TimeSpan Scale

The TimeSpan Scale is used when you need to display time durations that are not linked to specific dates, or when date information is not relevant to the data being plotted. Examples of such data involve all cases where the X or Y values correspond to durations, intervals, or elapsed time rather than absolute dates. The TimeSpan Scale only uses time units when generating scale ticks and labels. Time units include Tick, Millisecond, Second, Minute, Hour, Half Day, Day, and Week units.

Best Practices for Using a TimeSpan Scale

Match Data Granularity
Select time intervals that match the granularity of your data (e.g., seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc.). For example, use daily intervals when displaying data spanning several days.

Avoid Overcrowding
Ensure label intervals are not too frequent to avoid overcrowding the axis with too many labels. The automatic date time step selector in the chart will try to select a proper date time unit and multiplier that will not clutter the scale with many labels but still generates a sufficient number of labels so that the scale is readable.

Choose Proper Formatting
Different time units require different time format strings. For example, it does not make sense to include hour information when generating labels using the millisecond unit.