Reference to the mdiff() function

Summary

mdiff(<timeWindow>, <tsExpression>)

Returns the moving difference between data values reported timeWindow apart, within each time series described by the expression.

Parameters

ParameterDescription
timeWindow Amount of time in the moving time window. You can specify a time measurement based on the clock or calendar (1s, 1m, 1h, 1d, 1w), the window length (1vw) of the chart, or the bucket size (1bw) of the chart. Default is minutes if the unit is not specified.
tsExpression Expression describing the time series you want moving differences for.

Description

The mdiff() function returns the moving difference for each time series described by the expression. The moving difference for a time series is the difference, at each point in time, between the currently reported data value, and the data value that was reported timeWindow ago. For example, mdiff(10m, ts(my.metric)) returns, at each point, the result of subtracting the data value reported 10 minutes ago from the current data value, for each specified time series.

This function does not interpolate any data values before doing the subtraction.  

Examples

In this example, we’re starting with a single time series.

ts mdiff before

In the following chart, each point in the green time series represents the current value minus the value 15 minutes ago.

ts mdiff

See Also

See Using Moving and Tumbling Windows to Highlight Trends for background information.