Timeline Application
Table of contents
Introduction
The Timeline application is the primary interface for visualizing and interacting with Missions, Instruments, Data Products, ECVs, and Space Programmes over time. It is accessible via the Visualization menu item in the top navigation bar. It provides up to four visualization modes accessible via a toggle bar, depending on the selected subject:
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| Gantt Chart | Horizontal bar timeline showing start/end dates of elements. Also exposes the underlying data grid. |
| Heatmap | Color-coded grid showing activity density over time periods. |
| Sankey Diagram | Flow diagram showing relationships between entities. |
| Spectrum Coverage | Spectrum allocation and frequency coverage chart. Available for Payload subjects. |
Selecting a Subject
In the top-left dropdown, select the type of element to display:
| Subject | Gantt | Heatmap | Sankey | Spectrum Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission | ✅ | — | ✅ | — |
| Payload (Instrument) | ✅ | — | ✅ | ✅ |
| Data Product | ✅ | — | ✅ | — |
| ECV | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | — |
| Space Program | ✅ | — | ✅ | — |
| Project | ✅ | — | — | — |
| System | ✅ | — | ✅ | — |
The view toggle bar only shows the views that are available for the selected subject. The table/data grid is always accessible within the Gantt view.
Toolbar
The top toolbar groups the most common actions:
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Subject dropdown | Selects the entity type to visualise. The URL is updated with ?subjectView=... so views can be bookmarked or shared. |
| View toggle | Switches between Gantt, Heatmap and Sankey for the selected subject. |
| Select columns | Multi-select dropdown (center) to add Parameter Value columns to the table / Gantt grid. Only shown when the current view supports extra columns. |
| Filter badges | Each active advanced filter is shown as a removable chip in the toolbar center. |
| ECV child display mode | (ECV subject only) A toggle bar with Instruments, Missions, and Data Products options that controls which children are expanded beneath each ECV row. |
| Add filter | Opens the Filter Panel to build advanced filters (property, operator, value) combined with AND / OR. |
| Reset View | Clears all filters, sort orders, pinned columns and grouping. |
| Colors | (Gantt only) Opens the Colors dialog where the bar colour can be mapped to a property of the element (e.g. Status, Data Type). |
| Export As… | Exports the current view to Excel or MS Project (Gantt). The split-button remembers the last format used. |
| Back to Benchmarking | Visible only when the page was opened from the Benchmarking View in Timelines action; returns to the benchmark results. |
| Capture as step | Saves the current visualization state (subject, view, filters, columns) as a step in a Reference Scenario. Disabled until a subject and view are selected. |
Filtering
Two levels of filtering are available:
- Quick filters — the Select columns dropdown and the per-column funnels in the table (text, range, set membership).
- Advanced filters — the Add filter button opens a side panel where you can build a tree of conditions combining any property of the selected subject with AND / OR groupings. The resulting expression is shown as removable badges in the toolbar.
Data Type Filter
For subjects that support it (Mission, Payload, Data Product, Project, System, Space Program) a Data Type filter is available to limit the display to Core, Non-Core, Fictional, or Local what-if scenarios. The set of available data types depends on the user’s permissions — see Data Types and Permissions.