DateTime and DateTimeCategory Axis

8 May 202424 minutes to read

DateTime Axis

Date time axis uses date time scale and displays the date time values as axis labels in the specified format. To get start quickly with DateTime axis in ASP.NET Core Charts, you can check on this video:

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

DateTimeCategory Axis

Date-time category axis is used to display the date-time values with non-linear intervals.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTimeCategory" skeleton="Ed"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="x" yName="y" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2017, 11, 20), y= 21 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2017, 11, 21), y= 24 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2017, 11, 22), y= 24 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2017, 11, 26), y= 70 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2017, 11, 27), y= 75 }, 
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2018, 0, 2), y= 82 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2018, 0, 3), y= 53 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2018, 0, 4), y= 54 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2018, 0, 5), y= 53 },
              new LineChartData{ x= new DateTime(2018, 0, 8), y= 45 }
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime x;
            public double y;
        }

Range

Range for an axis, will be calculated automatically based on the provided data, you can also customize the range of the axis using minimummaximum and interval property of the axis.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime"  minimum="new DateTime(2005, 6, 1)"
        maximum="new DateTime(2007, 6, 1)" interval="4"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

Interval Customization

Date time intervals can be customized by using the interval and intervalType properties of the axis. For example, when you set interval as 2 and intervalType as years, it considers 2 years as interval. DateTime axis supports following interval types,

  • Auto
  • Years
  • Months
  • Days
  • Hours
  • Minutes
  • Seconds
<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime" intervalType="Years"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

Applying Padding to the Range

Padding can be applied to the minimum and maximum extremes of the range by using the rangePadding property. Date time axis supports the following types of padding,

  • None
  • Round
  • Additional

DateTime - None

When the rangePadding is set to None, minimum and maximum of the axis is based on the data.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime" rangePadding="None"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

DateTime - Round

When the rangePadding is set to Round, minimum and maximum will be rounded to the nearest possible value divisible by interval. For example, when the minimum is 15th Jan, interval is 1 and the interval type is ‘month’, then the axis minimum will be Jan 1st.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime" rangePadding="Round"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

DateTime - Additional

When the rangePadding is set to Additional, interval of an axis will be padded to the minimum and maximum of the axis.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime" rangePadding="Additional"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

Label Format

You can format and parse the date to all globalize format using labelFormat property in an axis.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryxaxis valueType="DateTime" labelFormat="yMd"></e-chart-primaryxaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }

The following table describes the result of applying some common date time formats to the labelFormat property

Label Value Label Format Property Value Result Description
new Date(2000, 03, 10) EEEE Monday The Date is displayed in day format
new Date(2000, 03, 10) yMd 04/10/2000 The Date is displayed in month/date/year format
new Date(2000, 03, 10) MMM Apr The Shorthand month for the date is displayed
new Date(2000, 03, 10) hm 12:00 AM Time of the date value is displayed as label
new Date(2000, 03, 10) hms 12:00:00 AM The Label is displayed in hours:minutes:seconds format

Custom Label Format

Axis also supports custom label format using placeholder like {value}°C, in which the value represents the axis label e.g 20°C.

<ejs-chart id="container" width="60%">
        <e-chart-primaryyaxis labelFormat="${value}K"></e-chart-primaryyaxis>
        <e-series-collection>
            <e-series dataSource="ViewBag.dataSource" xName="xValue" yName="yValue" name="India" type="@Syncfusion.EJ2.Charts.ChartSeriesType.Line"></e-series>
        </e-series-collection>
    </ejs-chart>
public ActionResult Index()
        {
            List<LineChartData> chartData = new List<LineChartData>
            {
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2005, 01, 01), yValue = 21, yValue1 = 28 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2006, 01, 01), yValue = 24, yValue1 = 44 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2007, 01, 01), yValue = 36, yValue1 = 48 },
                new LineChartData { xValue = new DateTime(2008, 01, 01), yValue = 38, yValue1 = 50 },
            };
            ViewBag.dataSource = chartData;
            return View();
        }

        public class LineChartData
        {
            public DateTime xValue;
            public double yValue;
            public double yValue1;
        }