Format Date/Time String Function
- Updated2025-03-14
- 3 minute(s) read
Displays a timestamp value or a numeric value as time in the format you specify using time format codes.

Inputs/Outputs
![]() time format string specifies the format of the output string. Time format codes (beginning with %) not recognized by the function as a format code return the character literally. The default code is %c, which corresponds to the date/time representation appropriate for the configured time zone for the computer. If time format string is an empty string, the function uses the default.![]() time stamp can be a timestamp or a numeric. If numeric, this number is the time-zone-independent number of seconds that have elapsed since 12:00 a.m., Friday, January 1, 1904, Universal Time [01-01-1904 00:00:00]. The default is the current date and time. If year is before 1904, time stamp is negative.![]() UTC format specifies if the output string is in Universal Time or in the configured time zone for the computer. If TRUE, date/time string is in Universal Time. The default is FALSE.![]() date/time string is the formatted date/time string. |
This function calculates date/time string by copying time format string and replacing each of the time format codes with the corresponding values. For example, the time format string %y%m%d displays timestamp in the format yymmdd. The time format string %y%m%d displays the date January 30, 2014 as 140130.
The following list describes some of the caveats to consider when you use this function:
- LabVIEW returns abbreviated weekday and month names as numeric values for systems that do not support abbreviated names, such as Chinese and Korean.
- The %c, %u, %x, %X, %z, and %Z format codes depend on operating system locale support. The output of these codes is platform dependent. Interpretation of the Daylight Saving Time rule also can vary by platform.
- The %p format code only takes effect at locales that use the 12-hour time system.
- Time format codes have leading zeros as necessary to ensure a constant field width. An optional # modifier before the format code letter removes the leading zeros from the following format codes: %#d, %#H, %#I, %#j, %#m, %#M, %#s, %#S, %#U, %#w, %#W, %#X, %#y, %#Y. The # modifier does not modify the behavior of any other format codes.