(_isodate, re.I)
-_altisodateRE = re.compile(_altisodate, re.I)
-_usisodateRE = re.compile(_usisodate, re.I)
-_yeardateRE = re.compile(_yeardate, re.I)
-_eurodateRE = re.compile(_eurodate, re.I)
-_usdateRE = re.compile(_usdate, re.I)
-_altusdateRE = re.compile(_altusdate, re.I)
-_litdateRE = re.compile(_litdate, re.I)
-_altlitdateRE = re.compile(_altlitdate, re.I)
-_eurlitdateRE = re.compile(_eurlitdate, re.I)
-_relisodateRE = re.compile(_relisodate, re.I)
-_asctimeRE = re.compile(_asctime, re.I)
-_isodelta1RE = re.compile(_isodelta1)
-_isodelta2RE = re.compile(_isodelta2)
-_isodelta3RE = re.compile(_isodelta3)
-_litdeltaRE = re.compile(_litdelta)
-_litdelta2RE = re.compile(_litdelta2)
-_relisotimeRE = re.compile(_relisotime, re.I)
-
-# Available date parsers
-_date_formats = ('euro',
-                 'usiso', 'us', 'altus',
-                 'iso', 'altiso',
-                 'lit', 'altlit', 'eurlit',
-                 'year', 'unknown')
-
-# Available time parsers
-_time_formats = ('standard',
-                 'iso',
-                 'unknown')
-
-_zoneoffset = ('(?:'
-              '(?P<zonesign>[+-])?'
-              '(?P<hours>\d\d?)'
-              ':?'
-              '(?P<minutes>\d\d)?'
-              '(?P<extra>\d+)?'
-              ')'
-              )
-
-_zoneoffsetRE = re.compile(_zoneoffset)
-
-_zonetable = {
-              # Timezone abbreviations
-              # Std     Summer
-
-              # Standards
-              'UT':0,
-              'UTC':0,
-              'GMT':0,
-
-              # A few common timezone abbreviations
-              'CET':1,  'CEST':2, 'CETDST':2, # Central European
-              'MET':1,  'MEST':2, 'METDST':2, # Mean European
-              'MEZ':1,  'MESZ':2,             # Mitteleuropäische Zeit
-              'EET':2,  'EEST':3, 'EETDST':3, # Eastern Europe
-              'WET':0,  'WEST':1, 'WETDST':1, # Western Europe
-              'MSK':3,  'MSD':4,  # Moscow
-              'IST':5.5,          # India
-              'JST':9,            # Japan
-              'KST':9,            # Korea
-              'HKT':8,            # Hong Kong
-
-              # US time zones
-              'AST':-4, 'ADT':-3, # Atlantic
-              'EST':-5, 'EDT':-4, # Eastern
-              'CST':-6, 'CDT':-5, # Central
-              'MST':-7, 'MDT':-6, # Midwestern
-              'PST':-8, 'PDT':-7, # Pacific
-
-              # Australian time zones
-              'CAST':9.5, 'CADT':10.5, # Central
-              'EAST':10,  'EADT':11,   # Eastern
-              'WAST':8,   'WADT':9,    # Western
-              'SAST':9.5, 'SADT':10.5, # Southern
-
-              # US military time zones
-              'Z': 0,
-              'A': 1,
-              'B': 2,
-              'C': 3,
-              'D': 4,
-              'E': 5,
-              'F': 6,
-              'G': 7,
-              'H': 8,
-              'I': 9,
-              'K': 10,
-              'L': 11,
-              'M': 12,
-              'N':-1,
-              'O':-2,
-              'P':-3,
-              'Q':-4,
-              'R':-5,
-              'S':-6,
-              'T':-7,
-              'U':-8,
-              'V':-9,
-              'W':-10,
-              'X':-11,
-              'Y':-12
-              }
-
-
-def utc_offset(zone):
-    """ utc_offset(zonestring)
-
-        Return the UTC time zone offset in minutes.
-
-        zone must be string and can either be given as +-HH:MM,
-        +-HHMM, +-HH numeric offset or as time zone
-        abbreviation. Daylight saving time must be encoded into the
-        zone offset.
-
-        Timezone abbreviations are treated case-insensitive.
-
-    """
-    if not zone:
-        return 0
-    uzone = zone.upper()
-    if uzone in _zonetable:
-        return _zonetable[uzone]*60
-    offset = _zoneoffsetRE.match(zone)
-    if not offset:
-        raise ValueError('wrong format or unkown time zone: "%s"' % zone)
-    zonesign,hours,minutes,extra = offset.groups()
-    if extra:
-        raise ValueError('illegal time zone offset: "%s"' % zone)
-    offset = int(hours or 0) * 60 + int(minutes or 0)
-    if zonesign == '-':
-        offset = -offset
-    return offset
-
-def add_century(year):
-
-    """ Sliding window approach to the Y2K problem: adds a suitable
-        century to the given year and returns it as integer.
-
-        The window used depends on the current year. If adding the current
-        century to the given year gives a year within the range
-        current_year-70...current_year+30 [both inclusive], then the
-        current century is added. Otherwise the century (current + 1 or
-        - 1) producing the least difference is chosen.
-
-    """
-
-    current_year=dt.datetime.now().year
-    current_century=(dt.datetime.now().year / 100) * 100
-
-    if year > 99:
-        # Take it as-is
-        return year
-    year = year + current_century
-    diff = year - current_year
-    if diff >= -70 and diff <= 30:
-        return year
-    elif diff < -70:
-        return year + 100
-    else:
-        return year - 100
-
-
-def _parse_date(text):
-    """
-    Parses the date part given in text and returns a tuple
-    (text,day,month,year,style) with the following meanings:
-
-    * text gives the original text without the date part
-
-    * day,month,year give the parsed date
-
-    * style gives information about which parser was successful:
-      'euro' - the European date parser
-      'us' - the US date parser
-      'altus' - the alternative US date parser (with '-' instead of '/')
-      'iso' - the ISO date parser
-      'altiso' - the alternative ISO date parser (without '-')
-      'usiso' - US style ISO date parser (yyyy/mm/dd)
-      'lit' - the US literal date parser
-      'altlit' - the alternative US literal date parser
-      'eurlit' - the Eurpean literal date parser
-      'unknown' - no date part was found, defaultdate was used
-
-    Formats may be set to a tuple of style strings specifying which of the above
-    parsers to use and in which order to try them.
-    Default is to try all of them in the above order.
-
-    ``defaultdate`` provides the defaults to use in case no date part is found.
-    Most other parsers default to the current year January 1 if some of these
-    date parts are missing.
-
-    If ``'unknown'`` is not given in formats and the date cannot be parsed,
-    a :exc:`ValueError` is raised.
-
-    """
-    match = None
-    style = ''
-
-    formats = _date_formats
-
-    us_formats=('us', 'altus')
-    iso_formats=('iso', 'altiso', 'usiso')
-
-    now=dt.datetime.now
-
-    # Apply parsers in the order given in formats
-    for format in formats:
-
-        if format == 'euro':
-            # European style date
-            match = _eurodateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                day,month,year,epoch = match.groups()
-                if year:
-                    if len(year) == 2:
-                        # Y2K problem:
-                        year = add_century(int(year))
-                    else:
-                        year = int(year)
-                else:
-                    defaultdate = now()
-                    year = defaultdate.year
-                if epoch and 'B' in epoch:
-                    year = -year + 1
-                month = int(month)
-                day = int(day)
-                # Could have mistaken euro format for us style date
-                # which uses month, day order
-                if month > 12 or month == 0:
-                    match = None
-                    continue
-                break
-
-        elif format == 'year':
-            # just a year specified
-            match = _yeardateRE.match(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                year = match.groups()[0]
-                if year:
-                    if len(year) == 2:
-                        # Y2K problem:
-                        year = add_century(int(year))
-                    else:
-                        year = int(year)
-                else:
-                    defaultdate = now()
-                    year = defaultdate.year
-                day = 1
-                month = 1
-                break
-
-        elif format in iso_formats:
-            # ISO style date
-            if format == 'iso':
-                match = _isodateRE.search(text)
-            elif format == 'altiso':
-                match = _altisodateRE.search(text)
-                # Avoid mistaking ISO time parts ('Thhmmss') for dates
-                if match is not None:
-                    left, right = match.span()
-                    if left > 0 and \
-                       text[left - 1:left] == 'T':
-                        match = None
-                        continue
-            else:
-                match = _usisodateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                year,month,day = match.groups()
-                if len(year) == 2:
-                    # Y2K problem:
-                    year = add_century(int(year))
-                else:
-                    year = int(year)
-                # Default to January 1st
-                if not month:
-                    month = 1
-                else:
-                    month = int(month)
-                if not day:
-                    day = 1
-                else:
-                    day = int(day)
-                break
-
-        elif format in us_formats:
-            # US style date
-            if format == 'us':
-                match = _usdateRE.search(text)
-            else:
-                match = _altusdateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                month,day,year,epoch = match.groups()
-                if year:
-                    if len(year) == 2:
-                        # Y2K problem:
-                        year = add_century(int(year))
-                    else:
-                        year = int(year)
-                else:
-                    defaultdate = now()
-                    year = defaultdate.year
