Django template - Is there a built-in way to get current date as type 'date' instead of type 'str'?

Question

I know I can get the current date as a str in a Django template (using the template tag now), like this:

{% now \"Y-m-d\" as today_str %}


        

Answer 1

So, all my searching didn't yield a short solution. The answer to the question seems to be: no, there is no buit-in way to get the current date (or datetime) as a variable in the template.

In case others are searching for this topic, I'll try to give a summary of the possible workarounds that I can up with and that were suggested by other users.

---

1. I could pass a context variable to the template from my view. In class-based views that could look like this (it is even an example in the docs):

   # file 'my_app/views.py'
   from django.utils import timezone as tz
   from django.views.generic import ListView
   
   class MyView(ListView)
       ...
   
       def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
           ctx = super().get_context_data(**kwargs)
   
           now = tz.now()
           ctx['now'] = now
           ctx['today'] = tz.localtime(now).date()
   
           return ctx
   

2. I could create a custom context processor that loads that variable to every template. In class-based views that could look like this:

   # file 'context_processors.py'
   from django.utils import timezone as tz
   
   def now_and_today(request):
       now = tz.now()
       return {
           'now': now,
           'today': tz.localtime(now).date(),
       }
   
   # file 'settings.py'
   ...
   TEMPLATES = [
       {
           ...
           'OPTIONS': {
               'context_processors': [
                   ...
                   'context_processors.today_and_now',
               ],
           },
       },
   ]
   ...
   

3. I could create a custom template tag, like this:

   # file 'my_app/custom_template_tags/custom_time_tags.py'
   from django.utils import timezone as tz
   from django import template
   register = template.Library()
   
   @register.simple_tag
   def get_now(request):
       return tz.now()
   
   @register.simple_tag
   def get_today(request):
       return tz.localtime(tz.now()).date()
   

   To be used like this:

   {% load 'custom_time_tags' %}
   
   {% get_today as today %}
   {% for per in person_list %}
       {% if per.brith_date > today %}
           <p>{{ per.name }} is from the future!!<p>
       {% endif %}
   {% endfor %}
   

4. I could also add a property (or even a cached_property) to the model:

   # file 'models.py'
   from django.db import models
   from django.utils import timezone as tz
   from django.utils.functional import cached_property
   
   class Person(models.Model):
       ...
   
       @cached_property
       def is_from_future(self):
           # careful: for long-lived instances do not use 'cached_property' as
           # the time of 'now' might not be right later
           if self.birth_date > tz.localtime(tz.now()).date():
               return True
   
           return False
   

5. And last but not least, I could just do the processing in the view and add a property to the elements:

   # file 'my_app/views.py'
   from django.utils import timezone as tz
   
   def person_list(request):
       today = tz.localtime(tz.now()).date()
   
       person_list = []
       for p in Person.objects.all():
           p.is_from_future = self.birth_date > today
           person_list.append(p)
   
       return render(request, 'some_template.html', {'person_list': person_list})