...get the build date and time from within my program?

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Jon Elliott

• February 11, 2010 09:57

How do I go about getting the date and time my program was built from within my program?

 

You can use the standard __DATE__ and __TIME__ preprocessor definitions. For example:

const char *build_date = __DATE__;
const char *build_time = __TIME__;

debug_printf("Build Date: %s\n", build_date);
debug_printf("Build Time: %s\n", build_time);

Will output:

Build Date: Feb 11 2010
Build Time: 09:43:54

Alternatively, if you want more control over how the date and time are formatted you can use CrossStudio's $(Date), $(DateYear), $(DateMonth), $(DateDay),  $(Time), $(TimeHour), $(TimeMinute) and $(TimeSecond) macros. For example, adding the following preprocessor definitions to your project:

BUILD_DATE_NUMBER=0x$(DateYear)$(DateMonth)$(DateDay)
BUILD_TIME_NUMBER=0x$(TimeHour)$(TimeMinute)$(TimeSecond)

And then running the following program:

const unsigned long build_date_number = BUILD_DATE_NUMBER;
const unsigned long build_time_number = BUILD_TIME_NUMBER;

debug_printf("Build Date Number: 0x%08X\n", build_date_number);
debug_printf("Build Time Number: 0x%06X\n", build_time_number);

Will output:

Build Date Number: 0x20100211
Build Time Number: 0x101559

Note: this method will only work with CrossWorks V2.x and later.

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  Martin Honig

  • June 18, 2014 22:04

  Hello Jon,

  I have a trouble to use your example in version 3.1.1. I have tried

  const uint64_t build_date_number = 0x$(DateYear)$(DateMonth)$(DateDay);

  but I am getting:

  "invalid suffix "x$" on integer constant"

  Do I have to include any specific include to note preprocessor how to use $(DateYear) etc.?

   

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  Dr Danish Ali

  • June 25, 2014 09:59

  If you try to put the individual fields e.g. $(TimeHour) into a decimal number then you can fail because these macros include leading zeroes where appropriate, and C interprets them as meaning an octal value. The compiler does not like:

  int build_hour = 08;

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  Jon Elliott

  • June 25, 2014 10:12

  Hi Danish,

  You could do something like adding a leading '1' to indicate a decimal literal and then subtract 100, i.e.

  int build_hour = 108 - 100;

  As both values are literals, the compiler will compute the result and it won't produce any additional code.

  Regards,

  Jon

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  Jon Elliott

  • June 25, 2014 15:02

  Hi Martin,

  You've missed out a step - you need to use the CrossStudio macros to define a C preprocessor definition. So, for example, you might add the following to your Preprocessor Definitions project property:

  BUILD_DATE_NUMBER=0x$(DateYear)$(DateMonth)$(DateDay)

  Once you have done that, you can use the preprocessor definition from within your program as you would any other, for example:

  const unsigned long build_date_number = BUILD_DATE_NUMBER;

  You cannot use the CrossStudio macro directly in your C code, the compiler doesn't know anything about them.

  Regards,

  Jon

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  Nico Butler

  • May 11, 2015 13:39

  It also works like this in case you'd like to have the build date and time as a string:

  BLD_DATE_TIME="$(DateDay)$(DateMonth)$(DateYear) $(TimeHour)$(TimeMinute)"

  (used as Preprocessor Definition)

  Thanks for the heads-up Jon

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