diff --git a/pdb-js/src/app/components/datepicker/date-picker.component.ts b/pdb-js/src/app/components/datepicker/date-picker.component.ts
index 60b4caf..3544bd5 100644
--- a/pdb-js/src/app/components/datepicker/date-picker.component.ts
+++ b/pdb-js/src/app/components/datepicker/date-picker.component.ts
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ export class DatePickerComponent implements ControlValueAccessor {
     const hours = x.hours ? "-"+x.hours + "H" : "";
     const minutes = x.minutes ? "-"+x.minutes + "m" : "";
     
-    const timeRange = `B${years}${months}${days}${hours}${minutes}/Bm`;
+    const timeRange = `B${years}${months}${days}${hours}${minutes}/Bm`; 
 
     const newValue = new DateValue("RELATIVE", timeRange, timeRange);
     this.setDateValue(newValue);
diff --git a/pdb-js/src/app/plot-view/plot-view.component.ts b/pdb-js/src/app/plot-view/plot-view.component.ts
index 1a74614..eeaeb09 100644
--- a/pdb-js/src/app/plot-view/plot-view.component.ts
+++ b/pdb-js/src/app/plot-view/plot-view.component.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { Overlay } from "@angular/cdk/overlay";
 
 import { DateTime, Duration } from "luxon";
 import { DateValue } from '../components/datepicker/date-picker.component';
+import { Observable } from 'rxjs';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'pdb-plot-view',
@@ -190,11 +191,11 @@ export class PlotViewComponent {
   }
 
   zoomRange(range: SelectionRange) {
-    this.shiftDate(this.config?.dateRange.value!, range.startPercentOfDateRange, range.endPercentOfDateRange-1);
+    this.shiftDate(this.config?.dateRange!, range.startPercentOfDateRange, range.endPercentOfDateRange-1);
   }
   
   zoomWithDateAnchor(dateAnchor: DateAnchor){
-    this.shiftDateByAnchor(this.config?.dateRange.value!, dateAnchor.cursorPercentOfDateRange, dateAnchor.zoomFactor);
+    this.shiftDateByAnchor(this.config?.dateRange!, dateAnchor.cursorPercentOfDateRange, dateAnchor.zoomFactor);
   }
   
   zoomByScroll(event: WheelEvent) {
@@ -295,18 +296,27 @@ export class PlotViewComponent {
    * shiftDateByAnchor(dateRangeAsString, 0.20, 0.5) zooms in by 50%, so that the date that was at 20% before the zoom is still at 20% after the zoom
    * shiftDateByAnchor(dateRangeAsString, 0.33, 2) zooms out by 50%, so that the date that was at 33% before the zoom is still at 33% after the zoom
    */
- shiftDateByAnchor(dateRange:string, anchorInPercentOfDateRange:number, zoomFactor:number)
+ shiftDateByAnchor(dateValue:DateValue, anchorInPercentOfDateRange:number, zoomFactor:number)
  {
-     const dateRangeParsed = this.parseDateRange(dateRange);
-     const dateRangeInSeconds = Math.floor(dateRangeParsed.duration.toMillis()/1000);
+  debugger;
+     const dateRangeParsed = this.parseDateRange(dateValue);
+     dateRangeParsed.subscribe({
+      next: (dataRange: DateRange) => {
+        const dateRangeInSeconds = Math.floor(dataRange.duration.toMillis()/1000);
      
-     const anchorTimestampInSeconds = dateRangeParsed.startDate.plus(Math.floor(dateRangeInSeconds*anchorInPercentOfDateRange)*1000);
-     const newDateRangeInSeconds = dateRangeInSeconds * zoomFactor;
+        const anchorTimestampInSeconds = dataRange.startDate.plus(Math.floor(dateRangeInSeconds*anchorInPercentOfDateRange)*1000);
+        const newDateRangeInSeconds = dateRangeInSeconds * zoomFactor;
+        
+        const newStartDate = anchorTimestampInSeconds.minus(newDateRangeInSeconds*anchorInPercentOfDateRange*1000);
+        const newEndDate = newStartDate.plus({seconds: newDateRangeInSeconds});;
+        
+        this.setDateRange(newStartDate, newEndDate);
+      },
+      error: (err: any) => {
+        window.console.error("failed to parse DateValue into DateRange: ", err);
+      }
+     })
      
-     const newStartDate = anchorTimestampInSeconds.minus(newDateRangeInSeconds*anchorInPercentOfDateRange*1000);
-     const newEndDate = newStartDate.plus({seconds: newDateRangeInSeconds});;
-     
-     this.setDateRange(newStartDate, newEndDate);
  }
  
