Documentation

Custom Time Periods

What if your fiscal year starts on August 1st and ends on July 31st? Time periods and dates are not always corresponding to formatted, pre-selected time-spans, and you may have to use several of them. In datapine, you can define custom periods of time according to your needs, and set date fields using the Multiple Periods option.

 

To do so, please follow the instructions below on how to define custom time periods in datapine and how to compare them to other time periods.

 

how to define custom time periods in datapine

 

1) In the Chart Creator, setup or edit a chart that has a date field in Dimension (X Axis) or in Decompose by. Click on the date field to open the field editor that will appear on the right side of your screen.

 

2) In the field editor, click on the second tab called Multiple periods. This will give you several options to generate your custom time period.

 

3) To create and add a new custom period, click on Add period.

 

4) Type in a name for the period, and then define the period’s start and end dates. This period name will later appear in Dimensions (X Axis) of your chart. Be sure the name is clear enough for you to know what are the corresponding dates when you use it.

 

5) Click on Save to make sure the created period gets saved so that you can use it for your chart.

 

6) You may create as many periods as needed by simply clicking on Add Period again, and selecting the start and end dates.

 

7) Finally click on Apply to populate the new custom period to the chart.

 

Tip 1:

 

If you would like to use the same time periods in another chart just duplicate the chart that contains the custom periods and edit the duplicated chart so you don’t need to create the custom time periods over and over again.

 

Tip 2:

 

If you just want to use time intervals different than the one you have by default, or redefine the time periods that display your data, please read the next guide on Modify Time Value.