Data structure for non-overlapping ranges within a single dimension

Question

I need a data structure that can store non-overlapping ranges within a single dimension. The entire range of the dimension need not be completely covered.

An example

Answer 1

The normalized way to represent your data would be to store a record for each unit of time. This can be done in the example of the conference scheduling application. Your constraint would be a unique constraint for

(RoomId, StartTime)

In the case of continuous ranges, you necessarily need to store 2 things, one boundary and either the second boundary or the length. It is usually done by storing the second boundary and then creating a constraint on both boundary of the kind

(boundary not between colBoudaryA and colBoundaryB)

with the additional constraint that

(startBoundary < endBoundary)