-                if epoch and 'B' in epoch:
-                    year = -year + 1
-                # Default to 1 if no day is given
-                if day:
-                    day = int(day)
-                else:
-                    day = 1
-                month = int(month)
-                # Could have mistaken us format for euro style date
-                # which uses day, month order
-                if month > 12 or month == 0:
-                    match = None
-                    continue
-                break
-
-        elif format == 'lit':
-            # US style literal date
-            match = _litdateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                litday,day,litmonth,month,year,epoch = match.groups()
-                break
-
-        elif format == 'altlit':
-            # Alternative US style literal date
-            match = _altlitdateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                litday,litmonth,day,year,epoch = match.groups()
-                month = '<missing>'
-                break
-
-        elif format == 'eurlit':
-            # European style literal date
-            match = _eurlitdateRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                litday,day,litmonth,year,epoch = match.groups()
-                month = '<missing>'
-                break
-
-        elif format == 'unknown':
-            # No date part: use defaultdate
-            defaultdate = now()
-            year = defaultdate.year
-            month = defaultdate.month
-            day = defaultdate.day
-            style = format
-            break
-
-    # Check success
-    if match is not None:
-        # Remove date from text
-        left, right = match.span()
-        if 0 and _debug:
-            print 'parsed date:',repr(text[left:right]),\
-                  'giving:',year,month,day
-        text = text[:left] + text[right:]
-        style = format
-
-    elif not style:
-        # Not recognized: raise an error
-        raise ValueError('unknown date format: "%s"' % text)
-
-    # Literal date post-processing
-    if style in ('lit', 'altlit', 'eurlit'):
-        if 0 and _debug: print match.groups()
-        # Default to current year, January 1st
-        if not year:
-            defaultdate = now()
-            year = defaultdate.year
-        else:
-            if len(year) == 2:
-                # Y2K problem:
-                year = add_century(int(year))
-            else:
-                year = int(year)
-        if epoch and 'B' in epoch:
-            year = -year + 1
-        if litmonth:
-            litmonth = litmonth.lower()
-            try:
-                month = litmonthtable[litmonth]
-            except KeyError:
-                raise ValueError(
-                      'wrong month name: "%s"' % litmonth)
-        elif month:
-            month = int(month)
-        else:
-            month = 1
-        if day:
-            day = int(day)
-        else:
-            day = 1
-
-    #print '_parse_date:',text,day,month,year,style
-    return text,day,month,year,style
-
-def _parse_time(text):
-
-    """ Parses a time part given in text and returns a tuple
-        (text,hour,minute,second,offset,style) with the following
-        meanings:
-
-        * text gives the original text without the time part
-        * hour,minute,second give the parsed time
-        * offset gives the time zone UTC offset
-        * style gives information about which parser was successful:
-          'standard' - the standard parser
-          'iso' - the ISO time format parser
-          'unknown' - no time part was found
-
-        formats may be set to a tuple specifying the parsers to use:
-          'standard' - standard time format with ':' delimiter
-          'iso' - ISO time format (superset of 'standard')
-          'unknown' - default to 0:00:00, 0 zone offset
-
-        If 'unknown' is not given in formats and the time cannot be
-        parsed, a ValueError is raised.
-
-    """
-    match = None
-    style = ''
-
-    formats=_time_formats
-
-    # Apply parsers in the order given in formats
-    for format in formats:
-
-        # Standard format
-        if format == 'standard':
-            match = _timeRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                hour,minute,second,ampm,zone = match.groups()
-                style = 'standard'
-                break
-
-        # ISO format
-        if format == 'iso':
-            match =  _isotimeRE.search(text)
-            if match is not None:
-                hour,minute,second,zone = match.groups()
-                ampm = None
-                style = 'iso'
-                break
-
-        # Default handling
-        elif format == 'unknown':
-            hour,minute,second,offset = 0,0,0.0,0
-            style = 'unknown'
-            break
-
-    if not style:
-        # If no default handling should be applied, raise an error
-        raise ValueError('unknown time format: "%s"' % text)
-
-    # Post-processing
-    if match is not None:
-
-        if zone:
-            # Convert to UTC offset
-            offset = utc_offset(zone)
-        else:
-            offset = 0
-
-        hour = int(hour)
-        if ampm:
-            if ampm[0] in ('p', 'P'):
-                # 12pm = midday
-                if hour < 12:
-                    hour = hour + 12
-            else:
-                # 12am = midnight
-                if hour >= 12:
-                    hour = hour - 12
-        if minute:
-            minute = int(minute)
-        else:
-            minute = 0
-        if not second:
-            second = 0.0
-        else:
-            if ',' in second:
-                second = second.replace(',', '.')
-            second = float(second)
-
-        # Remove time from text
-        left,right = match.span()
-        if 0 and _debug:
-            print 'parsed time:',repr(text[left:right]),\
-                  'giving:',hour,minute,second,offset
-        text = text[:left] + text[right:]
-
-    #print '_parse_time:',text,hour,minute,second,offset,style
-    return text,hour,minute,second,offset,style
-
-###
-
-def datetime_from_string(text):
-
-    """ datetime_from_string(text, [formats, defaultdate])
-
-        Returns a datetime instance reflecting the date and time given
-        in text. In case a timezone is given, the returned instance
-        will point to the corresponding UTC time value. Otherwise, the
-        value is set as given in the string.
-
-        formats may be set to a tuple of strings specifying which of
-        the following parsers to use and in which order to try
-        them. Default is to try all of them in the order given below:
-
-          'euro' - the European date parser
-          'us' - the US date parser
-          'altus' - the alternative US date parser (with '-' instead of '/')
-          'iso' - the ISO date parser
-          'altiso' - the alternative ISO date parser (without '-')
-          'usiso' - US style ISO date parser (yyyy/mm/dd)
-          'lit' - the US literal date parser
-          'altlit' - the alternative US literal date parser
-          'eurlit' - the Eurpean literal date parser
-          'unknown' - if no date part is found, use defaultdate
-
-        defaultdate provides the defaults to use in case no date part
-        is found. Most of the parsers default to the current year
-        January 1 if some of these date parts are missing.
-
-        If 'unknown' is not given in formats and the date cannot
-        be parsed, a ValueError is raised.
-
-        time_formats may be set to a tuple of strings specifying which
-        of the following parsers to use and in which order to try
-        them. Default is to try all of them in the order given below:
-
-          'standard' - standard time format HH:MM:SS (with ':' delimiter)
-          'iso' - ISO time format (superset of 'standard')
-          'unknown' - default to 00:00:00 in case the time format
-                      cannot be parsed
-
-        Defaults to 00:00:00.00 for time parts that are not included
-        in the textual representation.
-
-        If 'unknown' is not given in time_formats and the time cannot
-        be parsed, a ValueError is raised.
-
-    """
-    origtext = text
-
-    text,hour,minute,second,offset,timestyle = _parse_time(origtext)
-    text,day,month,year,datestyle = _parse_date(text)
-
-    if 0 and _debug:
-        print 'tried time/date on %s, date=%s, time=%s' % (origtext,
-                                                           datestyle,
-                                                           timestyle)
-
-    # If this fails, try the ISO order (date, then time)
-    if timestyle in ('iso', 'unknown'):
-        text,day,month,year,datestyle = _parse_date(origtext)
-        text,hour,minute,second,offset,timestyle = _parse_time(text)
-        if 0 and _debug:
-            print 'tried ISO on %s, date=%s, time=%s' % (origtext,
-                                                         datestyle,
-                                                         timestyle)
-
-    try:
-        microsecond = int(round(1000000 * (second % 1)))
-        second = int(second)
-        return dt.datetime(year,month,day,hour,minute,second, microsecond) - \
-                                        dt.timedelta(minutes=offset)
-    except ValueError, why:
-        raise RangeError(
-              'Failed to parse "%s": %s' % (origtext, why))
-
-def date_from_string(text):
-
-    """ date_from_string(text, [formats, defaultdate])
-
-        Returns a datetime instance reflecting the date given in
-        text. A possibly included time part is ignored.
-
-        formats and defaultdate work just like for
-        datetime_from_string().
-
-    """
-    _text,day,month,year,datestyle = _parse_date(text)
-
-    try:
-        return dt.datetime(year,month,day)
-    except ValueError, why:
-        raise RangeError(
-              'Failed to parse "%s": %s' % (text, why))
-
