MainframeMaster

COBOL Current Date Function

The CURRENT-DATE function provides access to the current system date and time. Learn to use this intrinsic function for date/time operations, formatting, and calculations in business applications.

Basic CURRENT-DATE Usage

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 FORMATTED-DATE PIC X(10).
       01 FORMATTED-TIME PIC X(8).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       DISPLAY 'Current date/time: ' CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       
       *> Extract date portion (YYYYMMDD)
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:8) TO FORMATTED-DATE
       DISPLAY 'Date: ' FORMATTED-DATE
       
       *> Extract time portion (HHMMSS)
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(9:6) TO FORMATTED-TIME
       DISPLAY 'Time: ' FORMATTED-TIME.

CURRENT-DATE returns a 14-character string in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format. Use reference modification to extract date (positions 1-8) and time (positions 9-14) components for processing.

Date Formatting

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 FORMATTED-DATE.
           05 YEAR PIC X(4).
           05 MONTH PIC X(2).
           05 DAY PIC X(2).
       01 DISPLAY-DATE PIC X(10).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       
       *> Parse date components
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:4) TO YEAR
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(5:2) TO MONTH
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(7:2) TO DAY
       
       *> Format as MM/DD/YYYY
       STRING MONTH '/' DAY '/' YEAR
           INTO DISPLAY-DATE
       END-STRING
       DISPLAY 'Formatted date: ' DISPLAY-DATE.

Parse date components using reference modification and format them using STRING statements. Create user-friendly date formats like MM/DD/YYYY or DD-MM-YYYY for display purposes.

Time Formatting

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 FORMATTED-TIME.
           05 HOUR PIC X(2).
           05 MINUTE PIC X(2).
           05 SECOND PIC X(2).
       01 DISPLAY-TIME PIC X(8).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       
       *> Parse time components
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(9:2) TO HOUR
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(11:2) TO MINUTE
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(13:2) TO SECOND
       
       *> Format as HH:MM:SS
       STRING HOUR ':' MINUTE ':' SECOND
           INTO DISPLAY-TIME
       END-STRING
       DISPLAY 'Formatted time: ' DISPLAY-TIME.

Extract time components (hour, minute, second) from positions 9-14 of the CURRENT-DATE result. Format time in readable formats like HH:MM:SS for display and logging purposes.

Date Calculations

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 CURRENT-DATE-NUM PIC 9(8).
       01 FUTURE-DATE-NUM PIC 9(8).
       01 DAYS-DIFFERENCE PIC S9(5).
       01 FUTURE-DATE PIC X(8).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:8) TO CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       
       *> Calculate date 30 days in the future
       COMPUTE FUTURE-DATE-NUM = FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(CURRENT-DATE-NUM) + 30
       MOVE FUNCTION DATE-OF-INTEGER(FUTURE-DATE-NUM) TO FUTURE-DATE-NUM
       MOVE FUTURE-DATE-NUM TO FUTURE-DATE
       
       DISPLAY 'Current date: ' CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       DISPLAY 'Future date: ' FUTURE-DATE.

Perform date calculations by converting dates to integer values using INTEGER-OF-DATE, performing arithmetic operations, then converting back using DATE-OF-INTEGER. This enables date arithmetic.

Age Calculation

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 CURRENT-DATE-NUM PIC 9(8).
       01 BIRTH-DATE PIC 9(8) VALUE 19900101.
       01 CURRENT-YEAR PIC 9(4).
       01 BIRTH-YEAR PIC 9(4).
       01 AGE PIC 9(3).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:8) TO CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       
       *> Extract years
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-NUM(1:4) TO CURRENT-YEAR
       MOVE BIRTH-DATE(1:4) TO BIRTH-YEAR
       
       *> Calculate age
       COMPUTE AGE = CURRENT-YEAR - BIRTH-YEAR
       
       DISPLAY 'Current year: ' CURRENT-YEAR
       DISPLAY 'Birth year: ' BIRTH-YEAR
       DISPLAY 'Age: ' AGE.

Calculate age by extracting year components from current date and birth date. Use simple arithmetic to determine age. For precise age calculation, consider month and day components as well.

Business Date Operations

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 CURRENT-DATE-NUM PIC 9(8).
       01 DUE-DATE PIC 9(8).
       01 DAYS-OVERDUE PIC S9(5).
       01 OVERDUE-FLAG PIC X VALUE 'N'.
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:8) TO CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       
       *> Calculate days overdue
       COMPUTE DAYS-OVERDUE = FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(CURRENT-DATE-NUM) 
                              - FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(DUE-DATE)
       
       IF DAYS-OVERDUE > 0
           MOVE 'Y' TO OVERDUE-FLAG
           DISPLAY 'Account is ' DAYS-OVERDUE ' days overdue'
       ELSE
           DISPLAY 'Account is current'
       END-IF.

Use CURRENT-DATE for business operations like calculating overdue accounts, payment due dates, and account aging. Compare current date with due dates to determine account status.

Timestamp Generation

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 TIMESTAMP PIC X(19).
       01 LOG-ENTRY PIC X(100).
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       
       *> Create timestamp for logging
       STRING CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:4) '-' 
              CURRENT-DATE-TIME(5:2) '-' 
              CURRENT-DATE-TIME(7:2) ' ' 
              CURRENT-DATE-TIME(9:2) ':' 
              CURRENT-DATE-TIME(11:2) ':' 
              CURRENT-DATE-TIME(13:2)
           INTO TIMESTAMP
       END-STRING
       
       STRING TIMESTAMP ' - ' 'Transaction processed'
           INTO LOG-ENTRY
       END-STRING
       DISPLAY LOG-ENTRY.

Generate timestamps for logging and audit trails. Format the CURRENT-DATE result into readable timestamp format (YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS) for inclusion in log entries and audit records.

Date Validation

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       WORKING-STORAGE SECTION.
       01 CURRENT-DATE-TIME PIC X(14).
       01 CURRENT-DATE-NUM PIC 9(8).
       01 INPUT-DATE PIC 9(8).
       01 DATE-VALID PIC X VALUE 'N'.
       
       PROCEDURE DIVISION.
       MOVE FUNCTION CURRENT-DATE TO CURRENT-DATE-TIME
       MOVE CURRENT-DATE-TIME(1:8) TO CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       
       *> Validate input date is not in the future
       IF INPUT-DATE > CURRENT-DATE-NUM
           DISPLAY 'Error: Date cannot be in the future'
           MOVE 'N' TO DATE-VALID
       ELSE
           MOVE 'Y' TO DATE-VALID
       END-IF.
       
       *> Validate date is not too old (more than 10 years)
       COMPUTE CURRENT-DATE-NUM = FUNCTION INTEGER-OF-DATE(CURRENT-DATE-NUM) - 3650
       MOVE FUNCTION DATE-OF-INTEGER(CURRENT-DATE-NUM) TO CURRENT-DATE-NUM
       
       IF INPUT-DATE < CURRENT-DATE-NUM
           DISPLAY 'Error: Date is too old'
           MOVE 'N' TO DATE-VALID
       END-IF.

Use CURRENT-DATE for date validation. Check that input dates are not in the future, not too old, or within acceptable business ranges. This ensures data integrity in date-sensitive applications.

Date Time Functions

Complete date/time function reference

Date Time Handling

Date/time processing patterns