1DATE(1)                          User Commands                         DATE(1)
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NAME

6       date - print or set the system date and time
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SYNOPSIS

9       date [OPTION]... [+FORMAT]
10       date [-u|--utc|--universal] [MMDDhhmm[[CC]YY][.ss]]
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DESCRIPTION

13       Display the current time in the given FORMAT, or set the system date.
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15       -d, --date=STRING
16              display time described by STRING, not `now'
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18       -f, --file=DATEFILE
19              like --date once for each line of DATEFILE
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21       -r, --reference=FILE
22              display the last modification time of FILE
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24       -R, --rfc-2822
25              output  date  and time in RFC 2822 format.  Example: Mon, 07 Aug
26              2006 12:34:56 -0600
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28       --rfc-3339=TIMESPEC
29              output date and time in RFC 3339 format.  TIMESPEC=`date', `sec‐
30              onds',  or  `ns'  for  date and time to the indicated precision.
31              Date and time  components  are  separated  by  a  single  space:
32              2006-08-07 12:34:56-06:00
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34       -s, --set=STRING
35              set time described by STRING
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37       -u, --utc, --universal
38              print or set Coordinated Universal Time
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40       --help display this help and exit
41
42       --version
43              output version information and exit
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45       FORMAT  controls the output.  The only valid option for the second form
46       specifies Coordinated Universal Time.  Interpreted sequences are:
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48       %%     a literal %
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50       %a     locale's abbreviated weekday name (e.g., Sun)
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52       %A     locale's full weekday name (e.g., Sunday)
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54       %b     locale's abbreviated month name (e.g., Jan)
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56       %B     locale's full month name (e.g., January)
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58       %c     locale's date and time (e.g., Thu Mar  3 23:05:25 2005)
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60       %C     century; like %Y, except omit last two digits (e.g., 21)
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62       %d     day of month (e.g, 01)
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64       %D     date; same as %m/%d/%y
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66       %e     day of month, space padded; same as %_d
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68       %F     full date; same as %Y-%m-%d
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70       %g     last two digits of year of ISO week number (see %G)
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72       %G     year of ISO week number (see %V); normally useful only with %V
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74       %h     same as %b
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76       %H     hour (00..23)
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78       %I     hour (01..12)
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80       %j     day of year (001..366)
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82       %k     hour ( 0..23)
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84       %l     hour ( 1..12)
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86       %m     month (01..12)
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88       %M     minute (00..59)
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90       %n     a newline
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92       %N     nanoseconds (000000000..999999999)
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94       %p     locale's equivalent of either AM or PM; blank if not known
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96       %P     like %p, but lower case
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98       %r     locale's 12-hour clock time (e.g., 11:11:04 PM)
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100       %R     24-hour hour and minute; same as %H:%M
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102       %s     seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
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104       %S     second (00..60)
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106       %t     a tab
107
108       %T     time; same as %H:%M:%S
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110       %u     day of week (1..7); 1 is Monday
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112       %U     week number of year, with Sunday as first day of week (00..53)
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114       %V     ISO week number, with Monday as first day of week (01..53)
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116       %w     day of week (0..6); 0 is Sunday
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118       %W     week number of year, with Monday as first day of week (00..53)
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120       %x     locale's date representation (e.g., 12/31/99)
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122       %X     locale's time representation (e.g., 23:13:48)
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124       %y     last two digits of year (00..99)
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126       %Y     year
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128       %z     +hhmm numeric timezone (e.g., -0400)
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130       %:z    +hh:mm numeric timezone (e.g., -04:00)
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132       %::z   +hh:mm:ss numeric time zone (e.g., -04:00:00)
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134       %:::z  numeric time zone with :  to  necessary  precision  (e.g.,  -04,
135              +05:30)
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137       %Z     alphabetic time zone abbreviation (e.g., EDT)
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139       By  default,  date  pads  numeric  fields  with  zeroes.  The following
140       optional flags may follow `%':
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142       -      (hyphen) do not pad the field
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144       _      (underscore) pad with spaces
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146       0      (zero) pad with zeros
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148       ^      use upper case if possible
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150       #      use opposite case if possible
151
152       After any flags comes an optional field width,  as  a  decimal  number;
153       then an optional modifier, which is either E to use the locale's alter‐
154       nate representations if available, or O to use the  locale's  alternate
155       numeric symbols if available.
156

ENVIRONMENT

158       TZ     Specifies the timezone, unless overridden by command line param‐
159              eters.  If neither is specified, the setting from /etc/localtime
160              is used.
161

AUTHOR

163       Written by David MacKenzie.
164

REPORTING BUGS

166       Report bugs to <bug-coreutils@gnu.org>.
167
169       Copyright © 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
170       This  is  free  software.   You may redistribute copies of it under the
171       terms      of      the      GNU      General       Public       License
172       <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.   There  is NO WARRANTY, to the
173       extent permitted by law.
174

SEE ALSO

176       The full documentation for date is maintained as a Texinfo manual.   If
177       the  info  and  date  programs are properly installed at your site, the
178       command
179
180              info date
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182       should give you access to the complete manual.
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186GNU coreutils 6.9                 March 2007                           DATE(1)
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