-def validateDateTimeString(text):
-
-    """ validateDateTimeString(text, [formats, defaultdate])
-
-        Validates the given text and returns 1/0 depending on whether
-        text includes parseable date and time values or not.
-
-        formats works just like for datetime_from_string() and defines
-        the order of date/time parsers to apply. It defaults to the
-        same list of parsers as for datetime_from_string().
-
-        XXX Undocumented !
-
-    """
-    try:
-        datetime_from_string(text)
-    except ValueError, why:
-        return 0
-    return 1
-
-
-def validateDateString(text):
-
-    """ validateDateString(text, [formats, defaultdate])
-
-        Validates the given text and returns 1/0 depending on whether
-        text includes a parseable date value or not.
-
-        formats works just like for datetime_from_string() and defines
-        the order of date/time parsers to apply. It defaults to the
-        same list of parsers as for datetime_from_string().
-
-        XXX Undocumented !
-
-    """
-    try:
-        date_from_string(text)
-    except ValueError, why:
-        return 0
-    return 1
-
-### Tests
-
-def _test():
-
-    import sys
-
-    t = dt.datetime.now()
-    _date = t.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
-
-    print 'Testing DateTime Parser...'
-
-    l = [
-
-        # Literal formats
-        ('Sun Nov  6 08:49:37 1994', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('sun nov  6 08:49:37 1994', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('sUN NOV  6 08:49:37 1994', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('Sunday, 06-Nov-94 08:49:37 GMT', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('06-Nov-94 08:49:37', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('06-Nov-94', '1994-11-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('06-NOV-94', '1994-11-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('November 19 08:49:37', '%s-11-19 08:49:37.00' % t.year),
-        ('Nov. 9', '%s-11-09 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('Sonntag, der 6. November 1994, 08:49:37 GMT', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('6. November 2001, 08:49:37', '2001-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('sep 6', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('sep 6 2000', '2000-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('September 29', '%s-09-29 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('Sep. 29', '%s-09-29 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('6 sep', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('29 September', '%s-09-29 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('29 Sep.', '%s-09-29 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('sep 6 2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('Sep 6, 2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('September 6, 2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('sep 6 01', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('Sep 6, 01', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('September 6, 01', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('30 Apr 2006 20:19:00', '2006-04-30 20:19:00.00'),
-
-        # ISO formats
-        ('1994-11-06 08:49:37', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('010203', '2001-02-03 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2001-02-03 00:00:00.00', '2001-02-03 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2001-02 00:00:00.00', '2001-02-01 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2001-02-03', '2001-02-03 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2001-02', '2001-02-01 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('20000824/2300', '2000-08-24 23:00:00.00'),
-        ('20000824/0102', '2000-08-24 01:02:00.00'),
-        ('20000824', '2000-08-24 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('20000824/020301', '2000-08-24 02:03:01.00'),
-        ('20000824 020301', '2000-08-24 02:03:01.00'),
-        ('20000824T020301', '2000-08-24 02:03:01.00'),
-        ('20000824 020301', '2000-08-24 02:03:01.00'),
-        ('2000-08-24 02:03:01.00', '2000-08-24 02:03:01.00'),
-        ('T020311', '%s 02:03:11.00' % _date),
-        ('2003-12-9', '2003-12-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('03-12-9', '2003-12-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('003-12-9', '0003-12-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('0003-12-9', '0003-12-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2003-1-9', '2003-01-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('03-1-9', '2003-01-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('003-1-9', '0003-01-09 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('0003-1-9', '0003-01-09 00:00:00.00'),
-
-        # US formats
-        ('06/11/94 08:49:37', '1994-06-11 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('11/06/94 08:49:37', '1994-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('9/23/2001', '2001-09-23 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('9-23-2001', '2001-09-23 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('9/6', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('09/6', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('9/06', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('09/06', '%s-09-06 00:00:00.00' % t.year),
-        ('9/6/2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('09/6/2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('9/06/2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('09/06/2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('9-6-2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('09-6-2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('9-06-2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('09-06-2001', '2001-09-06 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('2002/05/28 13:10:56.114700 GMT+2', '2002-05-28 13:10:56.114700'),
-        ('1970/01/01', '1970-01-01 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 12:00 PM', '2002-10-25 12:00:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 12:30 PM', '2002-10-25 12:30:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 12:00 AM', '2002-10-25 00:00:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 12:30 AM', '2002-10-25 00:30:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 1:00 PM', '2002-10-25 13:00:00.00'),
-        ('20021025 2:00 AM', '2002-10-25 02:00:00.00'),
-        ('Thursday, February 06, 2003 12:40 PM', '2003-02-06 12:40:00.00'),
-        ('Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:03:00', '2006-09-18 23:03:00.00'),
-
-        # European formats
-        ('6.11.2001, 08:49:37', '2001-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('06.11.2001, 08:49:37', '2001-11-06 08:49:37.00'),
-        ('06.11. 08:49:37', '%s-11-06 08:49:37.00' % t.year),
-        #('21/12/2002', '2002-12-21 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('21/08/2002', '2002-08-21 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('21-08-2002', '2002-08-21 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('13/01/03', '2003-01-13 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('13/1/03', '2003-01-13 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('13/1/3', '2003-01-13 00:00:00.00'),
-        #('13/01/3', '2003-01-13 00:00:00.00'),
-
-        # Time only formats
-        ('01:03', '%s 01:03:00.00' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11', '%s 01:03:11.00' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11.50', '%s 01:03:11.500000' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11.50 AM', '%s 01:03:11.500000' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11.50 PM', '%s 13:03:11.500000' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11.50 a.m.', '%s 01:03:11.500000' % _date),
-        ('01:03:11.50 p.m.', '%s 13:03:11.500000' % _date),
-
-        # Invalid formats
-        ('6..2001, 08:49:37', '%s 08:49:37.00' % _date),
-        ('9//2001', 'ignore'),
-        ('06--94 08:49:37', 'ignore'),
-        ('20-03 00:00:00.00', 'ignore'),
-        ('9/2001', 'ignore'),
-        ('9-6', 'ignore'),
-        ('09-6', 'ignore'),
-        ('9-06', 'ignore'),
-        ('09-06', 'ignore'),
-        ('20000824/23', 'ignore'),
-        ('November 1994 08:49:37', 'ignore'),
-        ]
-
-    # Add Unicode versions
-    try:
-        unicode
-    except NameError:
-        pass
-    else:
-        k = []
-        for text, result in l:
-            k.append((unicode(text), result))
-        l.extend(k)
-
-    for text, reference in l:
-        try:
-            value = datetime_from_string(text)
-        except:
-            if reference is None:
-                continue
-            else:
-                value = str(sys.exc_info()[1])
-        valid_datetime = validateDateTimeString(text)
-        valid_date = validateDateString(text)
-
-        if reference[-3:] == '.00': reference = reference[:-3]
-
-        if str(value) != reference and \
-           not reference == 'ignore':
-            print 'Failed to parse "%s"' % text
-            print '  expected: %s' % (reference or '<exception>')
-            print '  parsed:   %s' % value
-        elif _debug:
-            print 'Parsed "%s" successfully' % text
-        if _debug:
-            if not valid_datetime:
-                print '  "%s" failed date/time validation' % text
-            if not valid_date:
-                print '  "%s" failed date validation' % text
-
-    et = dt.datetime.now()
-    print 'done. (after %f seconds)' % ((et-t).seconds)
-
-if __name__ == '__main__':
-    _test()
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/_datetime.h b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/_datetime.h
index b7a7ebf11..1f835ebff 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/_datetime.h
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/_datetime.h
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 #define _NPY_PRIVATE__DATETIME_H_
 
 NPY_NO_EXPORT void
+numpy_pydatetime_import();
+
+NPY_NO_EXPORT void
 PyArray_DatetimeToDatetimeStruct(npy_datetime val, NPY_DATETIMEUNIT fr,
                                  npy_datetimestruct *result);
 
@@ -16,6 +19,13 @@ NPY_NO_EXPORT npy_datetime
 PyArray_TimedeltaStructToTimedelta(NPY_DATETIMEUNIT fr, npy_timedeltastruct *d);
 
 /*
+ * This function returns a pointer to the DateTimeMetaData
+ * contained within the provided datetime dtype.
+ */
+NPY_NO_EXPORT PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *
+get_datetime_metadata_from_dtype(PyArray_Descr *dtype);
+
+/*
  * Converts a datetime from a datetimestruct to a datetime based
  * on some metadata.
  */
@@ -25,13 +35,6 @@ convert_datetimestruct_to_datetime(PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta,
                                     npy_datetime *out);
 
 /*
- * This function returns a pointer to the DateTimeMetaData
- * contained within the provided datetime dtype.
- */
-NPY_NO_EXPORT PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *
-get_datetime_metadata_from_dtype(PyArray_Descr *dtype);
-
-/*
  * This function returns a reference to a capsule
  * which contains the datetime metadata parsed from a metadata
  * string. 'metastr' should be NULL-terminated, and len should
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ NPY_NO_EXPORT int
 convert_pydatetime_to_datetimestruct(PyObject *obj, npy_datetimestruct *out);
 
 /*
- * Converts a PyObject * into a datetime, in any of the forms supported
+ * Converts a PyObject * into a datetime, in any of the input forms supported.
  *
  * Returns -1 on error, 0 on success.
  */
@@ -139,4 +142,14 @@ NPY_NO_EXPORT int
 convert_pyobject_to_datetime(PyObject *obj, PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta,
                                 npy_datetime *out);
 
