Make inclusive/exclusive ranges consistent and explicit

[zanebclark]

Range inclusivity/exclusivity is suggested in the curbs spec. I'd recommend that range boundaries be explicitly defined as inclusive or exclusive. To aid in the sensible definition of contiguous ranges, I'd suggested that one range boundary is exclusive and one is inclusive. For example, defining two contiguous Time Spans with inclusive from and inclusive to would be a bit cumbersome:

{
  "from": "2021-08-11 00:00:00",
  "to": "2021-08-12 00:00:00"
}

{
  "from": "2021-08-12 00:00:01",
  "to": "2021-08-13 00:00:00"
}

Note the need to define the 2nd Time Span with a contrived from. Having an inclusive from and exclusive to would solve this.

A few ranges with the my interpreted range boundary conditions:

• Curb Zone
  • start_date: Inclusive
  • end_date: Exclusive
• Time Span
  • from: Inclusive
  • to: Inclusive
• Rate
  • start_minutes: Inclusive
  • end_minutes: Inclusive
• Location Reference
  • start: Inclusive
  • end: Inclusive

[jiffyclub]

Big 👍 for explicitly defining inclusivity, and inclusive start/exclusive end is a good default.

In MDS we went through a similar discussion and ended up choosing to add flags that allow policy authors to choose whether start and end are inclusive or exclusive, defaulting to inclusive. There were cases where folks thought one situation or the other made for the simplest policy rules. Here's the PR where we made the change: openmobilityfoundation/mobility-data-specification#689

[schnuerle]

Thanks! Fixed TOC link and made rate end exclusive too (as I wrote my comment I realized it probably should be).

[jiffyclub]

Looks good, thanks @schnuerle! I think we will ultimately want to apply this to length as well since this issue comes up with any kind of continuous measurement. Does the span 10-20 cm end at the 19|20 boundary, or at the 20|21 boundary?

[schnuerle]

Ok you make a good point. Renamed 'Time Range' to 'Range Boundaries' in the General Info and Curbs areas of the spec, and included measurements as well. See the latest.

[schnuerle]

Added to Metrics query parameters too.

[zanebclark]

@schnuerle , I'm happy with the outcome here if you'd like to remove the feedback needed tag