Analyzing two sets of appointment schedules and resolving any overlapping conflicts

My goal is to dynamically generate available appointment times based on the number of employees working at a given time and the number of slots already filled. Let's say we have two employees working, one from 4:30 - 7:00 and the other from 4:30 - 7:30, with each appointment lasting 30 minutes. This information is used to populate the possibleAppointments array below.

const possibleAppointments = [
    { time: '4:30 PM' },
    { time: '4:30 PM' },
    { time: '5:00 PM' },
    { time: '5:00 PM' },
    { time: '5:30 PM' },
    { time: '5:30 PM' },
    { time: '6:00 PM' },
    { time: '6:00 PM' },
    { time: '6:30 PM' },
    { time: '6:30 PM' },
    { time: '7:00 PM' },
];

const reservedAppointments = [
    { time: '05:00 PM' }, // ends at 5:30
    { time: '6:10 PM' }, // ends at 6:40
    { time: '6:10 PM' }, // ends at 6:40
];

I am looking to utilize the possibleAppointments and reservedAppointments arrays above to construct an availableAppointments array that excludes any conflicting time slots. The result should resemble the following array:

// availableAppointments
[
  { time: '4:30 PM' },
  { time: '4:30 PM' },
  { time: '5:00 PM' },
  { time: '5:30 PM' },
  { time: '5:30 PM' },
  { time: '7:00 PM' },
]

You can see one of my attempts using Stackblitz here: https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-ivy-7h58ga?file=src/app/app.component.ts

I've been struggling with this for quite some time. How can I adjust the logic in the Stackblitz example to achieve the desired result where

availableAppointments === [
      { time: '4:30 PM' },
      { time: '4:30 PM' },
      { time: '5:00 PM' },
      { time: '5:30 PM' },
      { time: '5:30 PM' },
      { time: '7:00 PM' },
    ]
javascriptarrays

Answer №1

If you want to simplify this, you can convert it into a direct filter() function call. However, to handle the scenario where there are double appointments at the same time slot, you must keep track of which employee each available and reserved appointment belongs to. If not, a single reservation at 5:00 would exclude both possible appointments at 5:00.

const possibleAppointments = [
  { time: '4:30 PM', empl: 1 },
  { time: '4:30 PM', empl: 2 },
  { time: '5:00 PM', empl: 1 },
  { time: '5:00 PM', empl: 2 },
  { time: '5:30 PM', empl: 1 },
  { time: '5:30 PM', empl: 2 },
  { time: '6:00 PM', empl: 1 },
  { time: '6:00 PM', empl: 2 },
  { time: '6:30 PM', empl: 1 },
  { time: '6:30 PM', empl: 2 },
  { time: '7:00 PM', empl: 1 },
];

const reservedAppointments = [
  { time: '05:00 PM', empl: 1 }, // ends at 5:30
  { time: '6:10 PM', empl: 1 }, // ends at 6:40
  { time: '6:10 PM', empl: 2 }, // ends at 6:40
];

const availableAppointments = this.possibleAppointments.filter(possibleAppt => {
  return !this.reservedAppointments.some(rAppt => (
    this.checkIfApptsOverlap(rAppt, possibleAppt) && possibleAppt.empl === rAppt.empl))
});

Answer №2

It can be incredibly challenging to determine time overlaps based on a vague string such as 6:10pm. To simplify this process, I recommend assigning numeric range representations to your times initially. This will enhance the organization of your code and provide ample flexibility for future modifications. For instance, dividing the day into 1440 minutes and allocating a range to each time slot can streamline the identification of overlaps between ranges. However, it is important to note that managing multiple employees and appointments overlapping various slots can add complexity to this task.

Let's consider you followed my suggestion regarding minute-range assignments in the following manner:

0:00 - 0:59 (0 - 59 minutes from start of day)
1:00 - 1:59 (60 - 119 minutes)
2:00 - 2:59 (120 - 179 minutes)
...

When reaching 4:30pm, you would be at:

16:30 - 17:00 (990 - 1019 minutes)
17:00 - 17:30 (1020 - 1049 minutes)

If you have correctly assigned minute representations to your arrays of potential and reserved appointments, the process of obtaining an available slot should be straightforward with considerations for any irregular appointments or multiple employees.

const possibleAppointments = [
    { time: '4:30 PM', start_minutes: 990, end_minutes: 1019 },
    { time: '4:30 PM', start_minutes: 990, end_minutes: 1019 },
    { time: '5:00 PM', start_minutes: 1020, end_minutes: 1049 },
    { time: '5:00 PM', start_minutes: 1020, end_minutes: 1049 },
    { time: '5:30 PM', start_minutes: 1050, end_minutes: 1079 },
    { time: '5:30 PM', start_minutes: 1050, end_minutes: 1079 },
    { time: '6:00 PM', start_minutes: 1080, end_minutes: 1109  },
    { time: '6:00 PM', start_minutes: 1080, end_minutes: 1109  },
    { time: '6:30 PM', start_minutes: 1110, end_minutes: 1139 },
    { time: '6:30 PM', start_minutes: 1110, end_minutes: 1139 },
    { time: '7:00 PM', start_minutes: 1140, end_minutes: 1169 },
];

const reservedAppointments = [
    { time: '5:00 PM', start_minutes: 1020, end_minutes: 1049 }, // ends at 5:30
    { time: '6:10 PM', start_minutes: 1090, end_minutes: 1119 }, // ends at 6:40
    { time: '6:10 PM', start_minutes: 1090, end_minutes: 1119 }, // ends at 6:40
];



reservedAppointments.forEach(taken_slot => {
    const indexes_to_remove = [];
    const times_removed = [];
    for(let i = 0; i < possibleAppointments.length; i++){
        const ind = possibleAppointments.findIndex(item =>
            !times_removed.includes(item.time)  &&
            ((item.start_minutes >= taken_slot.start_minutes && item.start_minutes <= taken_slot.end_minutes) ||
            (item.end_minutes >= taken_slot.start_minutes && item.end_minutes <= taken_slot.end_minutes))
        )
        if(ind === -1)
            break
        else {
            indexes_to_remove.push(ind)
            times_removed.push(possibleAppointments[ind].time)
        }
    }

    for (let i = indexes_to_remove.length -1; i >= 0; i--)
        possibleAppointments.splice(indexes_to_remove[i], 1);
})

console.log(possibleAppointments)

Keep in mind that the possibleAppointments array is directly modified to create the desired availableAppointments array. If you wish to preserve the original variable, you can clone it using: 

const availableAppointments = [...possibleAppointments]
and iterate through availableAppointments instead.

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