ABAP Get Current Date & Time: System Variables & Timestamps

In SAP ABAP, you can get the current date and current time using system variables. Here are different ways to retrieve them:

1. Using System Variables (SY-DATUM & SY-UZEIT)

DATA: lv_date TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_time TYPE sy-uzeit.

lv_date = sy-datum.  " Current date (YYYYMMDD)
lv_time = sy-uzeit.  " Current time (HHMMSS)

WRITE: 'Current Date:', lv_date,
       'Current Time:', lv_time.

✅ Simple and recommended for most cases ✅ SY-DATUM stores date in YYYYMMDD format ✅ SY-UZEIT stores time in HHMMSS format

2. Get Current Date and Time as a Timestamp (SY-TIMESTAMP)

DATA: lv_timestamp TYPE timestamp.

lv_timestamp = sy-timestamp.  " Current timestamp (YYYYMMDDHHMMSS)

WRITE: 'Current Timestamp:', lv_timestamp.

✅ Best when you need both date and time in a single field ✅ Format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS (14 digits)

3. Using GET TIME STAMP Statement

If you need a precise UTC timestamp, use:

DATA: lv_timestamp TYPE timestamp.

GET TIME STAMP FIELD lv_timestamp.

WRITE: 'Current UTC Timestamp:', lv_timestamp.

✅ More accurate than SY-TIMESTAMP ✅ Uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

4. Using Function Module GET_TIME (Alternative)

DATA: lv_date TYPE sy-datum,
      lv_time TYPE sy-uzeit.

CALL FUNCTION 'GET_TIME'
  IMPORTING
    date = lv_date
    time = lv_time.

WRITE: 'Date:', lv_date, 'Time:', lv_time.

✅ Alternative method but rarely needed ✅ Similar output as SY-DATUM & SY-UZEIT

Best Method to Use?