EGL Reference Guide for iSeries

Date and time (system words)

The date-and-time system variables let you retrieve the system date and time in a variety of formats, as shown in the next table.


System variable Description
sysVar.currentDate Contains the current system date in eight-digit Gregorian format (YYYYMMDD)
sysVar.currentFormattedDate Contains the current system date in the system default long Gregorian format
sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate Contains the current system date in the system default long Julian format
sysVar.currentFormattedTime Retrieves the current system time in HH:MM:SS format
sysVar.currentJulianDate Contains the current system date in seven-digit Julian format (YYYYDDD)
sysVar.currentShortDate Contains the current system date in six-digit Gregorian format (YYMMDD)
sysVar.currentShortJulianDate Contains the current system date in five-digit Julian format (YYDDD)


Related reference
System words
System words in alphabetical order
EGL statements

sysVar.currentDate

The system variable sysVar.currentDate contains the current system date in eight-digit Gregorian format (YYYYMMDD).

The sysVar.currentDate value is updated automatically before each reference. The value is numeric and contains no separator characters.

You can use sysVar.currentDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentDate are as follows:

Primitive type
NUM

Data length
8

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  myDate = sysVar.currentDate


Related reference
Date and time (system words)

sysVar.currentFormattedDate

The system variable sysVar.currentFormattedDate contains the current system date in long Gregorian format. The value is automatically updated each time system variable is referenced by your program.

For COBOL programs, the system administrator for EGL run-time services sets the format at installation.

For Java programs, the format is in this Java run-time property:

  vgj.datemask.gregorian.long.NLS
NLS
The NLS (national language support) code specified in the Java run-time property vgj.nls.code. The code is one of those listed for the targetNLS build descriptor option. Uppercase English (code ENP) is not supported.

For additional details on vgj.nls.code, see Java run-time properties (details).

The format specified in vgj.datemask.gregorian.long.NLS includes DD (for numeric day), MM (for numeric month), and YYYY (for numeric year), with characters other than D, M, Y, or digits used as separators. You can specify the format in the dateMask build descriptor option, and the default format is specific to the locale.

You can use sysVar.currentFormattedDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

Make sure that this Gregorian long date format is the same as the date format specified for the SQL database manager. Matching the two formats enables sysVar.currentFormattedDate to produce dates in the format expected by the database manager.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentFormattedDate are as follows:

Primitive type
CHAR

Data length
10

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  myDate = sysVar.currentFormattedDate;


Related concepts
Build descriptor part
Java run-time properties


Related tasks
Editing Java run-time properties in a build descriptor


Related reference
Date and time (system words)
Java run-time properties (details)
targetNLS

sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate

The system variable sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate contains the current system date in long Julian format. The value is automatically updated each time the system variable is referenced by your program

For COBOL programs, the system administrator for EGL run-time services sets the format at installation.

For Java programs, the format is in this Java run-time property:

  vgj.datemask.julian.long.NLS
NLS
The NLS (national language support) code specified in the Java run-time property vgj.nls.code. The code is one of those listed for the targetNLS build descriptor option. Uppercase English (code ENP) is not supported.

For additional details on vgj.nls.code, see Java run-time properties (details).

The format specified in vgj.datemask.julian.long.NLS includes DDD (for numeric day) and YYYY (for numeric year), with characters other than D, Y, or digits used as separators. You can specify the format in the dateMask build descriptor option, and the default format is specific to the locale.

You can use sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate are as follows:

Primitive type
CHAR

Data length
8

Value saved across segments
No

Example
	myDate = sysVar.currentFormattedJulianDate;


Related concepts
Build descriptor part
Java run-time properties


Related tasks
Editing Java run-time properties in a build descriptor


Related reference
Date and time (system words)
Java run-time properties (details)
targetNLS

sysVar.currentFormattedTime

The system variable sysVar.currentFormattedTime retrieves the current system time in HH:MM:SS format. The value is automatically updated each time it is referenced by your program.

You can use sysVar.currentFormattedTime in these ways:

The characteristics of sysVar.currentFormattedTime are as follows:

Primitive type
CHAR

Data length
8

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  timeField = sysVar.currentFormattedTime;


Related reference
Date and time (system words)

sysVar.currentJulianDate

The system variable sysVar.currentJulianDate contains the current system date in seven-digit Julian format (YYYYDDD).

The sysVar.currentJulianDate value is updated automatically before each reference. The value is numeric and contains no separator characters.

You can use sysVar.currentJulianDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentJulianDate are as follows:

Primitive type
NUM

Data length
7

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  myDay = sysVar.currentJulianDate;


Related reference
Date and time (system words)

sysVar.currentShortDate

The system variable sysVar.currentShortDate contains the current system date in six-digit Gregorian format (YYMMDD).

The sysVar.currentShortDate value is automatically updated each time it is referenced by the program. The returned value is numeric and contains no separator characters.

You can use sysVar.currentShortDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentShortDate are as follows:

Primitive type
NUM

Data length
6

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  myDay = sysVar.currentShortDate;


Related reference
Date and time (system words)

sysVar.currentShortJulianDate

The system variable sysVar.currentShortJulianDate contains the current system date in five-digit Julian format (YYDDD). The value is automatically updated each time it is referenced by your program.

The value is numeric and contains no separator characters.

You can use sysVar.currentShortJulianDate as the source in an assignment or move statement or as the argument in a return or exit statement.

The characteristics of sysVar.currentShortJulianDate are as follows:

Primitive type
NUM

Data length
5

Value saved across segments
No

Example
  myDay = sysVar.currentShortJulianDate;


Related reference
Date and time (system words)


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