UniqName

uniqname is an extremely simple script to generate a timestamp that can be used to define labels, filenames, variables, etc., which are unique if not invoked more than once per second.

A typical use is as a label in $\mathrm{\TeX}$ documents, or as a filename for temporary documents or quick notes (today, for instance, I sent a file called "WedAug29164757CEST2012.pdf" to co-workers).

Usage

By running it just now, I get:

uniqname
WedAug29194222CEST2012

The WedAug29194222CEST2012 string is a unique timestamp (within 1s of accuracy).

Locale

This is working well and is useful only with English dates. Compare with jeu.19déc.2024232410CET using the

laussy@azag:~$ echo $LC_TIME
fr_FR.UTF-8

so-called locale. This can be enforced from the script itself (adding the line LC_TIME=POSIX in the script, making it v1°0) or by setting it globally (e.g., adding the same LC_TIME=POSIX in ~/.bashrc).

Versions

• 0°1: 6 May (2005): the script without setting LC_TIME.
• 1°0: 19 December (2024): enforcing LC_TIME (overriding default).

Source

#!/bin/bash
#Unique Name generator based on date
#F.P. Laussy
#Fri May 6 10:27:47 UTC 2005 v0°1
#Thu Dec 19 23:49:12 CET 2024 v1°0

LC_TIME=POSIX
date | tr -d ": " | tr -d "\n"