Configure time slider settings

When time is enabled for any of the layers or standalone tables in your map, the Time tab appears along the top of the display, providing additional settings to configure the behavior of the time slider and its controls. The settings are organized into groups along the Time tab for View, Current Time, Step, Snapping, Playback, Full Extent, and Time Zone.

View

To turn time filtering on or off in the view, select a time-configured feature layer in the Contents pane. On the Time tab, in the View group, click Enable Time Map Time. You can also enable or disable time on the time slider.

Current time

Use the following settings to configure the time in the map for the visible time span:

ItemDescription

Start Time and End Time

Set the map time to a specific date and time. Type directly in the text box or click the date-time picker Calendar to choose year, month, date, and time.

Span

The visible time span for the map, which is the difference between the start and end times. The span remains constant as you step through the time slider.

Disable/Enable the Start or End Time

Use the button next to the date-time picker to Disable Disable Start Time Disable End Time or Enable Enable Start Time Enable End Time the corresponding time slider control. When the start time is disabled, the time in the map is represented by all time before the end time. When the end time is disabled, the map time is represented as all time after the start time. If both are disabled, this is equivalent to disabling time or showing all time.

Lock/Unlock the Start or End Time

Use this option to lock the start or end time at a specific time. When the control is locked, it cannot be moved by dragging the control. In addition, during playback, the control will not move. This supports cumulative playback of temporal data within the map, either forward or backward in time, based on which end of the time span is locked. The time slider applies the temporal extent filter to all time-aware layers in the map.

Exclude Start Exclude Start / Include Start Include Start

You can set the visible time span to include values greater than but not including the start time, or include values greater than or equal to the start time.

Exclude End Exclude End / Include End Include End

You can set the visible time span to include values less than but not including the end time, or include values less than or equal to the end time.

Step

The Step group provides options to set the amount of time to move when using the Next or Previous step commands, or during playback.

ItemDescription

Number of Steps

Use this option to set the step to a relative amount of time. The slider is divided into the specified number of steps as you move through the time extent.

Step Interval

Use this option to set the step to an explicit amount of time. It is defined using a value (.5, 1, 100, and so on) and a time unit (Seconds, Months, Years, and so on). The time unit will be locked if Time Snapping is enabled.

Layer

Use this option to step through the map's time slider using a layer-defined offset. This option is enabled after setting the time interval layer properties for the layer and Time Snapping is unchecked. The time-step interval for the layer can be regular (temperature gauge) or irregular (earthquakes) and controls how the time-slider moves through the data. If you have multiple layers in your map that have time interval layer properties configured, choose from the list.

Snapping

Turn on time snapping and configure the time unit, such as days or years, as the interval at which snapping occurs.

ItemDescription

Time Snapping

Enable automatic snapping of the map's current time to a standard time unit, such as days or years, for easier navigation through time. When first enabled, the map time will be updated to comply.

Time Snap Interval

The map's current time extent will automatically snap to this time unit.

Playback

The Playback options are used to configure the behavior of the time slider when you click the Play button.

ItemDescription

Play All Steps Play all steps

Automatically play all steps from the current position of the slider thumbs to the edge of the slider extent. Click Pause Pause to stop playing and leave the slider controls in the last played position.

Step Forward Step forward / Step Back Step back

Step the time slider Start and End thumbs forward or backward according to the current time settings.

Playback Speed

Set the relative speed of the visualization using this slider. This option adjusts the amount of time to pause at each time step before moving to the next step.

Direction Forward Direction, Backward Direction

Set whether playback begins by moving forward or backward in time.

Repeat Repeat

When the slider thumbs get to the end of the slider bar, by default, the controls stop. You can optionally set it to repeat and loop playback in the same direction.

Reverse Reverse

When the slider thumbs get to the end of the slider bar, playback will continue in the opposite direction and stop.

Full Extent

The Full Extent group defines the time extent to set the slider bar when you click the Full Extent button Full time extent.

ItemDescription

All time-enabled data

Define the full time extent to the extent of all temporal layers in the map. This is the default option.

All visible time-enabled data

Define the full time extent to the extent of all temporal layers that are visible in the map. This time extent updates as layer visibility changes.

User defined

Define the full time extent to the extent defined in the start time and end time edit controls. If you edit either of the values in these controls, the option is automatically set to user defined.

Layer

Every time-aware layer in the map shows in the drop-down list. Selecting a layer defines the full time extent to the extent of that layer.

Full Extent Full time extent

Set the time slider to show the defined full extent.

Unlock Extent

Unlock the extent of the slider so it can be modified interactively.

Time Zone

Use this group to define the time reference of the map time.

ItemDescription

Time Zone

Set the time zone used by the map. Content from time-aware layers in different time zones will be displayed in accordance with the map's time zone. If the map's time zone is set to None, all time-aware layers will display using their raw values, as though time zones do not exist.

Adjust For Daylight Savings

Specify whether the time reference should account for daylight saving time and adjust the time according to the rules of daylight saving time for the given date.