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Time

function Time: TDateTime;

Example​

procedure ScriptEvent(var Value: variant);
begin
  Value := Time; // Current local time on the executing Velox host
end;

Usage​

Returns the Windows host's current local time of day as an untagged TDateTime fraction.

Returns

A non-negative TDateTime time fraction from midnight through 23:59:59.999, based on the host clock at the call.

Behaviour

  • The result uses the timezone and daylight-saving state currently configured on the machine running this Velox process.
  • One Windows snapshot supplies all fields, so the value cannot mix clock fields from separate reads.
  • The result is untagged: it contains no timezone, offset or local/UTC marker.
  • Repeated calls can return different values and the clock wraps to zero at local midnight.

Errors

The Windows branch normally does not raise for an ordinary clock read. Any encoder failure would propagate; Velox does not translate it.

Usage notes

Use Now when both the current local date and time are needed. Do not subtract two Time values across midnight to measure an interval.

Additional Technical Info​

Time reads the executing Windows host's current local clock fields and returns only the time-of-day portion as a TDateTime.

The example is source-reviewed and intentionally environment-dependent. It was not executed by the documentation workflow.

Implementation

The modified PascalScript date library exposes Time and runtime-registers System.SysUtils.Time directly. In the installed Delphi 37.0 Windows branch, SysUtils calls GetLocalTime once, then passes the snapshot's hour, minute, second and millisecond fields to EncodeTime. No date field is included.

Edge cases and quirks

  • Millisecond fields are present, but actual clock resolution/accuracy depends on Windows and the host clock source.
  • The system clock can jump forwards or backwards because of administrative changes or clock synchronisation. Time is not monotonic and must not measure elapsed durations.
  • A call around local midnight returns only a time fraction, so it cannot identify which date supplied that time.
  • Free Pascal documents a comparable current-time function but its platform implementation is not evidence for the installed Windows Delphi path.

Side effects

None beyond reading the operating-system clock.

Performance and concurrency

Constant-time Windows clock read and encoding. Thread-safe for ordinary use, but different threads/calls can observe different instants or a host clock adjustment.

Related entries

  • Now returns current local date and time from one snapshot.
  • Today returns the current local date at midnight.

External references

Created 2026-07-15