The curDate(...) function has two variations, not counting syntax variations. It retrieves the current date using an optional time zone.

Syntax:
curDate()
curDate( timezone-string )
timezone-string.curDate()

Parameter	Description
timezone-string	The time zone string is used to determine where in the world the Date should be retrieved from, since at any given moment there is some place in the world where the current date is different from another place in the world. If omitted, the current user's preferred time zone is used. Any time zone identifier supported by Java 5 is allowed.