---
title: "Introduction"
slug: "tools-intro"
updated: 2025-11-06T18:32:13Z
published: 2025-11-06T18:32:13Z
canonical: "docs.doc-know.com/tools-intro"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.doc-know.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Introduction

### tools

The **tools** object provides a collection of general purpose tools that can be useful during app development and testing.

### Properties

Below is a list of properties supported by this object.

| Name | Description | Desktop | Web | Avatars |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [now](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-now) | Returns the current date and time in local (host device) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [nowUtc](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-nowutc) | Returns the current date and time in [UTC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [date](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-date) | Returns the current date in local (host device) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [dateUtc](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-dateutc) | Returns the current date in [UTC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [dateText](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-datetext) | Returns the current date in **Text**-based, **MM/dd/yyyy** format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [time](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-time) | Returns the current time in local (host device) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [timeUtc](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-timeutc) | Returns the current time in [UTC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time) format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [time12Text](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-time12text) | Returns the current time in **Text**-based, 12-hour format | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [time24Text](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-time24text) | Returns the current time in **Text**-based, 24-hour format | Yes | Yes | Yes |

### Functions

Below is a list of functions supported by this object.

| Name | Description | Desktop | Web | Avatars |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [addYears](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addyears) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of years from the current date | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addMonths](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addmonths) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of months from the current date | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addDays](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-adddays) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of days from the current date | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addHours](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addhours) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of hours from the current time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addMinutes](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addminutes) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of minutes from the current time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addSeconds](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addseconds) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of seconds from the current time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [addMilliseconds](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-addmilliseconds) | Adds or subtracts a specified # of milliseconds from the current time | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [findByRange](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-findbyrange) | Finds an item in an array whose range includes a specified value | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [findByScale](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-findbyscale) | Finds an item in an array whose value is closest to a specified value without going over | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [flatten](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-flatten) | Returns a string of all items in the passed array, separated by the specified separator | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [format](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-format) | Applies a text formatting expression to an object | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [minMax](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-minmax) | Restricts a specified numeric value to a specified numeric range | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [newId](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-newid) | Creates and returns a new globally unique identifier (**GUID**) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [series](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-series) | Converts an array of JSON objects into a new array of JSON objects that represents a data series | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [xmlFind](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-xmlfind) | Returns a value at the specified XML element location | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| [xmlFindArray](http://docs.doc-know.com/v1/docs/tools-xmlfindarray) | Returns an array of child values at the specified parent XML element location | Yes | Yes | Yes |

### Remarks

None.