use POSIX qw(strftime); @t = localtime; $\ = "\n"; print strftime("%Y%m%d%H%M%S", @t); # logfile_20040914151753 print strftime("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S", @t); # logfile_20040914-151753 print strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H%M%S", @t); # logfile_2004-09-14-151753 print strftime("%Y-%m-%d@%H-%M-%S", @t); # logfile_2004-09-14@15-17-53