first draft for fixing get_dir_creation_date

src/cal_tools/tools.py

@@ -273,6 +273,19 @@ def get_run_info(proposal, run):
     return resp.json()
 
 
+def get_run_creation_date_mdc(proposal, run):
+    """
+    Get run directory creation date from myMDC using metadata client.
+    using method `get_proposal_runs`.
+    """        
+    run_info = get_run_info(proposal, run)
+        return datetime.datetime.strptime(
+                  run_info['begin_at'], "%Y:%m:%dT%H:%M:%SZ",
+                ).replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
+
+def get_run_metadata(proposal, run):
+    
+
 def get_dir_creation_date(directory: Union[str, Path], run: int,
                           verbosity: int = 0) -> datetime.datetime:
     """
@@ -291,37 +304,37 @@ def get_dir_creation_date(directory: Union[str, Path], run: int,
 
     """
     directory = Path(directory)
+
     proposal = int(directory.parent.name[1:])
 
+    md_dict = RunDirectory(directory).run_metadata()
+    data_fmt_version = md_dict["dataFormatVersion"]
+
     try:
-        run_info = get_run_info(proposal, run)
-        return dateutil.parser.parse(run_info['begin_at'])
+        get_run_creation_date_mdc(proposal, run)
     except Exception as e:
         if verbosity > 0:
             print(e)
 
     directory = directory / 'r{:04d}'.format(run)
-
+    
+    # TODO: is this still needed?
     # Loop a number of times to catch stale file handle errors, due to
     # migration or gpfs sync.
     ntries = 100
     while ntries > 0:
         try:
-            rfiles = list(directory.glob('*.h5'))
-            # get creation time for oldest file,
-            # as creation time between run files
-            # should differ by a few seconds only.
-            rfile = sorted(rfiles, key=path.getmtime)[0]
-            with h5py.File(rfile, 'r') as fin:
-                cdate = fin['METADATA/creationDate'][0].decode()
-                cdate = datetime.datetime.strptime(
-                    cdate,
-                    "%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ").replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
-            return cdate
+            md_dict = open_run(proposal=proposal, run=run).run_metadata()
+            if md_dict["dataFormatVersion"] != "0.5":
+                 return datetime.datetime.strptime(
+                    md_dict["creationDate"],
+                    "%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ",
+                    ).replace(tzinfo=datetime.timezone.utc)
+            else:
+                return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(rfile.stat().st_mtime)
         except (IndexError, IOError, ValueError):
             ntries -= 1
-        except KeyError:  # The files are here, but it's an older dataset
-            return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(rfile.stat().st_mtime)
+            return cdate
 
     msg = 'Could not get the creation time from the directory'
     raise ValueError(msg, directory)