+/*
+ * Converts a datetime into a PyObject *.
+ *
+ * For days or coarser, returns a datetime.date.
+ * For microseconds or coarser, returns a datetime.datetime.
+ * For units finer than microseconds, returns an integer.
+ */
+NPY_NO_EXPORT PyObject *
+convert_datetime_to_pyobject(npy_datetime dt, PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arraytypes.c.src b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arraytypes.c.src
index cead10a37..4fe5ea19e 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arraytypes.c.src
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/arraytypes.c.src
@@ -1061,43 +1061,25 @@ PyTimeDelta_AsInt64(PyObject *obj, PyArray_Descr *descr)
 }
 
 
-/*
- * Always return DateTime Object after normalizing to basic units (or a tuple
- * if meta->events > 1):
- *
- *  Problem:  DateTime does not support all the resolutions (ns) nor the
- *  dynamic range (pre 1 AD) of NumPy Date-times.
- *
- * getitem is not used that much --- if losing resolution hurts, stick
- * with the array scalar versions of the date-time.
- *
- * considered returning array scalars here just like longdouble. This has the
- * problem of recursion in some cases (because in a few places the code
- * expects getitem to return a Python-system object)
- *
- * considered returning different things depending on the resolution but this
- * would make it hard to write generic code  --- but do you need to write
- * generic code on all the frequencies because they cover a wide range.
- *
- * Solution:  The use-case of actually wanting a date-time object when the
- * resolution and dynamic range match, make it the compelling default. When it
- * does fails, there are alternatives for the programmer to use.
- *
- * New question: Should we change (c)longdouble at this point? to return Python Float?
- */
-
 static PyObject *
 DATETIME_getitem(char *ip, PyArrayObject *ap) {
-    datetime t1;
+    npy_datetime dt;
+    PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta = NULL;
+
+    /* Get the datetime units metadata */
+    meta = get_datetime_metadata_from_dtype(PyArray_DESCR(ap));
+    if (meta == NULL) {
+        return -1;
+    }
 
     if ((ap == NULL) || PyArray_ISBEHAVED_RO(ap)) {
-        t1 = *((datetime *)ip);
-        return PyDateTime_FromInt64((datetime)t1, ap->descr);
+        dt = *((datetime *)ip);
     }
     else {
-        ap->descr->f->copyswap(&t1, ip, !PyArray_ISNOTSWAPPED(ap), ap);
-        return PyDateTime_FromInt64((datetime)t1, ap->descr);
+        ap->descr->f->copyswap(&dt, ip, !PyArray_ISNOTSWAPPED(ap), ap);
     }
+
+    return convert_datetime_to_pyobject(dt, meta);
 }
 
 
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/datetime.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/datetime.c
index 874f0ec12..02a5a4d59 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/datetime.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/datetime.c
@@ -13,6 +13,17 @@
 
 #include "_datetime.h"
 
+/*
+ * Imports the PyDateTime functions so we can create these objects.
+ * This is called during module initialization
+ */
+NPY_NO_EXPORT void
+numpy_pydatetime_import()
+{
+    PyDateTime_IMPORT;
+}
+
+
 /* For defaults and errors */
 #define NPY_FR_ERR  -1
 
@@ -298,6 +309,12 @@ convert_datetimestruct_to_datetime(PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta,
     npy_datetime ret;
     NPY_DATETIMEUNIT base = meta->base;
 
+    /* If the datetimestruct is NaT, return NaT */
+    if (dts->year == NPY_MIN_INT64) {
+        *out = NPY_MIN_INT64;
+        return 0;
+    }
+
     if (dts->event < 0 || dts->event >= meta->events) {
         PyErr_Format(PyExc_ValueError,
                     "NumPy datetime event %d is outside range [0,%d)",
@@ -570,294 +587,331 @@ PyArray_TimedeltaStructToTimedelta(NPY_DATETIMEUNIT fr, npy_timedeltastruct *d)
     return ret;
 }
 
-/*NUMPY_API
- * Fill the datetime struct from the value and resolution unit.
+/*
+ * Converts a datetime based on the given metadata into a datetimestruct
  */
-NPY_NO_EXPORT void
-PyArray_DatetimeToDatetimeStruct(npy_datetime val, NPY_DATETIMEUNIT fr,
-                                 npy_datetimestruct *result)
+NPY_NO_EXPORT int
+convert_datetime_to_datetimestruct(PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta,
+                                    npy_datetime dt,
+                                    npy_datetimestruct *out)
 {
-    int year = 1970, month = 1, day = 1,
-        hour = 0, min = 0, sec = 0,
-        us = 0, ps = 0, as = 0;
-
-    npy_int64 tmp;
     ymdstruct ymd;
     hmsstruct hms;
+    npy_int64 absdays;
+    npy_int64 tmp, num1, num2, num3;
+
+    /* Initialize the output to all zeros */
+    memset(out, 0, sizeof(npy_datetimestruct));
+    out->year = 1970;
+    out->month = 1;
+    out->day = 1;
+    
+    /* Extract the event number */
+    if (meta->events > 1) {
+        out->event = dt % meta->events;
+        dt = dt / meta->events;
+    }
+
+    /* TODO: Change to a mechanism that avoids the potential overflow */
+    dt *= meta->num;
 
