Onset Date Partial Interval Width Tool

Description

Return width = latestDay - earliestDay, adding one when inclusiveDays is true.

Epidemiological timing depends on which event defines the origin, how intervals include their boundaries and whether time is observed. Numeric day coordinates and elapsed intervals do not by themselves select a calendar or a transmission model.

Return width = latestDay - earliestDay, adding one when inclusiveDays is true.

When to use this tool

Use Onset Date Partial Interval Width when reconciling supplied day coordinates, observation windows or interval boundaries.

How to use the tool and how it works

Enter earliestDay, latestDay, inclusiveDays. Use the units and conventions below.
Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
Read width. Use the output convention below.

Require latestDay >= earliestDay. Return width = latestDay - earliestDay, adding one when inclusiveDays is true. Use matching day coordinates; inclusiveDays counts both integer day endpoints, while false returns their elapsed separation.^[1]

Input field	Meaning and units	Accepted input
earliestDay	Earliest Day	Required. Safe integer.
latestDay	Latest Day	Required. Safe integer.
inclusiveDays	Inclusive Days	Required. Boolean.

Output field	Interpretation	Returned shape
width	Width	Required. Safe integer.

json

{
  "input": {
    "earliestDay": 100,
    "latestDay": 105,
    "inclusiveDays": true
  },
  "output": {
    "width": 6
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

This calculates a supplied interval width, not uncertainty inferred from records. Fractional coordinates remain arithmetic inputs; adding one is meaningful as inclusive day counting only for appropriate whole-day endpoints.
Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use an explicit calendar conversion for real dates and a suitable transmission or censoring model for inference beyond these local time calculations.

References

Calculation and input contract: epidemiology/onset-date-partial-interval-width — tool.io

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