title: How can I use date objects as tick labels for a linear axis?
body: <p>I have tried using the d3 time axis and yes, this problem is resolved by using the d3 time axis but there are lots of other complications I am not able to handle. The linear axis on the other hand seems to only present the issue of tick labels.</p>
  
  <p>I have an array full of date objects for my tick labels - dateTickValues</p>
  
  <pre><code>console.log(dateTickValues)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>returns</p>
  
  <pre><code>Thu Jan 01 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST),Fri Jan 02 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST),Sat Jan 03 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST),Sun Jan 04 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST),Mon Jan 05 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST),Tue Jan 06 2015 05:30:00 GMT+0530 (IST)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>but when I use </p>
  
  <pre><code>var xScale = d3.scale.linear()
  .domain([0, no_of_ticks])
  .range([0, width]);
  
  
  var xAxis = d3.svg.axis()
  .scale(xScale)
  .ticks(no_of_ticks) //computed elsewhere in the code - clean
  .tickValues(dateTickValues)
  .orient("top");
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>the tick labels on the resulting graph are empty - that is no tick labels appear.</p>
  
  <p>Why does this happen and how can I fix it?</p>