In MariaDB, LOCALTIME and LOCALTIME() are synonyms for NOW().

The NOW() function is a built-in date and time function that returns the current date and time.

The time is returned in either 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS' or YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format, depending on whether the function is being used in a string or numeric context.

Syntax

LOCALTIME() can be used in the following ways:

LOCALTIME
LOCALTIME([precision])

Where precision is the microsecond precision.

You can alternatively call NOW() like this:

NOW([precision])

Example

Here’s an example:

SELECT 
    LOCALTIME,
    LOCALTIME(),
    NOW();

Result:

+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| LOCALTIME           | LOCALTIME()         | NOW()               |
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+
| 2021-05-10 09:06:38 | 2021-05-10 09:06:38 | 2021-05-10 09:06:38 |
+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+

We can see that all three return the same result.

Numeric Context

When used in a numeric context, the resulting time is in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.uuuuuu format.

Example:

SELECT 
    LOCALTIME,
    LOCALTIME + 0,
    LOCALTIME() + 0;

Result:

+---------------------+----------------+-----------------+
| LOCALTIME           | LOCALTIME + 0  | LOCALTIME() + 0 |
+---------------------+----------------+-----------------+
| 2021-05-10 09:06:54 | 20210510090654 |  20210510090654 |
+---------------------+----------------+-----------------+

Precision

When used with the LOCALTIME([precision]) syntax, you can specify the microsecond precision for the result.

Example:

SELECT 
    LOCALTIME(6),
    LOCALTIME(6) + 0;

Result:

+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| LOCALTIME(6)               | LOCALTIME(6) + 0      |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+
| 2021-05-10 09:07:09.717031 | 20210510090709.717031 |
+----------------------------+-----------------------+

The maximum value for the microsecond precision is 6. Here’s what happens when a higher number is passed for the precision:

SELECT LOCALTIME(7);

Result:

ERROR 1426 (42000): Too big precision 7 specified for 'current_timestamp'. Maximum is 6

Adding to the Current Timestamp

There are many ways to perform arithmetic on datetime values in MariaDB.

Here’s an example of using the addition operator (+) to add 2 days to the date:

SELECT 
    LOCALTIME,
    LOCALTIME + INTERVAL 2 DAY;

Result:

+---------------------+----------------------------+
| LOCALTIME           | LOCALTIME + INTERVAL 2 DAY |
+---------------------+----------------------------+
| 2021-05-10 09:07:42 | 2021-05-12 09:07:42        |
+---------------------+----------------------------+

Also see functions like DATE_ADD() and ADDDATE() for an alternative way to add to the current date.

Subtracting from the Current Date

Here’s an example of using the subtraction operator (-) to subtract 10 days from the current date:

SELECT 
    LOCALTIME,
    LOCALTIME - INTERVAL 10 DAY;

Result:

+---------------------+-----------------------------+
| LOCALTIME           | LOCALTIME - INTERVAL 10 DAY |
+---------------------+-----------------------------+
| 2021-05-10 09:07:58 | 2021-04-30 09:07:58         |
+---------------------+-----------------------------+

See functions like DATE_SUB() and SUBDATE() for an alternative way to subtract from the current date.