     /*
-     * Note that what looks like val / N and val % N for positive numbers
-     * maps to [val - (N-1)] / N and [N-1 + (val+1) % N] for negative
-     * numbers (with the 2nd value, the remainder, being positive in
-     * both cases).
+     * Note that care must be taken with the / and % operators
+     * for negative values.
      */
-    if (fr == NPY_FR_Y) {
-        year = 1970 + val;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_M) {
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            year  = 1970 + val / 12;
-            month = val % 12 + 1;
-        }
-        else {
-            year  = 1969 + (val + 1) / 12;
-            month = 12 + (val + 1)% 12;
-        }
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_W) {
-        /* A week is the same as 7 days */
-        ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val * 7);
-        year  = ymd.year;
-        month = ymd.month;
-        day   = ymd.day;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_B) {
-        /* Number of business days since Thursday, 1-1-70 */
-        npy_longlong absdays;
-        /*
-         * A business day is M T W Th F (i.e. all but Sat and Sun.)
-         * Convert the business day to the number of actual days.
-         *
-         * Must convert [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,...] to
-         *                  [0,1,4,5,6,7,8,11,...]
-         * and  [...,-9,-8,-7,-6,-5,-4,-3,-2,-1,0] to
-         *        [...,-13,-10,-9,-8,-7,-6,-3,-2,-1,0]
-         */
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            absdays = 7 * ((val + 3) / 5) + ((val + 3) % 5) - 3;
-        }
-        else {
-            /* Recall how C computes / and % with negative numbers */
-            absdays = 7 * ((val - 1) / 5) + ((val - 1) % 5) + 1;
-        }
-        ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(absdays);
-        year  = ymd.year;
-        month = ymd.month;
-        day   = ymd.day;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_D) {
-        ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val);
-        year  = ymd.year;
-        month = ymd.month;
-        day   = ymd.day;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_h) {
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd  = days_to_ymdstruct(val / 24);
-            hour  = val % 24;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd  = days_to_ymdstruct((val - 23) / 24);
-            hour = 23 + (val + 1) % 24;
-        }
-        year  = ymd.year;
-        month = ymd.month;
-        day   = ymd.day;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_m) {
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / 1440);
-            min = val % 1440;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - 1439) / 1440);
-            min = 1439 + (val + 1) % 1440;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(min * 60);
-        year   = ymd.year;
-        month  = ymd.month;
-        day    = ymd.day;
-        hour   = hms.hour;
-        min = hms.min;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_s) {
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / 86400);
-            sec = val % 86400;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - 86399) / 86400);
-            sec = 86399 + (val + 1) % 86400;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(sec);
-        year   = ymd.year;
-        month  = ymd.month;
-        day    = ymd.day;
-        hour   = hms.hour;
-        min = hms.min;
-        sec = hms.sec;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_ms) {
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / 86400000);
-            tmp  = val % 86400000;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - 86399999) / 86400000);
-            tmp  = 86399999 + (val + 1) % 86399999;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000);
-        us  = (tmp % 1000)*1000;
-        year    = ymd.year;
-        month   = ymd.month;
-        day     = ymd.day;
-        hour    = hms.hour;
-        min     = hms.min;
-        sec     = hms.sec;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_us) {
-        npy_int64 num1, num2;
-        num1 = 86400000;
-        num1 *= 1000;
-        num2 = num1 - 1;
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / num1);
-            tmp = val % num1;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - num2)/ num1);
-            tmp = num2 + (val + 1) % num1;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000000);
-        us = tmp % 1000000;
-        year    = ymd.year;
-        month   = ymd.month;
-        day     = ymd.day;
-        hour    = hms.hour;
-        min     = hms.min;
-        sec     = hms.sec;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_ns) {
-        npy_int64 num1, num2, num3;
-        num1 = 86400000;
-        num1 *= 1000000000;
-        num2 = num1 - 1;
-        num3 = 1000000;
-        num3 *= 1000000;
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / num1);
-            tmp = val % num1;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - num2)/ num1);
-            tmp = num2 + (val + 1) % num1;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000000000);
-        tmp = tmp % 1000000000;
-        us = tmp / 1000;
-        ps = (tmp % 1000) * (npy_int64)(1000);
-        year    = ymd.year;
-        month   = ymd.month;
-        day     = ymd.day;
-        hour    = hms.hour;
-        min     = hms.min;
-        sec     = hms.sec;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_ps) {
-        npy_int64 num1, num2, num3;
-        num3 = 1000000000;
-        num3 *= (npy_int64)(1000);
-        num1 = (npy_int64)(86400) * num3;
-        num2 = num1 - 1;
+    switch (meta->base) {
+        case NPY_FR_Y:
+            out->year = 1970 + dt;
+            break;
 
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(val / num1);
-            tmp = val % num1;
-        }
-        else {
-            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((val - num2) / num1);
-            tmp = num2 + (val + 1) % num1;
-        }
-        hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / num3);
-        tmp = tmp % num3;
-        us = tmp / 1000000;
-        ps = tmp % 1000000;
-        year    = ymd.year;
-        month   = ymd.month;
-        day     = ymd.day;
-        hour    = hms.hour;
-        min     = hms.min;
-        sec     = hms.sec;
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_fs) {
-        /* entire range is only += 2.6 hours */
-        npy_int64 num1, num2;
-        num1 = 1000000000;
-        num1 *= (npy_int64)(1000);
-        num2 = num1 * (npy_int64)(1000);
+        case NPY_FR_M:
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                out->year  = 1970 + dt / 12;
+                out->month = dt % 12 + 1;
+            }
+            else {
+                out->year  = 1969 + (dt + 1) / 12;
+                out->month = 12 + (dt + 1)% 12;
+            }
+            break;
 
