Introduction

The MySQL database system is extensively used for managing and querying relational databases. One of the typical requirements when dealing with date and time is to filter records based on the current date. This requirement often arises in scenarios like generating daily reports, tracking daily activities, or processing time-sensitive data. In MySQL, dates are frequently stored with the `DATETIME` or `DATE` data types. This article will focus on how to select records where the date part of a `DATETIME` field equals today's date.

Understanding the `DATETIME` Data Type

In MySQL, the `DATETIME` data type is used to store both date and time information. It is stored in the format `YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS`. This representation makes it simple to record precise time information, but it poses challenges when one needs to compare or filter solely based on the date part.

Selecting Records Using Current Date

To select records where the date part of a `DATETIME` field matches today's date, we can use built-in MySQL functions such as `CURDATE()` or `DATE()`. Let's explore these options with examples:

Method 1: Using `DATE()` Function

The `DATE()` function extracts the date part from a `DATETIME` value, stripping away the time part. We can then compare this with the current date.