You are here: irt.org | FAQ | ColdFusion | Q3014 [ previous next ]
Use the Now() function to obtain the current date and time from the server.
<cfoutput>#Now()#</cfoutput>
returns the date in the following format: {ts '1999-06-24 10:29:54'}
By using the DateFormat() function, we can tell ColdFusion that we want to see a date:
<cfoutput>#DateFormat(Now())#</cfoutput>
returns 24-Jun-99
Continuing onward, we can customize the date format even more by specifying a mask in the DateFormat() function.
<cfoutput>#DateFormat(Now(),"mm/dd/yy")#</cfoutput>
returns 06/24/99
<cfoutput>#DateFormat(Now(),"ddd, mmm d, yyyy")#</cfoutput>
returns Thu, Jun 24, 1999
<cfoutput>#DateFormat(Now(),"dddd, mmmm d, yyyy")#</cfoutput>
returns Thursday, June 24, 1999
The TimeFormat() function is similar to DateFormat(), except, of course, that it returns the time.
<cfoutput>#TimeFormat(Now())#</cfoutput>
returns 10:39 PM
<cfoutput>#TimeFormat(Now(),"hh:mm:ss tt")#</cfoutput>
returns 10:40:23 PM
<cfoutput>#TimeFormat(Now(),"HH:mm:ss tt")#</cfoutput>
returns 22:40:23. (Note: The capital letters "HH" tells CF to display using a 24-hour clock.)
<cfoutput> #TimeFormat(Now(),"h")# hours<br> #TimeFormat(Now(),"m")# minutes<br> #TimeFormat(Now(),"s")# seconds </cfoutput>
This returns:
10 hours
43 minutes
43 seconds