`date`

Today's date as text.

Category: Language Fundamentals > Data Types

Syntax

d = date

Returns the current date in the form dd-mmm-yyyy.

Description

date is shorthand for datestr(now, 1). The result is text, so it cannot be used directly for date arithmetic; use datetime('today') for that. The value changes each day, so examples should not print it.

Output arguments

d: Char vector of length 11, such as '06-Nov-2026'.

Example

Format of the result

d = date;
class(d)
length(d)

Output

ans = 'char'
ans = 11

See also

datetime datestr clock now