Insert time-stamp from GNU/Emacs

Often you need to insert a time-stamp within a file while working in GNU/Emacs. One way of doing it is to type

C-u C-! date

which will print a string something like

Sun Feb 24 00:11:59 IST 2013

What if you want to print a formatted time string ? and to bind that action with specific key strokes to use within GNU/Emacs ?

Open your ~/.emacs file and add following code to it.

(defun insert-current-time()
  ''insert the current time''
  (interactive ''*'')
  (insert (format-time-string ''%l.%M %p''))
  )

(global-set-key ''\C-x\C-t'' 'insert-current-time)

reload ~/.emacs file using

M-x eval-buffer

now you can print the time any where within a file by typing

C-x C-t

or by using the function insert-current-time

Note that the above code will print the time as

12.41 AM

if you want to print a entire time-stamp, replace line starting with (insert .... from above code snippet with

(insert (current-time-string))
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