  /**
@@ -318,27 +328,36 @@ export class PlotViewComponent {
   * shiftDate(dateRangeAsString, -0.5, -0.5) will move the range by half its size to older values
   * shiftDate(dateRangeAsString, 1, 1) will move the range by its size to newer values
   */
- shiftDate(dateRange: string, factorStartDate: number, factorEndDate: number)
+ shiftDate(dateValue: DateValue, factorStartDate: number, factorEndDate: number)
  {
-     const dateRangeParsed = this.parseDateRange(dateRange);
-     const dateRangeInSeconds = Math.floor(dateRangeParsed.duration.toMillis()/1000);
-     
-     const newStartDate = dateRangeParsed.startDate.plus({seconds: dateRangeInSeconds*factorStartDate});
-     const newEndDate = dateRangeParsed.endDate.plus({seconds: dateRangeInSeconds*factorEndDate});
-     
-     this.setDateRange(newStartDate, newEndDate);
+  debugger;
+     this.parseDateRange(dateValue).subscribe(
+      dateRangeParsed => {
+        const dateRangeInSeconds = Math.floor(dateRangeParsed.duration.toMillis()/1000);
+        
+        const newStartDate = dateRangeParsed.startDate.plus({seconds: dateRangeInSeconds*factorStartDate});
+        const newEndDate = dateRangeParsed.endDate.plus({seconds: dateRangeInSeconds*factorEndDate});
+        
+        this.setDateRange(newStartDate, newEndDate);
+      }
+     );
  }
  
-  parseDateRange(dateRangeAsString : string) : DateRange {
-    const startDate = DateTime.fromFormat(dateRangeAsString.slice(0, 19), this.DATE_PATTERN );
-    const endDate = DateTime.fromFormat(dateRangeAsString.slice(22, 41), this.DATE_PATTERN );
-   
-
-   return {
-     startDate: startDate,
-     endDate: endDate,
-     duration: endDate.diff(startDate),
-   };
+  parseDateRange(dateValue : DateValue) : Observable<DateRange> {
+    return this.service.toDateRange(dateValue);
+    /*
+      .pipe(map((dateRangeAsString:string) => {
+        const startDate = DateTime.fromFormat(dateRangeAsString.slice(0, 19), this.DATE_PATTERN );
+        const endDate = DateTime.fromFormat(dateRangeAsString.slice(22, 41), this.DATE_PATTERN );
+      
+    
+      return {
+        startDate: startDate,
+        endDate: endDate,
+        duration: endDate.diff(startDate),
+      };
+      }));
+      */
   }
 
 
diff --git a/pdb-js/src/app/plot.service.ts b/pdb-js/src/app/plot.service.ts
index f430967..81d00cb 100644
--- a/pdb-js/src/app/plot.service.ts
+++ b/pdb-js/src/app/plot.service.ts
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@ import { HttpClient, HttpParams } from "@angular/common/http";
 import { Observable } from "rxjs";
 import { map } from "rxjs/operators";
 import { DateValue } from "./components/datepicker/date-picker.component";
+import { DateRange } from "./plot-view/plot-view.component";
+import { DateTime } from "luxon";
 
 @Injectable({
   providedIn: "root",
 })
 export class PlotService {
+
+  readonly DATE_PATTERN = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss";
+
   plotTypes: Array<PlotType>;
 
   constructor(private http: HttpClient) {
@@ -253,6 +258,20 @@ export class PlotService {
       ),
     );
   }
+  toDateRange(dateValue: DateValue): Observable<DateRange> {
+    return this.http.post<{start: string, end:string, startEpochMilli: number, endEpochMilli: number}>("//" + window.location.hostname+":" + window.location.port +"/api/dates",dateValue)
+    .pipe(map((data) => {
+      const startDate = DateTime.fromFormat(data.start.slice(0, -1), this.DATE_PATTERN );
+      const endDate = DateTime.fromFormat(data.end.slice(0, -1), this.DATE_PATTERN );
+    
+  
+    return {
+      startDate: startDate,
+      endDate: endDate,
+      duration: endDate.diff(startDate),
+    };
+    }));
+  }
 }
 
 export class PlotType {
diff --git a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/DateTimeRangeParser.java b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/DateTimeRangeParser.java
index 11ace4a..f2d13a3 100644
--- a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/DateTimeRangeParser.java
+++ b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/DateTimeRangeParser.java
@@ -1,16 +1,22 @@
 package org.lucares.pdb.plot.api;
 
 import java.time.DayOfWeek;
+import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneOffset;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
 import java.time.temporal.ChronoUnit;
 import java.time.temporal.TemporalAdjusters;
 import java.util.regex.Matcher;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import org.lucares.pdb.api.DateTimeRange;
+import org.lucares.utils.Preconditions;
 
 public class DateTimeRangeParser {
 
+    private static final DateTimeFormatter DATE_FORMAT = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss");
+
     public static DateTimeRange parse(final OffsetDateTime offsetTime, final String datePeriod) {
 
         final String[] startEnd = datePeriod.split(Pattern.quote("/"));
@@ -122,4 +128,16 @@ public class DateTimeRangeParser {
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("invalid input: " + timeDefinition);
     }
 
