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SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Function

The SQL SYSUTCDATETIME function is one of the SQL Date Function, which is used to return the current system timestamp as a datetime2 value. The return value of this SYSUTCDATETIME function is the current Coordinated Universal Time (UTC time). Which derived from the operating system (OS) of the computer on which the SQL Server instance is running.

NOTE: This function is similar to SQL GETUTCDATE function, and the differences are:

  • SYSUTCDATETIME returns the fractional seconds precision up to 7, whereas the GETUTCDATE return up to 3
  • The SYSUTCDATETIME returns datetime2 as the data type, whereas the GETUTCDATE return DateTime

SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Syntax

The syntax of the SQL Server SYSUTCDATETIME is

SYSUTCDATETIME()

SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Function Example 1

The SQL Server SYSUTCDATETIME function returns datetime2 data type, and the format is: ‘yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss.nnnnnnn’. From the below screenshot, you can see that the fractional seconds precision = 7).

SELECT SYSUTCDATETIME() AS [Current_Date]
SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Function 1

SYSUTCDATETIME Function Example 2

This SQL Server function returns the current system timestamp of type datetime2. Here, we are going to show you the SQL Server SYSUTCDATETIME function with examples.

SELECT 'Today' AS 'TODAY', SYSUTCDATETIME() AS [Current_Date];

SELECT 'Milli Seconds' AS 'MILLISECOND', DATEPART(millisecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [MilliSeconds_Value]; 
SELECT 'Micro Seconds' AS 'MICROSECOND', DATEPART(microsecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [MicroSeconds_Value]; 
SELECT 'Nano Seconds' AS 'NANOSECOND', DATEPART(nanosecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [NanoSeconds_Value]; 

SELECT 'Day' AS 'DAY', DATENAME(WEEKDAY, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Day_Name]; 

SELECT 'Tomorrow' AS 'DAY', DATEADD(day, 1, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Next_Date];
SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Function 2

We used the SQL DATEPART function to display the Microsecond, Milliseconds, and Nanoseconds from today’s date & time

SELECT 'Milli Seconds' AS 'MILLISECOND', DATEPART(millisecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [MilliSeconds_Value]; 
SELECT 'Micro Seconds' AS 'MICROSECOND', DATEPART(microsecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [MicroSeconds_Value]; 
SELECT 'Nano Seconds' AS 'NANOSECOND', DATEPART(nanosecond, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [NanoSeconds_Value];

Next, We used the SQL DATENAME function to display the weekday name from today’s date & time

SELECT 'Day' AS 'DAY', DATENAME(WEEKDAY, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Day_Name];

We used the SQL DATEADD function to display the Tomorrow date & time

SELECT 'Tomorrow' AS 'DAY', DATEADD(day, 1, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Next_Date];

SYSUTCDATETIME Function Example 3

In this SQL Server SYSUTCDATETIME function example, we are going to find the differences in Minutes, Seconds, and Milliseconds between the variable and Current Date & time. For this, we are using the DATEDIFF function.

DECLARE @dtime DATETIME2
SET @dtime = '2016-08-27 03:54:27.5301234'

SELECT 'Minutes_Difference' AS 'MINUTE', DATEDIFF(MINUTE, @dtime, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Number of Minutes];

SELECT 'Seconds_Difference' AS 'SECOND', DATEDIFF(SECOND, @dtime, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Number of Seconds];

SELECT 'Millisecond_Diff' AS 'MILLISECOND', DATEDIFF(MILLISECOND, @dtime, SYSUTCDATETIME()) AS [Number of MilliSeconds];
SQL SYSUTCDATETIME Function 3

From the above, you can observe that we used the DATEDIFF Date and Time Function to find the difference between the current date and time and @dtime variable that we declared.

Filed Under: SQL