Description: Returns the current date and time as a Date data type object.

Subject Type: No Subject

Arguments: No arguments

Return Type: Date

Examples: We can get the current date and time as a Date data type by using the now function: ${now()}. As an example, on Wednesday December 31st 2014 at 36 minutes after 3pm and 36.123 seconds EST ${now()} would be evaluated to be a Date type representing that time. Since whole Expression Language expressions can only return Strings it would formatted as Wed Dec 31 15:36:03 EST 2014 when the expression completes.

Utilizing the toNumber method, now can provide the current date and time as the number of milliseconds since Midnight GMT on January 1, 1970. For instance, if instead of executing ${now()} in the previous example ${now():toNumber()} was run then it would output 1453843201123. This method provides millisecond-level precision and provides the ability to manipulate the value.