APM Trace time series view

The Time Series view of traces enables you to perform high-level analysis of traces and spans. It uses the same filters that appear in the list of spans, and counts the spans that match the criteria over time. You can perform advanced exploratory analysis through queries, distinct query clauses, and formulas.

Follow these steps to get to the Traces: Time Series interface:

  1. Click the APM tab, and then the Traces option in the drop-down menu.

    navigate to apm traces

  2. The Traces interface appears.

  3. Select Time Series in the view options.

  4. The Time Series interface appears.

Using the APM Traces Time Series Interface

The Traces: Time Series interface has the following information and affordances:

Time series view of traces

  1. Filters help you to determine what requires your immediate attention. For details, see APM Traces Filters.

    APM Filters

    To show filters, expand the filters: click the show filters (Show filters) icon in the top left corner of the page.

    To hide the filters, click the hide filters (Hide filters) icon in the top right corner of the filter panel.

  2. Search for any tag on ingested spans.

  3. Overall interval. The default is Last 5 minutes. Click the drop-down to use the time picker and select the appropriate time interval.

    Time picker

  4. Refresh display: click Refresh (Refresh) to update the display.

  5. Use the Query builder to further specify your query. See Specify a query.

  6. Select the Errors only option to report only on traces that contain an error.

    errors only

  7. From the Spans drop-down, select if you plan to examine all spans, service entry spans only, or trace root spans only.

    Spans selector

  8. Click Add Query to add a new query. See Add Query.

  9. Click Add Formula to add a new Formula. See Add a Formula.

  10. The View type selector enables you to specify the view by selecting one of the following modes:

    time series

    Time Series view

    This article discusses this view.

  11. Select the Combine all queries into one chart to combine all queries and formulas on the same graph. Deselect the option to have them appear on different (smaller) graphs.

    See Combine queries and Separate queries.

  12. Chart of all span metrics that match the filters and time interval criteria. This is, by default, a bar chart.

  13. Click the selector for the chart type, and choose one of the options from the drop-down:

    Choose chart type

    • Line has the normal, thick, and thin option.

    • Bar has the "stacked" option.

    • Area has the stacked option.

    • Points, which has no additional display options.

  14. Click Export (Export) icon to add the chart as a panel of a new or existing dashboard.

  15. Click Save (Save) icon to save this calculation as a new metric.

  16. Click Explore metric (Explore Metric) icon to expand the chart to full size.