localtime, localtime_r, localtime_s

 

C

Language

Headers

Type support

Program utilities

Variadic function support

Error handling

Dynamic memory management

Strings library

Algorithms

Numerics

Date and time utilities

Input/output support

Localization support

Concurrency support (C11)

Technical Specifications

Symbol index

 

Date and time utilities

Functions

Time manipulation

difftime

time

clock

timespec_get (C11)

timespec_getres (C23)

Format conversions

asctimeasctime_s (deprecated in C23)(C11)

ctimectime_s (deprecated in C23)(C11)

strftime

wcsftime (C95)

gmtimegmtime_rgmtime_s (C23)(C11)

localtimelocaltime_rlocaltime_s (C23)(C11)

mktime

Constants

CLOCKS_PER_SEC

Types

tm

time_t

clock_t

timespec (C11)

 

Defined in header <time.h>
struct tm *localtime  ( const time_t *timer );	(1)
struct tm *localtime_r( const time_t *timer, struct tm *buf );	(2)	(since C23)
struct tm *localtime_s( const time_t *restrict timer, struct tm *restrict buf );	(3)	(since C11)

1) Converts given time since epoch (a time_t value pointed to by timer) into calendar time, expressed in local time, in the struct tm format. The result is stored in static storage and a pointer to that static storage is returned.

2) Same as (1), except that the function uses user-provided storage buf for the result.

3) Same as (1), except that the function uses user-provided storage buf for the result and that the following errors are detected at runtime and call the currently installed constraint handler function:

• timer or buf is a null pointer

As with all bounds-checked functions, localtime_s only guaranteed to be available if __STDC_LIB_EXT1__ is defined by the implementation and if the user defines __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ to the integer constant 1 before including <time.h>.

Parameters

timer	-	pointer to a time_t object to convert
buf	-	pointer to a struct tm object to store the result

Return value

1) pointer to a static internal tm object on success, or null pointer otherwise. The structure may be shared between gmtime, localtime, and ctime and may be overwritten on each invocation.

2-3) copy of the buf pointer, or null pointer on error (which may be a runtime constraint violation or a failure to convert the specified time to local calendar time)

Notes

The function localtime may not be thread-safe.

POSIX requires that localtime and localtime_r set errno to EOVERFLOW if it fails because the argument is too large.

POSIX specifies that the timezone information is determined by localtime and localtime_r as if by calling tzset, which reads the environment variable TZ.

The implementation of localtime_s in Microsoft CRT is incompatible with the C standard since it has reversed parameter order and returns errno_t.

Example

Run this code

#define __STDC_WANT_LIB_EXT1__ 1
#define _XOPEN_SOURCE // for putenv
#include <time.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>   // for putenv
 
int main(void)
{
    time_t t = time(NULL);
    printf("UTC:       %s", asctime(gmtime(&t)));
    printf("local:     %s", asctime(localtime(&t)));
    // POSIX-specific
    putenv("TZ=Asia/Singapore");
    printf("Singapore: %s", asctime(localtime(&t)));
 
#ifdef __STDC_LIB_EXT1__
    struct tm buf;
    char str[26];
    asctime_s(str,sizeof str,gmtime_s(&t, &buf));
    printf("UTC:       %s", str);
    asctime_s(str,sizeof str,localtime_s(&t, &buf));
    printf("local:     %s", str);
#endif
}

Possible output:

UTC:       Fri Sep 15 14:22:05 2017
local:     Fri Sep 15 14:22:05 2017
Singapore: Fri Sep 15 22:22:05 2017
UTC:       Fri Sep 15 14:22:05 2017
local:     Fri Sep 15 14:22:05 2017

References

• C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):

• 7.27.3.4 The localtime function (p: 288)

• K.3.8.2.4 The localtime_s function (p: 455)

• C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):

• 7.27.3.4 The localtime function (p: 394)

• K.3.8.2.4 The localtime_s function (p: 627)

• C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):

• 7.23.3.4 The localtime function (p: 343)

• C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):

• 4.12.3.4 The localtime function

See also

gmtimegmtime_rgmtime_s (C23)(C11)	converts time since epoch to calendar time expressed as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) (function)
C++ documentation for localtime