### ----------------------------------------------------
### -- Interval
### -- Licenses: Artistic-2.0
### -- Authors: Elizabeth Mattijsen
### -- File: README.md
### ----------------------------------------------------
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NAME
====

Interval - a DateTime that has intervals

SYNOPSIS
========

```raku
use Interval;          # just export the Interval class

my $a = Interval.new(2020,1,1,0,0,0);   # from 2020, interval of 1 hour
say $a;  # 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z
$a++;    # 2020-01-01T01:00:00Z         # one hour later
say $a.seconds;  # 3600

my $b = Interval[60].new(time);         # from now, interval of 1 minute
say $b;  # 2020-04-03T11:42:09Z
$b += 10;
say $b;  # 2020-04-03T11:52:09Z         # ten minutes later

use Interval :refine;   # lexical refinement of the DateTime class

my $c = DateTime[60].new(time);         # from now, interval of 1 minute
say $c;  # 2020-04-03T11:42:09Z
$c += 10;
say $c;  # 2020-04-03T11:52:09Z         # ten minutes later
```

DESCRIPTION
===========

The `Interval` class is a parameterizable subclass of `DateTime` that incorporates interval information (in seconds), and the `.succ` and `.pred` methods, which allow it to be used as endpoints in `Range` (aka `..`) or series (aka `...`). Or allow it to be incremented or decremented to get to after the interval. Or add / subtract a given number of intervals.

The parameterization value is in seconds and defaults to `3600`, aka 1 hour.

LEXICAL REFINEMENT
==================

You can also use the `Interval` class with the `:refine` parameter. This will "augment" the `DateTime` class in the lexical scope in which the `use` statement is located. This allows one to not to have to change existing code using the `DateTime` class, while still having the added functionality of the `Interval` class.

Please note that the use of lexical refinement is an experiment for now, until it has proven its worth.

METHODS
=======

succ
----

Produces the "next" `Interval` object.

pred
----

Produces the "previous" `Interval` object.

seconds
-------

Returns the number of seconds of the interval.

OPERATORS
=========

infix:<+>
=========

```raku
my $b = Interval[60].new(time);         # from now, interval of 1 minute
say $b;  # 2020-04-03T11:42:09Z
$b += 10;
say $b;  # 2020-04-03T11:52:09Z         # ten minutes later
```

Allows adding a number of steps of the interval.

infix:<->
=========

Allows subtracting a number of steps of the interval.

AUTHOR
======

Elizabeth Mattijsen <liz@raku.rocks>

Source can be located at: https://github.com/lizmat/Interval . Comments and Pull Requests are welcome.

If you like this module, or what I'm doing more generally, committing to a [small sponsorship](https://github.com/sponsors/lizmat/) would mean a great deal to me!

COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
=====================

Copyright 2020, 2021, 2024 Elizabeth Mattijsen

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the Artistic License 2.0.



