<doc>

<legacy_id>2512</legacy_id>

<name>date</name>

<type>function</type>

<syntax>

<example>the [long | abbr[rev[iated]] | short] [english | system | internet] date</example>

<example>the [internet] [english | system] date</example>

<example>date()</example>

</syntax>

<library></library>

<objects>

</objects>

<synonyms>

</synonyms>

<classification>

<category>Math, Logic, &amp; Dates</category>

</classification>

<references>

<function tag="dateFormat">dateFormat Function</function>

<function tag="milliseconds">milliseconds Function</function>

<command tag="convert">convert Command</command>

<function tag="ticks">ticks Function</function>

<property tag="centuryCutoff">centuryCutoff Property</property>

</references>

<history>

<introduced version="1.0">Added.</introduced>

<changed version="1.1"></changed>

</history>

<platforms>

<mac/>

<windows/>

<linux/>

<ios/>

<android/>

</platforms>

<classes>

<desktop/>

<server/>

<web/>

<mobile/>

</classes>

<security>

</security>

<summary><glossary tag="return">Returns</glossary> the current date.</summary>

<examples>

<example>answer the date</example>

<example>put the internet date into dateHeader</example>

<example>put the long system date into field "Today's Date"</example>

</examples>

<description>

<p>Use the <b>date</b> <control_st tag="function">function</control_st> to display the current date to the user, or to store the date for later use.</p><p/><p><b>Value:</b></p><p>If the <b>useSystemDate</b> <glossary tag="property">property</glossary> is set to true or if you specify the <keyword tag="system">system</keyword> date, the times returned by the <b>date</b> <control_st tag="function">function</control_st> are <glossary tag="format">formatted</glossary> according to the user's system preferences. In general, the <keyword tag="short">short</keyword> date is briefer than the <keyword tag="abbreviated">abbreviated</keyword> date, which is briefer than the <keyword tag="long">long</keyword> date.</p><p/><p>If the <b>useSystemDate</b> is false or if you specify the <keyword tag="english">english</keyword> time, the short, abbreviated, and long forms of the date are in the <function tag="format">format</function> described below:</p><p/><p>The date form returns the month number, the day of the month, and the last two digits of the year, separated by slashes (/).</p><p/><p>The short date form returns the same value as the date form.</p><p/><p>The abbreviated date form returns the first three letters of the day of the week, a comma, the first three letters of the month, a space, the day of the month, a comma, and the year.</p><p/><p>The long date form returns the day of the week, a comma, the name of the month, a space, the day of the month, a comma, and the year.</p><p/><p>The internet date form returns the following parts, separated by spaces:</p><p> * the day of the week followed by a comma</p><p> * the day of the month</p><p> * the three-letter abbreviation for the month name</p><p> * the four-digit year</p><p> * the time in 24-hour format, including seconds, delimited by colons</p><p> * the four-digit time zone relative to UTC (Greenwich) time</p><p/><p><b>Comments:</b></p><p>The format of the system date forms is set by the Date &amp; Time control panel (on Mac OS systems), the Date control panel (on Windows systems), or the LANG environment variable (on Unix systems).</p><p/><p><b>Changes:</b></p><p>The ability to use the date format preferred by the user was introduced in version 1.1. In previous versions, the <b>date</b> <control_st tag="function">function</control_st>, along with the <function tag="time">time</function> <control_st tag="function">function</control_st>, consistently used the standard U.S. <function tag="format">format</function>, even if the operating system's settings specified another language or date <function tag="format">format</function>.</p>

</description>

</doc>