%c specifies the standard time and date pattern : time « Data Types « C++ Tutorial

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#include <iostream>
#include <locale>
#include <cstring>
#include <ctime>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
  // Obtain the current system time.
  time_t t = time(NULL);
  tm *cur_time = localtime(&t);

  // Create US and German locales.
  locale usloc("English_US");
  locale gloc("German_Germany");

  // %c specifies the standard time and date pattern.
  char *std_pat = "%c";
  char *std_pat_end = std_pat + strlen(std_pat);

  return 0;
}