<function name="date" parent="os" type="libraryfunc"> <description>Returns the date/time as a formatted string or in a table.</description> <realm>Shared and Menu</realm> <args> <arg name="format" type="string">The format string. If this is equal to `*t` or `!*t` then this function will return a <page>Structures/DateData</page>, otherwise it will return a string. If this starts with an `!`, the returned data will use the UTC timezone rather than the local timezone. See http://www.mkssoftware.com/docs/man3/strftime.3.asp for available format flags. <bug issue="329">**Not all flags are available on all operating systems** and the result of using an invalid flag is undefined. This currently crashes the game on Windows. Most or all flags are available on OS X and Linux but considerably fewer are available on Windows. See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fe06s4ak.aspx for a list of available flags on Windows. Note that the **#** flags also crashes the game on Windows.</bug> Known formats that work on all platforms: | Format | Description | Example of the output | |:------:|:-----------:|:---------------------:| | `%a` | Abbreviated weekday name | `Wed` | | `%A` | Full weekday name | `Wednesday` | | `%b` | Abbreviated month name | `Sep` | | `%B` | Full month name | `September` | | `%c` | Date and time (Same as `%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y`) | `Wed Sep 16 09/16/98 23:48:10` | | `%c` | Locale-appropriate date and time | Varies by platform and language settings | | `%d` | Day of the month [01-31] | `16` | | `%H` | Hour, using a 24-hour clock [00-23] | `23` | | `%I` | Hour, using a 12-hour clock [01-12] | `11` | | `%j` | Day of the year [001-365] | `259` | | `%m` | Month [01-12] | `09` | | `%M` | Minute [00-59] | `48` | | `%p` | Either `am` or `pm` | `pm` | | `%S` | Second [00-60] | `10` | | `%w` | Weekday [0-6 = Sunday-Saturday] | `3` | | `%W` | Week of the year [00-53] | `37` | | `%x` | Date (Same as `%m/%d/%y`) | `09/16/98` | | `%X` | Time (Same as `%H:%M:%S`) | `24:48:10` | | `%y` | Two-digit year [00-99] | `98` | | `%Y` | Full year | `1998` | | `%z` | Timezone | `-0300` | | `%%` | A percent sign | `%` | </arg> <arg name="time" type="number" default="os.time()">Time to use for the format.</arg> </args> <rets> <ret name="" type="string">Formatted date <note>This will be a <page>Structures/DateData</page> if the first argument equals to `*t` or `!*t`</note></ret> </rets> </function> <example> <description> This will use the os.time() function, and return it in a friendly way. os.time() is useful for storing as a date stamp but needs this to make it readable. </description> <code> local Timestamp = os.time() local TimeString = os.date( "%H:%M:%S - %d/%m/%Y" , Timestamp ) print( "Timestamp:", Timestamp ) print( "TimeString:", TimeString ) </code> <output> ```` Timestamp: 1584402168 TimeString: 23:42:48 - 16/03/2020 ``` </output> </example>