DATE(C) UNIX System V
Name
date - prints and sets the date
Syntax
date [ mmddhhmm[yy] ] [ +format ]
Description
If no argument is given, or if the argument begins with +,
the current date and time are printed as defined by the
locale. Otherwise, the current date is set. The first mm
is the month number; dd is the day number in the month; hh
is the hour number (24-hour system); the second mm is the
minute number; yy is the last 2 digits of the year number
and is optional. For example:
date 10080045
sets the date to Oct 8, 12:45 AM, if the local language is
set to English. The current year is the default if no year
is mentioned. The system operates in GMT. date takes care
of the conversion to and from local standard and daylight
time.
If the argument begins with +, the output of date is under
the control of the user. The format for the output is
similar to that of the first argument to printf(S). All
output fields are of fixed size (zero padded if necessary).
Each field descriptor is preceded by a percent sign (%) and
will be replaced in the output by its corresponding value.
A single percent sign is encoded by doubling the percent
sign, i.e., by specifying ``%%''. All other characters are
copied to the output without change. The string is always
terminated with a newline character.
Field Descriptors:
n Inserts a newline character
t Inserts a tab character
m Month of year - 01 to 12
d Day of month - 01 to 31
y Last 2 digits of year - 00 to 99
D Date as mm/dd/yy
H Hour - 00 to 23
M Minute - 00 to 59
S Second - 00 to 59
T Time as HH:MM:SS
j Julian date - 001 to 366
w Day of the week - Sunday = 0
a Abbreviated weekday - Sun to Sat
h Abbreviated month - Jan to Dec
r Time in AM/PM notation
Example
The line
date '+DATE: %m/%d/%y%nTIME: %H:%M:%S'
generates as output:
DATE: 08/01/90
TIME: 14:45:05
Diagnostics
no permission You aren't the super-user and you are
trying to change the date.
bad conversion The date set is syntactically
incorrect.
bad format character The field descriptor is not
recognizable.
Standards Conformance
date is conformant with:
AT&T SVID Issue 2, Select Code 307-127;
and The X/Open Portability Guide II of January 1987.
(printed 2/15/90) DATE(C)