Cron Descriptor

A Python library that converts cron expressions into human readable strings. Ported to Python from https://github.com/bradyholt/cron-expression-descriptor.

Author: Adam Schubert (https://www.salamek.cz)
Original Author & Credit: Brady Holt (http://www.geekytidbits.com)
License: MIT

Features

• Supports all cron expression special characters including * / , - ? L W, #
• Supports 5, 6 (w/ seconds or year), or 7 (w/ seconds and year) part cron expressions
• Provides casing options (Sentence, Title, Lower, etc.)
• Localization with support for ~31 languages
• Supports Python 3.9 - 3.13

Installation

Using PIP

pip install cron-descriptor

Usage example

Simple

from cron_descriptor import get_description, ExpressionDescriptor

print(get_description("* 2 3 * *"))

#OR

print(str(ExpressionDescriptor("* 2 3 * *")))

Advanced

# Consult Options.py/CasingTypeEnum.py/DescriptionTypeEnum.py for more info
from cron_descriptor import Options, CasingTypeEnum, DescriptionTypeEnum, ExpressionDescriptor

descriptor = ExpressionDescriptor(
    expression = "*/10 * * * *",
    casing_type = CasingTypeEnum.Sentence,
    use_24hour_time_format = True
)

# GetDescription uses DescriptionTypeEnum.FULL by default:
print(descriptor.get_description())
print(f"{descriptor = }")

# Or passing Options class as second argument:

options = Options()
options.casing_type = CasingTypeEnum.Sentence
options.use_24hour_time_format = True
descriptor = ExpressionDescriptor("*/10 * * * *", options)
print(descriptor.get_description(DescriptionTypeEnum.FULL))

Languages Available

Original Source

• .NET - https://github.com/bradyholt/cron-expression-descriptor

Ports

• Java - https://github.com/RedHogs/cron-parser
• Ruby - https://github.com/alpinweis/cronex
• Golang - https://github.com/jsuar/go-cron-descriptor

Running Unit Tests

python setup.py test

Translating

cron-descriptor is using Gettext for translations.

To create new translation or edit existing one, i suggest using Poedit.

You can copy/rename and translate any file from locale directory:

cp ./cron_descriptor/locale/de_DE.po ./cron_descriptor/locale/YOUR_LOCALE_CODE.po
poedit ./cron_descriptor/locale/YOUR_LOCALE_CODE.po

or you can generate new untranslated *.po file from sources by running in cron_descriptor directory:

cd cron_descriptor
xgettext *.py -o locale/YOUR_LOCALE_CODE.po

Generating *.mo file from *.po file. In root directory run command:

msgfmt -o cron_descriptor/locale/YOUR_LOCALE_CODE.mo cron_descriptor/locale/YOUR_LOCALE_CODE.po

Developing

All suggestions and PR's are welcomed

Just clone this repository and register pre-commit hook by running:

ln -s ../../code-check.sh .git/hooks/pre-commit

Then install dev requirements:

pip install .[dev,test]