PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME Function By Examples

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to use the PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function to get the current time with the timezone.

Introduction to the PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function

The following illustrates the syntax of the CURRENT_TIME function:

CURRENT_TIME(precision)

The CURRENT_TIME function accepts one optional argument precision.

The precision specifies the returned fractional seconds precision. If you omit the precision argument, the result will include the full available precision.

The CURRENT_TIME function returns a TIME WITH TIME ZONE value that represents the current time with the timezone.

PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function examples

Let’s explore some examples of using the CURRENT_TIME function.

1) Basic PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function example

The following example uses the CURRENT_TIME function to get the current time with the timezone:

SELECT CURRENT_TIME;

The output is a TIME WITH TIME ZONE value as follows:

current_time
--------------------
 14:42:10.884946-07
(1 row)

In this example, we don’t specify the precision argument. Therefore, the result includes the full precision available.

2) Using the PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function with a precision example

The following example shows how to use the CURRENT_TIME function with the precision set to 2:

SELECT CURRENT_TIME(2);

Output:

current_time
----------------
 14:44:35.03-07
(1 row)

3) Using the CURRENT_TIME function as the default value of a column

The CURRENT_TIME function can be used as the default value of TIME columns. For example:

First, create a table called log:

CREATE TABLE log (
    id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
    message VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
    created_at TIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIME,
    created_on DATE DEFAULT CURRENT_DATE
);

The log table has the created_at column with the default value is the result of the CURRENT_TIME function.

Second, insert a row into the log table:

INSERT INTO log( message )
VALUES('Testing the CURRENT_TIME function');

In the statement, we only specify a value for the message column. Therefore, other columns will take the default values.

Third, check whether the row was inserted into the log table with the created_at column populated correctly by using the following query:

SELECT * FROM log;

The following picture shows the result:

id |              message              |   created_at    | created_on
----+-----------------------------------+-----------------+------------
  1 | Testing the CURRENT_TIME function | 14:46:28.188809 | 2024-01-26
(1 row)

The output indicates that the created_at column is populated with the time at which the INSERT statement executed.

Summary

Use the PostgreSQL CURRENT_TIME function to get the current time with the default timezone.