date field default to current date or date created

date field default to current date or date created

How can I force a date fiedl to display the date the record is created.

I can';t seem to find a deluge function that returns that variable. and If I do, how do I make that the default value for the field.

Specifically, I am creating records of items that are shipped, so the "date shipped" needs to default to the current date.