getdate() and setdate() function in C with Examples

The getdate() and setdate() functions are defined in the <dos.h> header file and are used to retrieve and modify the system date in DOS-based environments. These functions operate on a user-defined date structure containing the day, month, and year.

• getdate() retrieves the current system date, while setdate() updates the system date using a date structure.
• These functions are primarily supported in DOS/Turbo C compilers and are not available on modern Linux or standard C/C++ compilers.

setdate() Method

The getdate() function is defined in the <dos.h> header file and is used to retrieve the current system date. It stores the current date (day, month, and year) in a user-defined date structure.

• Retrieves the current system date and stores it in a date structure.
• Commonly used in DOS/Turbo C environments for date-related operations.

#include <dos.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    struct date dt;

    // This function is used to get
    // system's current date
    getdate(&dt);

    printf("System's current date\n");
    printf("%d/%d/%d",
           dt.da_day,
           dt.da_mon,
           dt.da_year);

    return 0;
}

Output:

Syntax

struct date dt;
getdate(&dt);

• Parameter: This function accepts a single parameter dt which is the object of structure date. 
• Return Value: This method does not return anything. It just gets the system date and sets it in the specified structure. 

Note: The <dos.h> header file used in this tutorial works only on dos-based systems and will not work on Linux-based systems.

setdate() Method

The setdate() function is defined in the <dos.h> header file and is used to set the system date. It updates the current system date using the values stored in a user-defined date structure.

• Sets the system date based on the values provided in a date structure.
• Commonly used in DOS/Turbo C environments for system date management.

#include <dos.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    struct date dt;

    // This function is used to get
    // system's current date
    getdate(&dt);

    printf("System's current date\n");
    printf("%d/%d/%d",
           dt.da_day,
           dt.da_mon,
           dt.da_year);

    printf("Enter date in the format (date month year)\n");
    scanf("%d%d%d", &dt.da_day, &dt.da_mon, &dt.da_year);

    // This function is used to change
    // system's current date
    setdate(&dt);

    printf("System's new date (dd/mm/yyyy)\n")
        printf("%d%d%d", dt.da_day, dt.da_mon, dt.da_year);

    return 0;
}

Output:  

Note: These programs are run in TurboC/C++ compiler

Syntax

struct date dt;

setdate(&dt)

• Parameter: This function accepts a single parameter dt which is the object of structure date that has to be set as the system date.
• Return Value: This method do not returns anything. It just sets the system date as specified.