def _read_date(settings_file):
    """Get the data from the settings.xml file

    Parameters
    ----------
    settings_file : Path
        path to settings.xml inside open-ephys folder

    Returns
    -------
    datetime
        start time of the recordings

    Notes
    -----
    The start time is present in the header of each file. This might be useful
    if 'settings.xml' is not present.
    """
    root = ElementTree.parse(settings_file).getroot()
    for e0 in root:
        if e0.tag == 'INFO':
            for e1 in e0:
                if e1.tag == 'DATE':
                    break

    return datetime.strptime(e1.text, '%d %b %Y %H:%M:%S')
Get the data from the settings.xml file

    Parameters
    ----------
    settings_file : Path
        path to settings.xml inside open-ephys folder

    Returns
    -------
    datetime
        start time of the recordings

    Notes
    -----
    The start time is present in the header of each file. This might be useful
    if 'settings.xml' is not present.