Question

I have a mySQL table named events with 4 fields (event_id, event_name, event_start_date, event_end_date)

The problem is retrieving the correct events

I would get the record for all the active events in a time period for example between 2011/03/01 to 2011/03/30

1. event 1 starts at 2011/03/10 and ends 2011/03/20 (start and ends
   inside)
2. event 2 starts at 2011/02/05 and ends 2011/03/23 (starts before and
   ends inside)
3. event 3 starts at 2011/03/25 and ends 2011/05/01 (starts inside and
   ends after)
4. event 4 starts at 2011/01/25 and ends 2011/10/12 (starts before and
   ends after)

All events are active during the considered time period and should be retrieved as records

I have no idea how to make it work correctly!
Solutions? Suggestions? Ideas?

Thanks

Answer 1

Assuming @Start and @End hold the date range you are looking for:

SELECT * FROM Events
  -- Exclude items known to be outside the range
WHERE NOT ((event_end_date < @Start) OR (event_start_date > @End))