Time Slider widget

(Added at v1.1)

The Time Slider widget enables you to view temporal layers in a map and play the animation to see how the data changes over time. Using this widget, you can control the animation of the data with buttons to play and pause, go to the previous time period, and go to the next time period.

Configure the Time Slider widget

This widget can be set to open automatically when an app starts. Hover over the widget and click the Do not open this widget when the app starts button to change the setting to Open this widget automatically when the app starts. (For widgets that you need to add to the app first, you can turn on this option after configuring the widget.)

1. Hover over the widget and click the Configure this widget button to open the configuration window.

   Note:

   If you need to add the widget to the app first, click a widget placeholder on the Widget tab. In the Choose Widget window that opens, select the widget and click OK.

2. Under Time Settings, select one of the two options:
   • Honor time settings of the web map—Time settings in the web map will always be honored.
   • Configure time settings—Configure custom time settings independent of the settings in the web map.
     1. Click the Settings button to open the Time Settings dialog box.
     2. In the Enable time animation section, enable time animation for time-aware layers.
     3. In the Time span section, set the start time and end time for displaying data.

        Time span not only handles configuring the display of historical data, where the time layers have timelines that have already completed, but also handles live data, where the time layers have data that is still being accumulated. For example, you can show live traffic condition updates for the past two hours.

     4. The Time display section allows you to specify how much data to display as time passes.

        This includes setting a time interval, which is the duration after which the map will be refreshed to display the data that is valid at that time. In addition to the time interval, you can specify whether to display cumulative data or only data in the current time interval.

3. Under Slider settings, choose whether you want the slider to do the following:
   • Automatically play when opened.
   • Loop playback.
   • Display temporal layer names.
   • Display time in a specific format.
4. Optionally, check the box to display the temporal layer names on the widget.
5. Choose a display format from the Date and time format drop-down menu.

   The default is the format defined in the map.

6. Click OK to save the configuration and close the window.

Use the Time Slider widget

Follow these steps to use the Time Slider widget:

1. In a map with time-aware layers, click the Time Slider widget button on the map to open the widget panel. If your map does not contain time-aware layers, the Time Slider widget will not open.

   If the time animation of a layer is disabled in the web map, the widget will ignore the layer.

2. Drag the widget on the map as desired.
3. Click the Play/Pause button to begin animation or pause the animation.
4. Click the Previous/Next button to go back to the previous data interval or advance to the next data interval.
5. Move the pointer over the speed menu to adjust the playback speed.
6. Click the close button in the panel to close the Time Slider widget.