function dos_date( cmd,d,t,x) { # under MS Windows # cmd = "DATE /T" # cmd | getline d # Format depends on locale, e.g. MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD # close(cmd) # close pipe # ##print d # cmd = "TIME /T" # cmd | getline t # 13:59 # close(cmd) # ##print t # return d t cmd = "echo %DATE% %TIME%" # this gives better time-resolution cmd | getline x # 2014-10-31 20:57:36.84 close(cmd) return x } BEGIN { print "Date and time:", dos_date() #print systime(), strftime() # gawk only }