current-time()

Description

current-time() returns the current time as an xs:time value, including the implicit timezone of the processor. Like current-date() and current-dateTime(), the value is fixed for the entire transformation: repeated calls return the same time, guaranteeing a consistent timestamp throughout the output.

Parameters

This function takes no parameters.

Return value

xs:time — the current time in the form HH:MM:SS.sss+HH:MM (with timezone offset). Stable for the lifetime of the transformation.

Examples

Embed the generation time in output

Input XML:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<feed>
  <item>First item</item>
  <item>Second item</item>
</feed>

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="xml" indent="yes"/>

  <xsl:template match="/feed">
    <feed generated-time="{current-time()}">
      <xsl:copy-of select="*"/>
    </feed>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output (example):

<feed generated-time="14:32:07.123+01:00">
  <item>First item</item>
  <item>Second item</item>
</feed>

Format the current time for display

Stylesheet:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsl:stylesheet version="2.0"
  xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform">
  <xsl:output method="text"/>

  <xsl:template match="/">
    <xsl:value-of select="format-time(current-time(), '[H01]:[m01]:[s01]')"/>
  </xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>

Output (example):

14:32:07

Notes

• Not available in XSLT 1.0.
• The value includes the processor’s implicit timezone. Pair with adjust-time-to-timezone() to normalise to UTC or another offset.
• To extract individual components, use hours-from-time(), minutes-from-time(), or seconds-from-time().
• For a combined date and time, use current-dateTime().

See also

• current-date()
• current-dateTime()
• hours-from-time()
• minutes-from-time()
• seconds-from-time()
• format-time()