+    public static DateTimeRange parseAbsolute(final String dateRangeAsString) {
+        final String[] startEnd = dateRangeAsString.split(Pattern.quote(" - "));
+        Preconditions.checkEqual(startEnd.length, 2, "invalid date range: ''{0}''", dateRangeAsString);
+
+        final String startString = startEnd[0];
+        final String endString = startEnd[1];
+
+        final OffsetDateTime start = LocalDateTime.parse(startString, DATE_FORMAT).atOffset(ZoneOffset.UTC);
+        final OffsetDateTime end = LocalDateTime.parse(endString, DATE_FORMAT).atOffset(ZoneOffset.UTC);
+
+        return new DateTimeRange(start, end);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/PlotSettings.java b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/PlotSettings.java
index 92e78d8..97aebf5 100644
--- a/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/PlotSettings.java
+++ b/pdb-plotting/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdb/plot/api/PlotSettings.java
@@ -1,19 +1,15 @@
 package org.lucares.pdb.plot.api;
 
-import java.time.LocalDateTime;
 import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
-import java.time.ZoneOffset;
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.TreeMap;
-import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import org.lucares.pdb.api.DateTimeRange;
 import org.lucares.recommind.logs.GnuplotAxis;
 import org.lucares.recommind.logs.GnuplotSettings;
-import org.lucares.utils.Preconditions;
 
 public class PlotSettings {
 
@@ -96,12 +92,7 @@ public class PlotSettings {
             final DateTimeRange dateTimeRange = DateTimeRangeParser.parse(OffsetDateTime.now(), dateValue.getValue());
             return dateTimeRange;
         case ABSOLUTE:
-            final String[] startEnd = dateValue.getValue().split(Pattern.quote(" - "));
-            Preconditions.checkEqual(startEnd.length, 2, "invalid date range: ''{0}''", dateValue);
-
-            final OffsetDateTime startDate = LocalDateTime.parse(startEnd[0], DATE_FORMAT).atOffset(ZoneOffset.UTC);
-            final OffsetDateTime endDate = LocalDateTime.parse(startEnd[1], DATE_FORMAT).atOffset(ZoneOffset.UTC);
-            return new DateTimeRange(startDate, endDate);
+            return DateTimeRangeParser.parseAbsolute(dateValue.getValue());
         }
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
 
diff --git a/pdb-ui/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdbui/PdbController.java b/pdb-ui/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdbui/PdbController.java
index f42e812..6b44f9c 100644
--- a/pdb-ui/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdbui/PdbController.java
+++ b/pdb-ui/src/main/java/org/lucares/pdbui/PdbController.java
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package org.lucares.pdbui;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.text.Collator;
+import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
+import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -26,6 +28,9 @@ import org.lucares.pdb.api.DateTimeRange;
 import org.lucares.pdb.api.QueryWithCaretMarker;
 import org.lucares.pdb.api.QueryWithCaretMarker.ResultMode;
 import org.lucares.pdb.datastore.Proposal;
+import org.lucares.pdb.plot.api.DateTimeRangeParser;
+import org.lucares.pdb.plot.api.DateValue;
+import org.lucares.pdb.plot.api.DateValue.DateType;
 import org.lucares.pdb.plot.api.PlotSettings;
 import org.lucares.pdbui.domain.AutocompleteProposal;
 import org.lucares.pdbui.domain.AutocompleteProposalByValue;
@@ -345,6 +350,22 @@ public class PdbController implements HardcodedValues, PropertyKeys {
         return result;
     }
 
+    @RequestMapping(path = "/dates", //
+            method = RequestMethod.POST, //
+            consumes = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE, //
+            produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE //
+    )
+    @ResponseBody
+    public DateTimeRange dates(@RequestBody final DateValue dateValue) {
+        final DateType type = dateValue.getType();
+        final DateTimeRange result = switch (type) {
+        case RELATIVE -> DateTimeRangeParser.parse(OffsetDateTime.now(ZoneId.of("UTC")), dateValue.getValue());
+        case QUICK -> DateTimeRangeParser.parse(OffsetDateTime.now(ZoneId.of("UTC")), dateValue.getValue());
+        case ABSOLUTE -> DateTimeRangeParser.parseAbsolute(dateValue.getValue());
+        };
+        return result;
+    }
+
     @PostMapping(path = "/data", consumes = MediaType.MULTIPART_MIXED_VALUE)
     @ResponseBody
     @ResponseStatus(code = HttpStatus.CREATED)