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            sec = val / num2;
-            tmp = val % num2;
-            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(sec);
-            hour = hms.hour;
-            min = hms.min;
-            sec = hms.sec;
-        }
-        else {
-            /* tmp (number of fs) will be positive after this segment */
-            year = 1969;
-            day = 31;
-            month = 12;
-            sec = (val - (num2-1))/num2;
-            tmp = (num2-1) + (val + 1) % num2;
-            if (sec == 0) {
-                /* we are at the last second */
-                hour = 23;
-                min = 59;
-                sec = 59;
+        case NPY_FR_W:
+            /* A week is 7 days */
+            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt * 7);
+            out->year  = ymd.year;
+            out->month = ymd.month;
+            out->day   = ymd.day;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_B:
+            /* TODO: fix up business days */
+            /* Number of business days since Thursday, 1-1-70 */
+            /*
+             * A business day is M T W Th F (i.e. all but Sat and Sun.)
+             * Convert the business day to the number of actual days.
+             *
+             * Must convert [0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,...] to
+             *                  [0,1,4,5,6,7,8,11,...]
+             * and  [...,-9,-8,-7,-6,-5,-4,-3,-2,-1,0] to
+             *        [...,-13,-10,-9,-8,-7,-6,-3,-2,-1,0]
+             */
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                absdays = 7 * ((dt + 3) / 5) + ((dt + 3) % 5) - 3;
             }
             else {
-                hour = 24 + (sec - 3599)/3600;
-                sec = 3599 + (sec+1)%3600;
-                min = sec / 60;
-                sec = sec % 60;
+                /* Recall how C computes / and % with negative numbers */
+                absdays = 7 * ((dt - 1) / 5) + ((dt - 1) % 5) + 1;
             }
-        }
-        us = tmp / 1000000000;
-        tmp = tmp % 1000000000;
-        ps = tmp / 1000;
-        as = (tmp % 1000) * (npy_int64)(1000);
-    }
-    else if (fr == NPY_FR_as) {
-        /* entire range is only += 9.2 seconds */
-        npy_int64 num1, num2, num3;
-        num1 = 1000000;
-        num2 = num1 * (npy_int64)(1000000);
-        num3 = num2 * (npy_int64)(1000000);
-        if (val >= 0) {
-            hour = 0;
-            min = 0;
-            sec = val / num3;
-            tmp = val % num3;
-        }
-        else {
-            year = 1969;
-            day = 31;
-            month = 12;
-            hour = 23;
-            min = 59;
-            sec = 60 + (val - (num3-1)) / num3;
-            tmp = (num3-1) + (val+1) % num3;
-        }
-        us = tmp / num2;
-        tmp = tmp % num2;
-        ps = tmp / num1;
-        as = tmp % num1;
-    }
-    else {
-        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, "invalid internal time resolution");
+            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(absdays);
+            out->year  = ymd.year;
+            out->month = ymd.month;
+            out->day   = ymd.day;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_D:
+            ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt);
+            out->year  = ymd.year;
+            out->month = ymd.month;
+            out->day   = ymd.day;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_h:
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd  = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / 24);
+                out->hour  = dt % 24;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd  = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - 23) / 24);
+                out->hour = 23 + (dt + 1) % 24;
+            }
+            out->year  = ymd.year;
+            out->month = ymd.month;
+            out->day   = ymd.day;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_m:
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / 1440);
+                out->min = dt % 1440;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - 1439) / 1440);
+                out->min = 1439 + (dt + 1) % 1440;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(out->min * 60);
+            out->year   = ymd.year;
+            out->month  = ymd.month;
+            out->day    = ymd.day;
+            out->hour   = hms.hour;
+            out->min = hms.min;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_s:
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / 86400);
+                out->sec = dt % 86400;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - 86399) / 86400);
+                out->sec = 86399 + (dt + 1) % 86400;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(out->sec);
+            out->year   = ymd.year;
+            out->month  = ymd.month;
+            out->day    = ymd.day;
+            out->hour   = hms.hour;
+            out->min = hms.min;
+            out->sec = hms.sec;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_ms:
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / 86400000);
+                tmp  = dt % 86400000;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - 86399999) / 86400000);
+                tmp  = 86399999 + (dt + 1) % 86399999;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000);
+            out->us  = (tmp % 1000)*1000;
+            out->year    = ymd.year;
+            out->month   = ymd.month;
+            out->day     = ymd.day;
+            out->hour    = hms.hour;
+            out->min     = hms.min;
+            out->sec     = hms.sec;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_us:
+            num1 = 86400000;
+            num1 *= 1000;
+            num2 = num1 - 1;
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / num1);
+                tmp = dt % num1;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - num2)/ num1);
+                tmp = num2 + (dt + 1) % num1;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000000);
+            out->us = tmp % 1000000;
+            out->year    = ymd.year;
+            out->month   = ymd.month;
+            out->day     = ymd.day;
+            out->hour    = hms.hour;
+            out->min     = hms.min;
+            out->sec     = hms.sec;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_ns:
+            num1 = 86400000;
+            num1 *= 1000000000;
+            num2 = num1 - 1;
+            num3 = 1000000;
+            num3 *= 1000000;
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / num1);
+                tmp = dt % num1;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - num2)/ num1);
+                tmp = num2 + (dt + 1) % num1;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / 1000000000);
+            tmp = tmp % 1000000000;
+            out->us = tmp / 1000;
+            out->ps = (tmp % 1000) * (npy_int64)(1000);
+            out->year    = ymd.year;
+            out->month   = ymd.month;
+            out->day     = ymd.day;
+            out->hour    = hms.hour;
+            out->min     = hms.min;
+            out->sec     = hms.sec;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_ps:
+            num3 = 1000000000;
+            num3 *= (npy_int64)(1000);
+            num1 = (npy_int64)(86400) * num3;
+            num2 = num1 - 1;
+
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct(dt / num1);
+                tmp = dt % num1;
+            }
+            else {
+                ymd = days_to_ymdstruct((dt - num2) / num1);
+                tmp = num2 + (dt + 1) % num1;
+            }
+            hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(tmp / num3);
+            tmp = tmp % num3;
+            out->us = tmp / 1000000;
+            out->ps = tmp % 1000000;
+            out->year    = ymd.year;
+            out->month   = ymd.month;
+            out->day     = ymd.day;
+            out->hour    = hms.hour;
+            out->min     = hms.min;
+            out->sec     = hms.sec;
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_fs:
+            /* entire range is only += 2.6 hours */
+            num1 = 1000000000;
+            num1 *= (npy_int64)(1000);
+            num2 = num1 * (npy_int64)(1000);
+
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                out->sec = dt / num2;
+                tmp = dt % num2;
+                hms = seconds_to_hmsstruct(out->sec);
+                out->hour = hms.hour;
+                out->min = hms.min;
+                out->sec = hms.sec;
+            }
+            else {
+                /* tmp (number of fs) will be positive after this segment */
+                out->year = 1969;
+                out->day = 31;
+                out->month = 12;
+                out->sec = (dt - (num2-1))/num2;
+                tmp = (num2-1) + (dt + 1) % num2;
+                if (out->sec == 0) {
+                    /* we are at the last second */
+                    out->hour = 23;
+                    out->min = 59;
+                    out->sec = 59;
+                }
+                else {
+                    out->hour = 24 + (out->sec - 3599)/3600;
+                    out->sec = 3599 + (out->sec+1)%3600;
+                    out->min = out->sec / 60;
+                    out->sec = out->sec % 60;
+                }
+            }
+            out->us = tmp / 1000000000;
+            tmp = tmp % 1000000000;
+            out->ps = tmp / 1000;
+            out->as = (tmp % 1000) * (npy_int64)(1000);
+            break;
+
+        case NPY_FR_as:
+            /* entire range is only += 9.2 seconds */
+            num1 = 1000000;
+            num2 = num1 * (npy_int64)(1000000);
+            num3 = num2 * (npy_int64)(1000000);
+            if (dt >= 0) {
+                out->hour = 0;
+                out->min = 0;
+                out->sec = dt / num3;
+                tmp = dt % num3;
+            }
+            else {
+                out->year = 1969;
+                out->day = 31;
+                out->month = 12;
+                out->hour = 23;
+                out->min = 59;
+                out->sec = 60 + (dt - (num3-1)) / num3;
+                tmp = (num3-1) + (dt+1) % num3;
+            }
+            out->us = tmp / num2;
+            tmp = tmp % num2;
+            out->ps = tmp / num1;
+            out->as = tmp % num1;
+            break;
+
+        default:
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError,
+                        "NumPy datetime metadata is corrupted with invalid "
+                        "base unit");
+            return -1;
     }
 
