You can set a fixed time extent to manually configure a layer that does not have time values stored in an attribute field to work with time. Once a fixed time extent is configured, the layer can be enabled with the time slider so the layer will display within the designated fixed extent. In the case that only one of the start or end date values are available, the time slider continues to display the layer endlessly in the direction where there is no time value.
For example, you can apply a fixed time extent to an aerial image that is current for three months from its capture date or to an important landmark that may only have a inception or creation date. This way, you can manually input values to determine when the layer's visibility is displayed when using the time slider. The attribute table honors time filtering for a layer configured with a fixed time extent.
Set a fixed time extent
For a layer without any time attribute values, you can set a fixed time extent using the following steps:
- From the Contents pane, open the layer properties for the layer you want to set a fixed time extent for.
- On the Layer Properties dialog box, click the Time tab.
- Under the Visibility using time heading, check the Show the layer when the map is within a fixed time extent option.
- Set the Time Extent values by manually typing the extent dates or using the calendar button
to set it. - Optionally, apply a time zone under the Time Zone and Time Offset heading.
- Click OK to close the Layer Properties dialog box.
The Time tab appears on the ribbon and the time slider appears in the view.
- To display time filtering for the layer in the view, click Enable Time
on either time slider or in the View group on the Time tab. Playing through the time slider shows the entire layer when the time is within the configured full extent.
Note:
A fixed time extent does not share to a web map. A sharing analyzer warning indicates the fixed time extent property of the layer is not supported.
Fixed time extent when only one value is specified
In some cases, only one value of the fixed time extent is known. For example, the more recent imagery layer in a collection will have start date information but no end date information because it is still being used and considered current. The time slider indicates this by displaying an arrow at either the beginning or end, in this case, of the time slider. A tooltip displays when you hover over the arrow to indicate that one or more layers will display infinitely in that direction. In the screenshot below, the layer with the fixed time extent displays only in the blue colored area where its start time begins and then displays forever into the end time direction on the slider.
