Control time extent using time slider

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Sample viewer app

This sample demonstrates how to use the time slider from the toolkit to visualize temporal data by applying a specific time extent. When viewing feature layers that contain a large amount of data with timestamps, you may want to filter the data to only show data relevant to a specific time range. This can help visualize changes in the data over time and aid in making better interpretations and predictions of future trends.

screenshot

Use case

When viewing layers that contain a large amount of data with timestamps, you may want to filter the data to only show data relevant to a specific time range.

How to use the sample

Use the slider at the bottom of the map to customize the date range for which you want to view the data. Once the start and end date have been selected, the mapview will update to only show the relevant data that falls in the time extent selected. Use the play button to step through the data one day at a time. Use the previous and next buttons to manually step through the data in one day increments.

How it works

Create a MapView with a Map.
Create a ServiceFeatureTable from a URL (the feature layer from the url in this sample includes time-enabled data).
Create a feature layer from the service feature table.
Add the feature layer that includes time-enabled data to the map's list of operational layers.
Create a TimeSlider from the ArcGIS Maps SDK for Qt Toolkit to allow users to show data only from the given date range. This sets up all necessary calls to visualize and step through the temporal data.

Relevant API

FeatureLayer
Map
MapView
ServiceFeatureTable

Additional information

This sample uses Atlantic hurricane data from the National Hurricane Center (NOAA / National Weather Service) and the TimeSlider toolkit component which requires the toolkit to be cloned and set up locally. For information about setting up the toolkit, see the repository's root README.md here.

Sample Code

ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider.cpp

ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider.h

ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider.qml

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// [WriteFile Name=ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider, Category=Features]
// [Legal]
// Copyright 2021 Esri.
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
// [Legal]

#ifdef PCH_BUILD
#include "pch.hpp"
#endif // PCH_BUILD

// sample headers
#include "ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider.h"

// ArcGIS Maps SDK headers
#include "FeatureLayer.h"
#include "LayerListModel.h"
#include "Map.h"
#include "MapQuickView.h"
#include "MapTypes.h"
#include "ServiceFeatureTable.h"

using namespace Esri::ArcGISRuntime;

ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider::ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider(QObject* parent /* = nullptr */):
  QObject(parent),
  m_map(new Map(BasemapStyle::ArcGISTopographic, this))
{
  ServiceFeatureTable* featureTable = new ServiceFeatureTable(QUrl("https://services5.arcgis.com/N82JbI5EYtAkuUKU/ArcGIS/rest/services/Hurricane_time_enabled_layer_2005_1_day/FeatureServer/0"), this);
  FeatureLayer* featureLayer = new FeatureLayer(featureTable, this);
  m_map->operationalLayers()->append(featureLayer);
}

ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider::~ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider() = default;

void ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider::init()
{
  // Register the map view for QML
  qmlRegisterType<MapQuickView>("Esri.Samples", 1, 0, "MapView");
  qmlRegisterType<ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider>("Esri.Samples", 1, 0, "ControlTimeExtentTimeSliderSample");
}

MapQuickView* ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider::mapView() const
{
  return m_mapView;
}

// Set the view (created in QML)
void ControlTimeExtentTimeSlider::setMapView(MapQuickView* mapView)
{
  if (!mapView || mapView == m_mapView)
    return;

  m_mapView = mapView;
  m_mapView->setMap(m_map);

  emit mapViewChanged();
}