SQL Server GETDATE Function

By: Daniel Calbimonte

The GETDATE() function returns the current server time stamp using the datetime format. This function returns the same value as the CURRENT_TIMESTAMP function. GETDATE() is used mostly in SQL Server, but CURRENT_TIMESTAMP is the ANSI SQL standard.

Syntax

GETDATE()

Parameters

• No parameters required

Simple GETDATE() Example

The following example will show the current server datetime.

SELECT GETDATE() as date

Difference between GETDATE() and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP

The following example shows that there is no difference between the GETDATE() function and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP.

SELECT DATEDIFF(SECOND, GETDATE(), CURRENT_TIMESTAMP) as difference

How to use a Custom Format with GETDATE()

The following example will show GETDATE() in the dd-MM-yyyy hh:mm:ss tt format.

SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(),'dd-MM-yy hh:mm:ss tt') as formatdate

How to use a Cultural Format with GETDATE

The following example will set the GETDATE() in a Spanish date format.

SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(), 'dddd dd, MMMM, yyyy', 'ES-es') as spanish

Using GETDATE() with Table Data

The following example will show the ProductIDs with a startdate between 7 and 8 years ago using GETDATE() as the current time.

SELECT Productid, DATEDIFF(YEAR, StartDate, GETDATE()) as years
FROM Production.ProductCostHistory
WHERE DATEDIFF(YEAR, StartDate, GETDATE()) BETWEEN 7 AND 8

Related Articles

• How to Get Current Date in SQL Server
• Mimic timestamp behavior of other database platforms to store last modified date
• SQL Convert Date to YYYYMMDD
• SQL CURRENT_TIMESTAMP