MySQL - UTC_DATE() Function

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The DATE, DATETIME and TIMESTAMP datatypes in MySQL are used to store the date, date and time, time stamp values respectively. Where a time stamp is a numerical value representing the number of milliseconds from '1970-01-01 00:00:01' UTC (epoch) to the specified time. MySQL provides a set of functions to manipulate these values.

The MYSQL UTC_DATE() is used to get the current UTC date. The resultant value is a string or a numerical value based on the context and, the date returned will be in the 'YYYY-MM-DD' or YYYYMMDD format.

Syntax

Following is the syntax of the above function –

UTC_DATE();

Example 1

Following example demonstrates the usage of the UTC_DATE() function –

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE();
+------------+
| UTC_DATE() |
+------------+
| 2021-07-18 |
+------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 2

Following is an example of this function in numerical context –

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE() +0;
+---------------+
| UTC_DATE() +0 |
+---------------+
| 20210718      |
+---------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 3

You can also use UTC_DATE instead of UTC_DATE() —

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE();
+------------+
| UTC_DATE() |
+------------+
| 2021-07-18 |
+------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE()+0;
+--------------+
| UTC_DATE()+0 |
+--------------+
| 20210718     |
+--------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 4

You can add days to the current UTC date as shown below –

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE()+12;
+---------------+
| UTC_DATE()+12 |
+---------------+
| 20210730      |
+---------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 5

We can also subtract the desired number of days from the current UTC date using this function –

mysql> SELECT UTC_DATE()-22213;
+------------------+
| UTC_DATE()-22213 |
+------------------+
| 20188505         |
+------------------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

Example 6

Let us create a table with name MyPlayers in MySQL database using CREATE statement as shown below –

mysql> CREATE TABLE MyPlayers(
	ID INT,
	First_Name VARCHAR(255),
	Last_Name VARCHAR(255),
	Date_Of_Birth date,
	Place_Of_Birth VARCHAR(255),
	Country VARCHAR(255),
	PRIMARY KEY (ID)
);

Now, we will insert 7 records in MyPlayers table using INSERT statements −

mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(1, 'Shikhar', 'Dhawan', DATE('1981-12-05'), 'Delhi', 'India');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(2, 'Jonathan', 'Trott', DATE('1981-04-22'), 'CapeTown', 'SouthAfrica');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(3, 'Kumara', 'Sangakkara', DATE('1977-10-27'), 'Matale', 'Srilanka');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(4, 'Virat', 'Kohli', DATE('1988-11-05'), 'Delhi', 'India');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(5, 'Rohit', 'Sharma', DATE('1987-04-30'), 'Nagpur', 'India');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(6, 'Ravindra', 'Jadeja', DATE('1988-12-06'), 'Nagpur', 'India');
mysql> insert into MyPlayers values(7, 'James', 'Anderson', DATE('1982-06-30'), 'Burnley', 'England');

Following query calculates the age of the players in days —

mysql> SELECT First_Name, Last_Name, Date_Of_Birth, Country, DATEDIFF(UTC_DATE(), Date_Of_Birth) as Age_In_Days FROM MyPlayers;
+------------+------------+---------------+-------------+-------------+
| First_Name | Last_Name  | Date_Of_Birth | Country     | Age_In_Days |
+------------+------------+---------------+-------------+-------------+
| Shikhar    | Dhawan     | 1981-12-05    | India       | 14470       |
| Jonathan   | Trott      | 1981-04-22    | SouthAfrica | 14697       |
| Kumara     | Sangakkara | 1977-10-27    | Srilanka    | 15970       |
| Virat      | Kohli      | 1988-11-05    | India       | 11943       |
| Rohit      | Sharma     | 1987-04-30    | India       | 12498       |
| Ravindra   | Jadeja     | 1988-12-06    | India       | 11912       |
| James      | Anderson   | 1982-06-30    | England     | 14263       |
+------------+------------+---------------+-------------+-------------+
7 rows in set (0.10 sec)

Example 7

Let us create another table with name Sales in MySQL database using CREATE statement as follows –

mysql> CREATE TABLE sales(
	ID INT,
	ProductName VARCHAR(255),
	CustomerName VARCHAR(255),
	DispatchDate date,
	DispatchTime time,
	Price INT,
	Location VARCHAR(255)
);
Query OK, 0 rows affected (2.22 sec)

Now, we will insert 5 records in Sales table using INSERT statements −

insert into sales values (1, 'Key-Board', 'Raja', DATE('2019-09-01'), TIME('11:00:00'), 7000, 'Hyderabad');
insert into sales values (2, 'Earphones', 'Roja', DATE('2019-05-01'), TIME('11:00:00'), 2000, 'Vishakhapatnam');
insert into sales values (3, 'Mouse', 'Puja', DATE('2019-03-01'), TIME('10:59:59'), 3000, 'Vijayawada');
insert into sales values (4, 'Mobile', 'Vanaja', DATE('2019-03-01'), TIME('10:10:52'), 9000, 'Chennai');
insert into sales values (5, 'Headset', 'Jalaja', DATE('2019-04-06'), TIME('11:08:59'), 6000, 'Goa');

Following is another example of this function —

mysql> SELECT ProductName, CustomerName, DispatchDate, Price, DATEDIFF(UTC_DATE(), DispatchDate) as difference_in_days FROM sales;
+-------------+--------------+--------------+-------+--------------------+
| ProductName | CustomerName | DispatchDate | Price | difference_in_days |
+-------------+--------------+--------------+-------+--------------------+
| Key-Board   | Raja         | 2019-09-01   | 7000  | 679                |
| Earphones   | Roja         | 2019-05-01   | 2000  | 802                |
| Mouse       | Puja         | 2019-03-01   | 3000  | 863                |
| Mobile      | Vanaja       | 2019-03-01   | 9000  | 863                |
| Headset     | Jalaja       | 2019-04-06   | 6000  | 827                |
+-------------+--------------+--------------+-------+--------------------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Example 8

Suppose we have created a table named Subscribers with 5 records in it using the following queries –

mysql> CREATE TABLE Subscribers(
	SubscriberName VARCHAR(255),
	PackageName VARCHAR(255),
	SubscriptionDate date
);
insert into Subscribers values('Raja', 'Premium', Date('2020-10-21'));
insert into Subscribers values('Roja', 'Basic', Date('2020-11-26'));
insert into Subscribers values('Puja', 'Moderate', Date('2021-03-07'));
insert into Subscribers values('Vanaja', 'Basic', Date('2021-02-21'));
insert into Subscribers values('Jalaja', 'Premium', Date('2021-01-30'));

Following query calculates and displays the remaining number of days for the subscription to complete —

mysql> SELECT SubscriberName, PackageName, SubscriptionDate, DATEDIFF(UTC_DATE(), SubscriptionDate) as Remaining_Days FROM Subscribers;
+----------------+-------------+------------------+----------------+
| SubscriberName | PackageName | SubscriptionDate | Remaining_Days |
+----------------+-------------+------------------+----------------+
| Raja           | Premium     | 2020-10-21       |            270 |
| Roja           | Basic       | 2020-11-26       |            234 |
| Puja           | Moderate    | 2021-03-07       |            133 |
| Vanaja         | Basic       | 2021-02-21       |            147 |
| Jalaja         | Premium     | 2021-01-30       |            169 |
+----------------+-------------+------------------+----------------+
5 rows in set (0.29 sec)