Date: 2010jan19
Update: 2026sep25
Language: C/C++
OS: Linux
Level: novice
Q. C/C++: How to quickly make a nice timestamp string
A. Here's a function that does that:
// eg "Wed Jun 30 21:49:08 2026"
void timeStamp(char *szTime, const size_t size) {
szTime[0] = '\0';
if (size < 25) return;
const time_t now = time(NULL);
ctime_r(&now, szTime);
szTime[24] = '\0'; // Zap the newline
}
Full Example:
#include <time.h>
#include <stdio.h>
// (Place the above function here)
int main() {
char szTime[100];
timeStamp(szTime, sizeof(szTime));
printf("It is now %s\n", szTime);
}
Output (at one time):
It is now Fri Sep 25 10:43:40 2026
The above works in Windows but here's the Windows-specific way:
https://www.davekb.com/browse_programming_tips:cpp_windows_timestamp:txt