Oracle PL/SQL is a powerful procedural language that allows developers to create complex programs and scripts for managing and manipulating data in Oracle databases. One of the built-in functions in PL/SQL is LOCALTIMESTAMP, which is used to retrieve the current date and time in the local time zone of the database server.
Syntax
The syntax of the LOCALTIMESTAMP function is as follows:
LOCALTIMESTAMP [(precision)]
The optional precision parameter is used to specify the number of decimal places in the fractional seconds component of the timestamp value. The valid range of precision is 0 to 9.
When the LOCALTIMESTAMP function is called without a precision parameter, it returns a timestamp value with a precision of 6, which includes the fractional seconds to the nearest microsecond.
Example
Example of using the LOCALTIMESTAMP function in a PL/SQL block:
DECLARE
current_ts TIMESTAMP;
BEGIN
current_ts := LOCALTIMESTAMP;
DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE('Current timestamp: ' || current_ts);
END;
In this example, the LOCALTIMESTAMP function is used to assign the current timestamp value to the variable current_ts. The DBMS_OUTPUT.PUT_LINE procedure is then used to display the timestamp value in the output console.
The output of the above code block will be similar to:
Current timestamp: 08-APR-23 03.45.27.945000 PM
Conclusion
The LOCALTIMESTAMP function is a useful tool for working with date and time values in Oracle PL/SQL applications. It provides a simple and reliable way to retrieve the current timestamp value in the local time zone of the database server.
