In Oracle Database, the CURRENT_DATE function returns the current date in the session time zone, in a value in the Gregorian calendar of data type DATE.

Syntax

The syntax goes like this:

CURRENT_DATE

So, no arguments are required (or accepted), and there are no parentheses.

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT CURRENT_DATE
FROM DUAL;

Result:

06/AUG/21

This example displays the date based on the value of my system’s NLS_DATE_FORMAT parameter (which is currently DD/MON/RR). We can either change this parameter, or use a function like TO_CHAR() to return the result in a different format.

Example:

SELECT TO_CHAR(CURRENT_DATE, 'YYYY-MM-DD')
FROM DUAL;

Result:

2021-08-06

Calling CURRENT_DATE with Parentheses

As mentioned, the CURRENT_DATE function is called without parentheses.

Here’s what happens when we call it with parentheses:

SELECT CURRENT_DATE()
FROM DUAL;

Result:

Error starting at line : 1 in command -
SELECT CURRENT_DATE()
FROM DUAL
Error at Command Line : 1 Column : 20
Error report -
SQL Error: ORA-00923: FROM keyword not found where expected
00923. 00000 -  "FROM keyword not found where expected"
*Cause:    
*Action: