timewrap command: Overview, syntax, and usage

The SPL2 timewrap command displays, or wraps, the output of the timechart command so that every period of time is a different series.

Use the timewrap command to compare data over specific time period, such as day-over-day or month-over-month. You can also use the timewrap command to compare multiple time periods, such as a two week period over another two week period. See the Syntax section.

Use these links to quickly navigate to the main sections in this topic:

• How the SPL2 timewrap command works
• Syntax
• Usage
• See also

How the SPL2 timewrap command works

Because the SPL2 timewrap command is used with the timechart command, let's start with that.

The following search counts the number of earthquakes in Alaska where the magnitude is greater than or equal to 5.3. The results are organized in spans of 1 day.

|search source=all_month.csv place=*alaska* mag>=5.3 | timechart count() span=1d

The results look something like this:

_time	count
08 Sep 2024	1
09 Sep 2024	1
10 Sep 2024	1
11 Sep 2024	0
12 Sep 2024	0
13 Sep 2024	0
14 Sep 2024	1
15 Sep 2024	0
16 Sep 2024	0
The results continue through 2024-09-23 but are truncated in this example.

Combining the timewrap and timechart commands

Now let's add the timewrap command to the search and specify a <timewrap-span> of 1week.

|search source=all_month.csv place=*alaska* mag>=5.3 | timechart count() span=1d | timewrap 1week

The results are organized based on the day you run the search, which in this example 02 Oct 2024. Going back in 1 week increments to the week that the data starts (08 Sep 2024), the results look something like this:

_time	3weeks_before	2weeks_before	1week_before
26 Sep 2024		0	0
27 Sep 2024		0	0
28 Sep 2024		1	0
29 Sep 2024	1	0	0
30 Sep 2024	1	0	1
01 Oct 2024	1	0
02 Oct 2024	0	0

Using the <timewrap-span> argument

The <timewrap-span> you specify controls how many rows are returned in the results and the ranges for the counts displayed in the columns. The <timewrap-span> specified is 1week so there are 7 rows in the output. Counting back from 02 Oct 2024, there are 3 weeks between 02 Oct 2024 and 08 Sep 2024, which is why the column headings refer to 3 weeks, 2 weeks, and 1 week before.

The first date in the output is 26 Sep 2024. Counting back 3 weeks is 05 Sep 2024. There are no events for that date, which is why the output contains no value in the column 3weeks_before for 26 Sep 2024.

Look at the date 29 Sep 2024. Counting back 3 weeks is 08 Sep 2024. There is 1 earthquake for that date, as shown in the results for the first search.

This pattern continues for the rest of the results.

Syntax

timewrap

<timewrap-span>

[align=now | end]

Required arguments

<timewrap-span>

Syntax: [<int>]<timescale>

Description: A span of each bin, based on time. The timescale is required. The int is not required. If <int> is not specified, 1 is assumed. For example if day is specified for the timescale, 1day is assumed. See the Timescale options section.

Optional arguments

align

Syntax: align=now | end

Description: Specifies if the wrapping should be aligned to the current time or the end time of the search.

Default: end

Timescale options

<timescale>

Syntax: <sec> | <min> | <hr> | <day> | <week> | <month> | <quarter> | <year>

Description: Time scale units.

Time scale	Syntax	Description
<sec>	s | sec | secs | second | seconds	Time scale in seconds.
<min>	min | mins | minute | minutes	Time scale in minutes.
<hr>	h | hr | hrs | hour | hours	Time scale in hours.
<day>	d | day | days	Time scale in days.
<week>	w | week | weeks	Time scale in weeks.
<month>	m | mon | month | months	Time scale in months. The timewrap command uses the abbreviation m to refer to months. Other commands , such as timechart and bin use the abbreviation m to refer to minutes.
<quarter>	qtr | quarter | quarters	Time scale in quarters
<year>	y | yr | year | years	Time scale in years.

Usage

You must use the timechart command in the search before you use the timewrap command.

The wrapping is based on the end time of the search. If you specify the time range of All time, the wrapping is based on today's date. You see this in the timestamps for the _time field and in the data series names.

Differences between SPL and SPL2

The following arguments from the SPL timewrap command do not have an equivalent argument in the SPL2 timewrap command.

• series
• time_format

See also

timewrap command

timewrap command: Examples

Related information

timechart command: Overview and syntax