====Stream Span====

Even if you're using your [[class_samplestream|SampleStream]] to search a period of time, you need to set limits.

The //span// of your SampleStream is the minimum and maximum time you'd like to search. 

When you're looking for the signature of a fault in high-resolution data, your time span is often quite small and fixed - such as scanning only the last hour.

If you're searching for events and are unsure how far away they might be, you'll normally choose a coarse data resolution and a generous span of time. But it **is important to still set a limit**, since it's always possible that a search may not find any results, and it's best to stop searching before you hit the 1970s.

The span is set with the [[span|Span]] function.