`$lte` on date filters does not contain search date

[davidenke]

As mentioned in #77 way back then, date ranges should be possible:

Seems like a bug then. The intention was to have ?created=$gte:{FROM}&created=$lte:{TO} working.

Sorry to bring this up so many years later, but I'm still having trouble setting up a data range filter like this.

While ?created=$gt:{FROM}&created=$lt{TO} is working just fine, like the expression ?created=$btw:{FROM},{TO}, this is still not working for me ?created=$gte:{FROM}&created=$lte:{TO}.

As mentioned, using $btw works for dates, but it is exclusive. But humans might want an inclusive filter, which requires either setting a combination of $gte and $lte or manipulating the date constraints.

Edit: I initially blamed ?created=$gt:{FROM}&created=$lt{TO} to not be working, but it does. Looks like combining $lte or $gte with dates just does not.

[Helveg]

What do you mean with exclusive/inclusive in this case? Have you tried ?created=$not:$btw:{FROM},{TO}, does that flip to the exclusive/inclusive behaviour you desire?

[davidenke]

Sorry for the confusing description.

Given a set of data with numbers from 5...9:
With exclusive I mean basically what $btw does. For e.g. filtering between 5 and 9, the results contain 6, 7 and 8, excluding 5 and 9. That works as expected for dates as well.
By inclusive searches, especially for date ranges, I expect the 5 and 9 to be in the results as well.

So for range filters including the start and end date, one can not use $btw directly. So I combined $gte and $lte to do so.
After checking my configuration, I found out that I haven't allowed lte and gte filters, so now the results are more like it, with one caveat:
Whilst the start date is included in the results, the end date is still not.

So with a date example, having a set of data with the dates:
2026-01-05, 2026-01-06 and 2026-01-07
When searching exclusive with $btw:2026-01-05,2026-01-07 the result is as expected 2026-01-06.
Searching inclusive with $gte:2026-01-05 and $lte:2026-01-07, it results in 2026-01-05, 2026-01-06. But what I would expect is 2026-01-05, 2026-01-06 and 2026-01-07.

---

So simply said, $lte:2026-01-07 does not include 2026-01-07 in the results.

[Helveg]

Thanks for the detailed explanation! IIUC there's 2 actionable points:

• We could add a $btwe operator "between or equal" to perform your inclusive search
  • Since we can already express it another way we might not need this
  • We can instead clarify that it excludes the boundaries in the documentation
• We should fix the $lte bug.

Agreed?

[davidenke]

Yes, you're right. Imho fixing $lte for dates is sufficient, adding another convenient comparator isn't necessary.

Because there are 'half-open' range filter as well, where e.g. only the start date is inclusive. I'd consider everything not $btw as specials, that can be achieved by combination.