Control statements related to record input, output, filtering, and formatting in a data processing system are scanned by a parser to ascertain a set of specified formats referenced in the control statements. A time generation module receives a time metric provided by a system timer or the like and converts the time metric to a set of time sub-fields ranging from years to seconds. The sub-fields are concatenated to generate a time constant in each specified format. The generated time constants may be inserted into records or used in comparison operations with time-based fields within data records. The present invention increases the utility of a data processing system while minimizing the processing burden associated with formatting time constants.