from datetime import datetime
from dateutil import parser

# Function to format the date
def format_date(date_str):
    try: 
        # Use dateutil.parser to automatically parse date string
        raw_order_date = parser.parse(date_str)

        # Format the datetime object into dd/mm/yyyy
        return raw_order_date.strftime("%d/%m/%Y")

    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to parse date '{date_str}': {e}")

        # If parsing fail, return the original date string
        return date_str