DATE (System Variable)

Stores the current date and time in Modified Julian Date format.

(Read-only)

Type:	Real
Saved in:	Not-saved
Initial value:	Varies

This value is represented as a Modified Julian Date (MJD), which is the Julian day number and decimal fraction of a day in the format:

<Julian day number>.<Decimal fraction of a day>

The Modified Julian Date, conventionally called UT1, is a worldwide scientific standard that assigns day numbers beginning at an essentially arbitrary date and time of 12:00 a.m. on 1 January 4713 B.C. (B.C.E.). With this system, 4 July 1997 at 2:29:58 p.m. corresponds to 2450634.60387736, and 1 January 1998 at 12:00 noon corresponds to 2450815.50000000.

You can compute differences in date and time by subtracting the numbers returned by DATE.

• In AutoCAD-based products: To extract the seconds since midnight from the value returned by DATE, use an AutoLISP expression such as

  (setq s (getvar "DATE"))
  (setq seconds (* 86400.0 (- s (fix s))))
  

• In AutoCAD LT: To compute the seconds since midnight from the value returned by DATE, multiply the decimal fraction in DATE by 86400 seconds.

Because your computer clock provides the date and time, the DATE system variable returns a true Julian date only if the system clock is set to UTC/Zulu (Greenwich Mean Time). TDCREATE and TDUPDATE have the same format as DATE, but their values represent the creation time and last update time of the current drawing.

Note: AutoCAD-based products provide the DATE Express Tool as well as the DATE system variable. The DATE Express Tool functions like a command and uses a string format such as Mon 2012/5/7 10:29:10.563. To see the current value of the DATE system variable in AutoCAD-based products, enter SETVAR and then enter DATE at the prompt.