Q(uick)BASIC Function: DATE$

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DATE$

A function that returns a string containing the current date

Worth knowing

Useful and cross-version information about the programming environments of QBasic and QuickBasic.

Syntax
  • DATE$
  • DATE$ = stringexpression$
Description/Parameter(s)

The DATE$ function returns the computer's current system date.
The DATE$ statement sets the current system date on your computer.

stringexpression$ The date in one of the following forms: mm-dd-yy, mm-dd-yyyy, mm/dd/yy, mm/dd/yyyy.
The DATE$ function returns a string in the form mm-dd-yyyy.
Example
PRINT DATE$ DATE$ = "01-01-90" 'Note: The new system date remains in effect until ' you change it again. PRINT "Date set to "; DATE$

See also:

Syntax
  • DATE$
Description/Parameter(s)

The DATE$ function returns a ten-character string in the form mm-dd-yyyy, where mm is the month (01-12), dd is the day (01-31), and yyyy is the year (1980-2099).

Example

Note that the DATE$ function in the following example prints a zero in front of the month.

PRINT DATE$

Sample Output:

09-21-1988

See also:

Syntax
  • DATE$
Description/Parameter(s)
Returns A 10-character string containing the current date in the form mm -dd - yyyy, where:
mm Is the month (01-12).
dd Is the day (01-31).
yyyy Is the year (1980-2099).
Example

The following example displays the current date by converting the date returned by the DATE$ function. The names of months are stored in DATA statements and assigned to a string variable using the READ statement.

'Get the date. C$ = DATE$ 'Use VAL to find the month from the string returned by DATE$. FOR I% = 1 TO VAL(C$) READ Month$ NEXT DATA January, February, March, April, May, June, July DATA August, September, October, November, December 'Get the day. Day$ = MID$(C$, 4, 2) IF LEFT$(Day$, 1) = "0" THEN Day$ = RIGHT$(Day$, 1) 'Get the year. Year$ = RIGHT$(C$, 4) PRINT "Today is "; Month$; " "; Day$; ", "; Year$

Sample Output:

Today is September 21, 1989

See also: