Create util function to print out local time.

common/utils/UtilsTest.cpp

@@ -659,4 +659,13 @@ TEST_F(cta_UtilsTest, ellipses) {
   ASSERT_EQ("[...]0ABCDEF", preEllipsis("1234567890ABCDEF", 12));
 }
 
+TEST_F(cta_UtilsTest, DISABLED_currentTime) {
+  /* This test is disabled as it prints our similar, yet slightly different dates, 
+   * so it would be complex to automate.
+   * Just run with: "cta-unitTests --gtest_filter=*currentTime --gtest_also_run_disabled_tests" */
+  using namespace cta::utils;
+  ::system("date \"+%h %e %H:%M:%S.%N\" ");
+  std::cout << getCurrentLocalTime() << std::endl;
+}
+
 } // namespace unitTests

common/utils/utils.cpp

@@ -780,5 +780,22 @@ void copyString(char *const dst, const size_t dstSize, const std::string &src) {
   *(dst + dstSize -1) = '\0'; // Ensure destination string is null terminated
 }
 
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// getCurrentLocalTime
+//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+std::string getCurrentLocalTime() {
+  ::timeval tv;
+  gettimeofday(&tv, nullptr);
+  time_t now = (time_t)tv.tv_sec;
+  struct tm * localNow;
+  ::time(&now);
+  localNow = ::localtime(&now);
+  char buff[80];
+  char buff2[10];
+  ::strftime(buff,sizeof(buff), "%b %e %H:%M:%S.", localNow);
+  ::snprintf(buff2, sizeof(buff2), "%06ld", tv.tv_usec);
+  return std::string(buff) + std::string(buff2);
+}
+
 } // namespace utils
 } // namespace cta

common/utils/utils.hpp

@@ -364,6 +364,12 @@ namespace utils {
     const std::string &src) {
     copyString(dst, dstSize, src);
   }
+  
+  /**
+   * Returns the current time, in the local time zone, formated for logging.
+   * @return the foramtted time.
+   */
+  std::string getCurrentLocalTime();
 
 } // namespace utils