-    result->year  = year;
-    result->month = month;
-    result->day   = day;
-    result->hour  = hour;
-    result->min   = min;
-    result->sec   = sec;
-    result->us    = us;
-    result->ps    = ps;
-    result->as    = as;
+    return 0;
+}
+
+
+/*NUMPY_API
+ * Fill the datetime struct from the value and resolution unit.
+ */
+NPY_NO_EXPORT void
+PyArray_DatetimeToDatetimeStruct(npy_datetime val, NPY_DATETIMEUNIT fr,
+                                 npy_datetimestruct *result)
+{
+    PyArray_DatetimeMetaData meta;
+
+    /* Set up a dummy metadata for the conversion */
+    meta.base = fr;
+    meta.num = 1;
+    meta.events = 1;
+
+    if (convert_datetime_to_datetimestruct(&meta, val, result) < 0) {
+        /* The caller needs to check PyErr_Occurred() */
+        return;
+    }
 
     return;
 }
@@ -1792,8 +1846,9 @@ datetimestruct_timezone_offset(npy_datetimestruct *dts, int minutes)
  * + Either a 'T' as in ISO 8601 or a ' ' may be used to separate
  *   the date and the time. Both are treated equivalently.
  * + Doesn't (yet) handle the "YYYY-DDD" or "YYYY-Www" formats.
- * + Doesn't handle leap seconds (seconds value gets 60 in these cases).
- * + Doesn't handle 24:00:00 as synonym for midnight (00:00:00)
+ * + Doesn't handle leap seconds (seconds value has 60 in these cases).
+ * + Doesn't handle 24:00:00 as synonym for midnight (00:00:00) tomorrow
+ * + Accepts special values "NaT" (not a time), "Today", and "Now".
  *
  * 'str' must be a NULL-terminated string, and 'len' must be its length.
  *
@@ -1808,6 +1863,8 @@ parse_iso_8601_date(char *str, int len, npy_datetimestruct *out)
 
     /* Initialize the output to all zeros */
     memset(out, 0, sizeof(npy_datetimestruct));
+    out->month = 1;
+    out->day = 1;
     
     /* The empty string and case-variants of "NaT" parse to not-a-time */
     if (len <= 0 || (len == 3 &&
@@ -1857,7 +1914,7 @@ parse_iso_8601_date(char *str, int len, npy_datetimestruct *out)
     /* The string "now" resolves to the current time */
     if (len == 3 && tolower(str[0]) == 'n' &&
                     tolower(str[1]) == 'o' &&
-                    tolower(str[1]) == 'w') {
+                    tolower(str[2]) == 'w') {
         time_t rawtime = 0;
         time(&rawtime);
         PyArray_DatetimeToDatetimeStruct(rawtime, NPY_FR_s, out);
@@ -2223,6 +2280,11 @@ error:
  * Tests for and converts a Python datetime.datetime or datetime.date
  * object into a NumPy npy_datetimestruct.
  *
+ * While the C API has PyDate_* and PyDateTime_* functions, the following
+ * implementation just asks for attributes, and thus supports
+ * datetime duck typing. The tzinfo time zone conversion would require
+ * this style of access anyway.
+ *
  * Returns -1 on error, 0 on success, and 1 (with no error set)
  * if obj doesn't have the neeeded date or datetime attributes.
  */
@@ -2234,6 +2296,8 @@ convert_pydatetime_to_datetimestruct(PyObject *obj, npy_datetimestruct *out)
 
     /* Initialize the output to all zeros */
     memset(out, 0, sizeof(npy_datetimestruct));
+    out->month = 1;
+    out->day = 1;
 
     /* Need at least year/month/day attributes */
     if (!PyObject_HasAttrString(obj, "year") ||
@@ -2488,3 +2552,71 @@ convert_pyobject_to_datetime(PyObject *obj, PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta,
     return -1;
 }
 
+/*
+ * Converts a datetime into a PyObject *.
+ *
+ * Not-a-time is returned as the string "NaT".
+ * For days or coarser, returns a datetime.date.
+ * For microseconds or coarser, returns a datetime.datetime.
+ * For units finer than microseconds, returns an integer.
+ */
+NPY_NO_EXPORT PyObject *
+convert_datetime_to_pyobject(npy_datetime dt, PyArray_DatetimeMetaData *meta)
+{
+    PyObject *ret = NULL, *tup = NULL;
+    npy_datetimestruct dts;
+
+    /* Handle not-a-time */
+    if (dt == NPY_MIN_INT64) {
+        return PyUString_FromString("NaT");
+    }
+
+    /* If the type's precision is greater than microseconds, return an int */
+    if (meta->base > NPY_FR_us) {
+        ret = PyLong_FromLongLong(dt);
+    }
+    else {
+        /* Convert to a datetimestruct */
+        if (convert_datetime_to_datetimestruct(meta, dt, &dts) < 0) {
+            return NULL;
+        }
+
+        /* If the type's precision is greater than days, return a datetime */
+        if (meta->base > NPY_FR_D) {
+            ret = PyDateTime_FromDateAndTime(dts.year, dts.month, dts.day,
+                                    dts.hour, dts.min, dts.sec, dts.us);
+        }
+        /* Otherwise return a date */
+        else {
+            ret = PyDate_FromDate(dts.year, dts.month, dts.day);
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (ret == NULL) {
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    /* If there is one event, just return the datetime */
+    if (meta->events == 1) {
+        return ret;
+    }
+    /* Otherwise return a tuple with the event in the second position */
+    else {
+        tup = PyTuple_New(2);
+        if (tup == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(ret);
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        PyTuple_SET_ITEM(tup, 0, ret);
+        ret = PyInt_FromLong(dts.event);
+        if (ret == NULL) {
+            Py_DECREF(tup);
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        PyTuple_SET_ITEM(tup, 1, ret);
+
+        return tup;
+    }
+}
+
+
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/multiarraymodule.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/multiarraymodule.c
index e7e26e56e..48f46b635 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/multiarraymodule.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/multiarraymodule.c
@@ -3752,6 +3752,9 @@ PyMODINIT_FUNC initmultiarray(void) {
         1);
 #endif
 
+    /* Initialize access to the PyDateTime API */
+    numpy_pydatetime_import();
+
     /* Add some symbolic constants to the module */
     d = PyModule_GetDict(m);
     if (!d) {
diff --git a/numpy/core/tests/test_datetime.py b/numpy/core/tests/test_datetime.py
index 746b3426e..ddbc8eba2 100644
--- a/numpy/core/tests/test_datetime.py
+++ b/numpy/core/tests/test_datetime.py
@@ -39,8 +39,12 @@ class TestDateTime(TestCase):
         assert_equal(a[0], a[1])
         a = np.array(['2000-01-01', datetime.date(2000, 1, 1)], dtype='M8[s]')
         assert_equal(a[0], a[1])
+        # Will fail if the date changes during the exact right moment
         a = np.array(['today', datetime.date.today()], dtype='M8[s]')
         assert_equal(a[0], a[1])
+        # datetime.datetime.now() returns local time, not UTC
+        #a = np.array(['now', datetime.datetime.now()], dtype='M8[s]')
+        #assert_equal(a[0], a[1])
 
     def test_pickle(self):
         # Check that pickle roundtripping works