SQL Server GETDATE() Function

Definition and Usage

The GETDATE() function returns the current date and time from the SQL Server.

Syntax

GETDATE()

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Example

The following SELECT statement:

SELECT GETDATE() AS CurrentDateTime

 
will result in something like this:

CurrentDateTime
2008-11-11 12:45:34.243

Note: The time part above goes all the way to milliseconds.

Example

The following SQL creates an "Orders" table with a datetime column (OrderDate):

CREATE TABLE Orders ( OrderId int NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, ProductName varchar(50) NOT NULL, OrderDate datetime NOT NULL DEFAULT GETDATE() )

Notice that the OrderDate column specifies GETDATE() as the default value. As a result, when you insert a row into the table, the current date and time are automatically inserted into the column.

Now we want to insert a record into the "Orders" table:

INSERT INTO Orders (ProductName)  VALUES ('Jarlsberg Cheese')

The "Orders" table will now look something like this:

OrderId	ProductName	OrderDate
1	Jarlsberg Cheese	2008-11-11 13:23:44.657