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$$DBDATETIME$$ System Variable

Syntax

$$DBDATETIME$$

Description

$$DBDATETIME$$ retrieves the current date and time from the local database. Use $$DBDATETIME$$ to designate a default value or range for a text item using the Initial Value or Lowest/Highest Allowed Value properties. The text item must be of the CHAR or DATETIME data type.

Usage Notes

Use $$DBDATETIME$$ to default a DATE item to the current date on the server machine, for example, when connecting to a remote database that may be in a different time zone from the client's time zone.

The display of system variables is governed by the format mask, either a default data type format mask or one you specify. For example, if you want a DD-MON-YY HH:MM:SS format, you must specify a DATETIME or CHAR data type. (Note that the default format mask depends on the value of NLS_LANG.)

Note: Do not use $$DBDATETIME$$ instead of $$DBDATE$$ unless you plan to specify the time component. If, for example, you use $$DBDATETIME$$ with the default DATE format mask of DD-MON-YY, you would be committing values to the database that the user would not see, because the format mask does not include a time component. Then, because you had committed specific time information, when you later queried on date, the values would not match and you would not return any rows.

$$DBDATETIME$$ Restrictions

If you are accessing a non-ORACLE datasource, avoid using $$DBDATETIME$$. Instead, use a When-Create-Record trigger to select the current date and time in a datasource-specific manner.

$$DBDATETIME$$ Examples

Assume that you want the value of a DATETIME text item, called ORDERDATE, to default to the current database date and time. When you define the ORDERDATE text item, specify $$DBDATETIME$$ in the Lowest/Highest Allowed Value properties.