Oracle Forms Developer – Form Builder Reference, Volume 1

SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME system variable
Syntax
SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME
Description
SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME is a variable representing the operating system date. The value is a
CHAR string in the following format:
DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MM:SS
Default
current date
Usage Notes
SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME is useful when you want to use the current operating system date
and time in a PL/SQL trigger or procedure. By using SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME instead of
$$DBDATETIME$$, you can avoid the performance impact caused by querying the database.
Note: Local time and database time may differ.
SYSTEM.CURRENT_DATETIME examples
378
/*
**
** trigger: WHEN-TIMER-EXPIRED
** Example: Update on-screen time every 30 seconds
*/
DECLARE
time VARCHAR2(20);
BEGIN
time := :System.Current_Datetime;
:control.onscreen := SUBSTR(time, instr(time,’ ’)+1);
END;