Time Series Chart¶

Generally used to display the trend changes of data at equal time intervals, and can also be used to analyze the effects and influences between multiple sets of metric data.

Chart types include:

• Line chart (selected by default)
• Bar chart
• Area chart

Use Cases¶

• View the trend changes of application performance metric data within a certain time range, such as the trend of application "request count" in the last 15 minutes.
• View the trend changes of user access metric data within a certain time range, such as the occurrence of user access "error count" in different time ranges.
• View similar trend metrics within a fixed time range.
• View related events triggered when data fluctuations are abnormal.

Chart Query¶

Supports five query methods:

• Simple query
• Expression query
• DQL query
• Promql query
• Data source query

Each query preset has 5 options for the number of returned results, including 5, 10, 20, 50, 100; by default, 20 pieces of data are returned. You can also manually input a value, with a maximum of 100 pieces of data.

For more detailed descriptions of chart query conditions, please refer to Chart Query.

Chart Configuration¶

For more details, please refer to Chart Configuration.

Style¶

Line Chart¶

Four styles are available:

• Linear
• Smooth
• Step Before
• Step After

Area Chart¶

Two styles are available:

• Basic: Intuitively displays the trend of each data series, making it easy to observe the change trend of a single data series.
• Stacked: Suitable for multiple data series. Each data series is stacked sequentially, with the starting point of each series based on the end point of the previous series, making it easy to observe the cumulative effect of the overall data.

Connect Nulls¶

In time series charts, time points are automatically connected. If data for a certain time point is empty, a breakpoint will appear in the chart. By default, the system automatically connects the data before and after the breakpoint. By setting Connect Nulls, judgment errors regarding breakpoint data can be avoided.

Show Values¶

Applicable to Time Series Chart > Bar Chart.

When enabled, specific values will be displayed above the bars. Only the numerical value is displayed here, not the unit. If the number of decimal places is set to 0, 1, 2, or 3 in Basic Settings > Data Format, it will be displayed according to the set number of digits. If the number of decimal places is set to "Full Precision", two decimal places will be displayed by default. The display of the thousand separator will also follow this setting.

Time Interval¶

Refers to the calculation interval (interval) for querying data in the chart.

For example, when it is not possible to select or switch the time interval:

Maximum Returned Points¶

Refers to the maximum number of data points per series. You can input any integer between 2 and 1,000. If you do not customize it, the default maximum point limit is 720.

Repeat Chart¶

When enabled, the system generates independent charts with the same structure based on the various values of the selected view variable.

• View Variable: Select the view variable of the current dashboard.

  • When saving the chart, you must select a view variable; otherwise, you cannot successfully create a new chart.

• Maximum Charts Per Row: Set the maximum number of charts that can be displayed per row. If exceeded, it will automatically wrap to the next line.

Example¶

As shown in the figure below, select host as the filter condition and set the maximum number of charts per row to 6:

Mixed Line and Bar Chart¶

Only supports bar charts.

Year-over-Year / Month-over-Month Comparison¶

Compares data with the data from the same period in the previous time unit. Displayed as off by default.

Comparison Dimension¶

When enabled, the comparison dimension supports the following options:

• Hour (compared with one hour ago)
• Day (compared with one day ago)
• Week (compared with one week ago)
• Month (compared with one month ago)
• Month-over-Month

Comparison Logic¶

• Default queried line chart: Drawn based on the selected Start Time - End Time.
• Comparison line chart for the same period: Drawn by pushing forward the same time range based on the selected comparison dimension.

Example¶

Take querying the CPU usage trend of Host A as an example:

• Comparison dimension selected as "Hour":

  • When querying "Last 1 hour" (3/2 10:00 - 3/2 11:00), the comparison time period is (3/2 09:00 - 3/2 10:00).
  • When querying "Today" (3/2 00:00 - 3/2 11:00), the comparison time period is (3/1 23:00 - 3/2 10:00).

• Comparison dimension selected as "Day":

  • When querying "Last 1 hour" (3/2 10:00 - 3/2 11:00), the comparison time period is (3/1 10:00 - 3/1 11:00).
  • When querying "Today" (3/2 00:00 - 3/2 11:00), the comparison time period is (3/1 00:00 - 3/1 11:00).

Chart Analysis¶

A time series chart is a two-dimensional graph indexed in chronological order, with the horizontal axis representing the time scale and the vertical axis representing the data scale. Based on the selected time range, the time series chart plots the trend changes of the target data during that period.

In a time series chart, a single query statement can return a maximum of 10 time series. If the result of the grouping (group by) condition exceeds 10, only the first 10 time series are displayed in order.

Timeline¶

In analysis mode, the timeline function of the time series chart allows you to preview how data changes over time through the timeline below the chart, and drag to select the time range to display. The timeline range is based on the selected time range, fixed to three query periods forward, and up to one query period backward (until the current time point).

For example, if the current time point is 11:33 and the time range selected is "Last 1 hour", then the timeline range is 10:33 - 11:33.

Similar Trend Metrics¶

"Similar Trend Metrics" refer to other metrics that, within a certain time range, have trend changes similar to the currently selected metric.

1. On the time series chart, click on a data point, then click "View Similar Trend Metrics".
2. In the new window, select a time range by dragging a box.
3. Click "Start Search".

During the query, the system will use the box-selected time range as the benchmark to search for similar metric trends within the space.

Similar Trend Results¶

Based on the selected absolute time range, the query result list contains the following:

Regarding similar trend results, please note:

• When querying a similar interval, the currently selected time range defaults to "Absolute Time" and will not change due to external factors or observer changes. If you need to change the time range, you need to readjust it.
• After entering the similar interval page, you can adjust the search time range by dragging the rectangle. Even if an area is already selected, you can still move or adjust the time range.
• After dragging to a new time range, you need to confirm or cancel the change.