Add a tutorial for datetime data

[noorbuchi]

This tutorial will help users understand how to plot data in date and time ranges. It will discuss the different possible formats of the data and give examples of how the plots can be customized. Many community members mentioned the need for this tutorial so our team (@munzekm, @cklima616, @nathandloria and I) will working on it.

Preview at https://pygmt-git-fork-noorbuchi-master-gmt.vercel.app/tutorials/date_time_charts.html

Fixes #549

Reminders

• Run make format and make check to make sure the code follows the style guide.
• Add tests for new features or tests that would have caught the bug that you're fixing.
• Add new public functions/methods/classes to doc/api/index.rst.
• Write detailed docstrings for all functions/methods.
• If adding new functionality, add an example to docstrings or tutorials.

Slash Commands

You can write slash commands (/command) in the first line of a comment to perform
specific operations. Supported slash commands are:

• /format: automatically format and lint the code
• /test-gmt-dev: run full tests on the latest GMT development version

[seisman]

@noorbuchi It's recommended to create a new branch and commit changes to it, rather than committing directly to your master branch.

[noorbuchi]

@noorbuchi It's recommended to create a new branch and commit changes to it, rather than committing directly to your master branch.

Thanks for mentioning that. We will definitely be using the git-flow in our fork to manage our work. I just had to push to the main branch in the fork to create a placeholder for our work

[noorbuchi]

@seisman I've been working a bit on the tutorial and I have a small question. When plotting points, should we link to the page that specifies the possible input for styling points? If so, where can I find this page? Thank you!

[seisman]

When plotting points, should we link to the page that specifies the possible input for styling points? If so, where can I find this page?

I don't think we have a tutorial or a gallery example for different symbol styles yet.

[noorbuchi]

When plotting points, should we link to the page that specifies the possible input for styling points? If so, where can I find this page?

I don't think we have a tutorial or a gallery example for different symbol styles yet.

Ok, I see. So should we try to explain the different shapes that the points could have? Similar to the -S flag in GMT official documentation here

[seisman]

When plotting points, should we link to the page that specifies the possible input for styling points? If so, where can I find this page?

I don't think we have a tutorial or a gallery example for different symbol styles yet.

Ok, I see. So should we try to explain the different shapes that the points could have? Similar to the -S flag in GMT official documentation here

No, it should be in a separate gallery example.

[noorbuchi]

Hello @seisman @weiji14, I've been looking at the example you provided in #549 and I'm confused on what the frame argument is doing exactly. This is the example

fig = pygmt.Figure() 
with pygmt.config(FORMAT_TIME_MAP="abbreviation"): 
    fig.basemap( 
     region=["2020-1-24T", "2020-1-27T", 0, 1], 
     projection="X6c/1c", 
     frame=["pa1K", "sa1K", "NWse"], 
    ) 
fig.basemap(frame=["pa1K", "sa1K", "nwSE"])
fig.show()

I understand the purpose of NWse and nwSE which is choosing which borders are to be labeled and displayed. However, I wasn't able to find any PyGmt documentation for pa1K and sa1K here. Can you please either explain them or link to some documentation that does. Thanks a lot for the help!

[seisman]

However, I wasn't able to find any PyGmt documentation for pa1K and sa1K here. Can you please either explain them or link to some documentation that does. Thanks a lot for the help!

It's not documented in PyGMT yet. You can find it in the GMT documentation (https://docs.generic-mapping-tools.org/dev/cookbook/options.html#axes-settings and https://docs.generic-mapping-tools.org/dev/cookbook/options.html#cartesian-time-axes).

[weiji14]

This is looking really good. Thanks @noorbuchi for keeping on top of this! Agree with @seisman that we shouldn't leave this PR for too long, but I would recommend a couple more rounds of polish, and merging by the end of the working week (Friday).

[core-man]

This tutorial looks great to me 😄😄 😄 @noorbuchi, @munzekm, @cklima616 and @nathandloria Thanks a lot for your continuous contributions. Plotting datetime charts is very useful and I have learned a lot from this tutorial.