How to get current time and date in C++?

Question

Is there a cross-platform way to get the current date and time in C++?

Answer 1

This compiled for me on Linux (RHEL) and Windows (x64) targeting g++ and OpenMP:

#include 
#include 
#include 
#include 

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
//  Reports a time-stamped update to the console; format is:
//       Name: Update: Year-Month-Day_of_Month Hour:Minute:Second
//
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//
//  [string] strName  :  name of the update object
//  [string] strUpdate:  update descripton
//          
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

void ReportTimeStamp(string strName, string strUpdate)
{
    try
    {
        #ifdef _WIN64
            //  Current time
            const time_t tStart = time(0);
            //  Current time structure
            struct tm tmStart;

            localtime_s(&tmStart, &tStart);

            //  Report
            cout << strName << ": " << strUpdate << ": " << (1900 + tmStart.tm_year) << "-" << tmStart.tm_mon << "-" << tmStart.tm_mday << " " << tmStart.tm_hour << ":" << tmStart.tm_min << ":" << tmStart.tm_sec << "\n\n";
        #else
            //  Current time
            const time_t tStart = time(0);
            //  Current time structure
            struct tm* tmStart;

            tmStart = localtime(&tStart);

            //  Report
            cout << strName << ": " << strUpdate << ": " << (1900 + tmStart->tm_year) << "-" << tmStart->tm_mon << "-" << tmStart->tm_mday << " " << tmStart->tm_hour << ":" << tmStart->tm_min << ":" << tmStart->tm_sec << "\n\n";
        #endif

    }
    catch (exception ex)
    {
        cout << "ERROR [ReportTimeStamp] Exception Code:  " << ex.what() << "\n";
    }

    return;
}