This document will guide you through the steps to create a plot that "extends beyond" the time range you originally want to view. This allows the line plot of the values to reach all the way to the edges of the chart. This comes in handy when plotting "slow" values (e.g. manually set values) together with "fast" ones.
You want to plot these channels over the week starting on 2021-10-25:
- ABK1:STA:1
- ABK2:STA:1
Open databuffer UI in your browser and search for ^ABK.*:STA:1$. From the search results select these channels:
- ABK1:STA:1
- ABK2:STA:1
Click on button plot selected 
to change to the plot view.
On the plot view, check if the text fields for Start and End are displayed:
If they are not currently displayed, click the select plot range tool button 
.
Enter the start time 2021-10-25 and the end time 2021-10-31 23:59:59.999. Click on the plot button 
and wait for the plot to be displayed.
Please note, how there are gaps to the left and right of the displayed plot. This is because, within the time range requested, the first and last data points are "far away" from the actual start and end time.
Turn on the query expansion switch 
, click the plot button again, and wait for the updated plot to be displayed.
Please note, how now there are no gaps to the left and right. The query expansion feature of Data API has provided the last data point before the start time, and the next data point after the end time, so the line plot could be continued all the way to the edges.