How do I format {{$timestamp}} as MM/DD/YYYY in Postman?

Question

In Postman, the dynamic variable {{$timestamp}} inserts the current Unix Time Stamp into a request. (Represented as the number of seconds since January 1, 1970)

"currentTime": "1510934784"

However, the API I am working with expects timestamps formatted as MM/DD/YYYY.

"currentDate": "11/17/2017"

How do I insert the current date (formatted as MM/DD/YYYY) into my request with Postman?

Marj

you can write JS code in pre-request script tab to do so – Sisal

@chakri Can you explain in more detail with an answer? – Marj

Add below code in pre-request script tab postman.setEnvironmentVariable("$$timestamp",new Date()); and in your request just use {{$$timestamp}} – Sisal

---------- #64894460 – Burlie

Fix your API... that is the worst possible choice for timestamps, since many parts of the world use DD/MM/YYYY and for days from 1-12 there is no way to distinguish between that poor choice and yours. Use YYYY-MM-DD. – Calva

@Calva It was a third party API (Kronos Workforce Central) that I had no control over. – Marj

Answer 1

You could use moment.js with Postman to give you that timestamp format.

You can add this to the pre-request script:

const moment = require('moment');
pm.globals.set("today", moment().format("MM/DD/YYYY"));

Then reference {{today}} where ever you need it.

If you add this to the Collection Level Pre-request Script, it will be run for each request in the Collection. Rather than needing to add it to all the requests individually.

For more information about using moment in Postman, I wrote a short blog post: https://dannydainton.com/2018/05/21/hold-on-wait-a-moment/

Danseuse

this can't be true.. postman doesn't have support for loading external libraries right now: github.com/postmanlabs/postman-app-support/issues/1180 – Concubinage

Hooo very nice. This will be helping a los with pre and post scripts. Thanks – Arrington

To prevent name-conflicts, you might want to use a different name like {{today}} or {{datestamp}}. – Marj

Sure, it was purely an example of how you could use it. The variable name obviously needs to suit your own needs / context or what you're doing, is just copy and pasting my example into your solution...which is never a good thing. :) – Danseuse

Pretty useful referenced blog post – Jayme

@Concubinage It's somewhat true: learning.postman.com/docs/writing-scripts/script-references/… – Latt

Answer 2

Use Pre-request script tab to write javascript to get and save the date into a variable:

const dateNow = new Date();
pm.environment.set('currentDate', dateNow.toISOString());

and then use it in the request body as follows:

"currentDate": "{{currentDate}}"

Belier

There's gotta be a way to get a date, without modifying a pre-request script for every request. This is nuts. – Chivalrous

There are global variables that you can set once and read other places. – Dyne

Put the requests in a folder or collection, then you can set these kind of variables once in the pre-script of the folder or the collection – Otherness

See my answer above this one. It shows you how to set pre-scripts on a collection, so you don't have to put it in each individual request. – Craze

Postman now supports {{$isoTimestamp}}, output: "2020-09-16T18:11:41.397Z" – Footloose

Answer 3

My solution is similar to Payam's, except I am using

//older code
//postman.setGlobalVariable("currentDate", new Date().toLocaleDateString());
pm.globals.set("currentDate", new Date().toLocaleDateString());

If you hit the "3 dots" on the folder and click "Edit"

Then set Pre-Request Scripts for the all calls, so the global variable is always available.

Craze

You could also use - pm.globals.set("currentDate", new Date().toLocaleDateString()); Wouldn't this give you a timestamp in the format "DD/MM/YYY" rather than "MM/DD/YYYY" though? – Danseuse

Useful to note the last picture [currently] includes, "This script will execute before every request in this collection." That is, this answer is an excellent description of Diceyus' improvement to Payam's answer that suggests setting a var with code for many tests at once. – Rhinelandpalatinate

Answer 4

Any future date in JavaScript (postman test uses JavaScript) can be retrieved as:

var dateNow = new Date();  
var twoWeeksFutureDate = new Date(dateNow.setDate(dateNow.getDate() + 14)).toISOString();

postman.setEnvironmentVariable("future-date", twoWeeksFutureDate);

Americano

Answer 5

In PostMan we have ->Pre-request Script. Paste the Below snippet.

const dateNow = new Date();
postman.setGlobalVariable("todayDate", dateNow.toLocaleDateString());

And now we are ready to use.

{
    "firstName": "SANKAR",
    "lastName": "B",
    "email": "[email protected]",
    "creationDate": "{{todayDate}}"
}

If you are using JPA Entity classes then use the below snippet

@JsonFormat(pattern="MM/dd/yyyy")
@Column(name = "creation_date")
private Date creationDate;

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Gallon