# Fold bridges into one deadline rule

## Intention

I want to apply a single term to two kinds of notice, not including the event day.

## Incorrect form and why it stays silent

An inclusive guard treats the event day as admissible:

```text title="Incorrect form"
days_between(add_business_days(sent_on, 3 business_day), visit_on) >= 0
```

## Correct form

```law
language "law.core" version "0.2";
package recipes.e.r11 version "0.1.0";
namespace "urn:recipe:e-time:11";

entity Person;
relation registered(p: Person);
source SyntheticCalendar { kind standard; jurisdiction "none"; number "E-CALENDAR"; }
calendar Calendar {
    timezone "Asia/Almaty";
    timezone_db "iana-tzdb@2026a";
    period [@2024-01-01, @2028-01-01);
    source SyntheticCalendar;
    resource "resources/calendar-2024-2027.json";
    format "law.calendar/0.1";
    content_hash "sha256:dfd0181e1347cc2fd48b5fd81d27f3551cabae10eaefbf8b4dffb70bcbb3cd12";
}
deadline policy Days {
    start_count next_day;
    include_end true;
    roll next_working_day;
}
relation sent_a(p: Person, on: Date);
relation sent_b(p: Person, on: Date);
relation notice(p: Person, on: Date);
relation visit(p: Person, on: Date);
relation timely(p: Person);
rule BridgeA strict { for p: Person; for on: Date; when sent_a(p, on); then notice(p, on); }
rule BridgeB strict { for p: Person; for on: Date; when sent_b(p, on); then notice(p, on); }
rule CommonTerm strict {
    for p: Person; for sent_on: Date; for visit_on: Date;
    when notice(p, sent_on) and visit(p, visit_on)
        and days_between(add_business_days(sent_on, 3 business_day), visit_on) > 0;
    then timely(p);
}
```

## Frozen execution scene



| Facts / cut | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| A: sent 06.03, visit 12.03 | timely | NEITHER |
| A: sent 06.03, visit 13.03 | timely | TRUE_ONLY |
| B: sent 06.03, visit 13.03 | timely | TRUE_ONLY |
| without bridge B | timely | NEITHER |
| cutoff coincided with the event | days_between | 0 |
| same cutoff, incorrect >= | comparison | true — event day admitted |

```law
test "event day excluded from term" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }
        assert sent_a(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-06);
        assert visit(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-12);
    }
    evaluate truth(timely(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a")));
    expect truth_status == NEITHER;
}
```

```law
test "shared term serves first bridge" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }
        assert sent_a(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-06);
        assert visit(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-13);
    }
    evaluate truth(timely(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a")));
    expect truth_status == TRUE_ONLY;
}
```

```law
test "shared term serves second bridge" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }
        assert sent_b(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-06);
        assert visit(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-13);
    }
    evaluate truth(timely(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a")));
    expect truth_status == TRUE_ONLY;
}
```

```law
test "missing bridge stays silent" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }
        assert sent_b(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-06);
        assert visit(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a"), @2026-03-13);
    }
    evaluate truth(timely(entity_ref("urn:recipe:e-time:11:a")));
    expect truth_status == NEITHER;
}
```

```law
test "zero difference on boundary" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }

    }
    evaluate days_between(add_business_days(@2026-03-06, 3 business_day), @2026-03-12);
    expect value == 0;
}
```

The calendar is synthetic: Mon–Fri, 9 March 2026 is a conventional non-working day; this is not an official calendar.

```law
test "inclusive variant admits event day" {
    given {
        context {
            legal_time @2026-03-10;
            decision_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            knowledge_time @2027-12-31T09:00:00+05:00;
            timezone "Asia/Almaty";
            deadline_policy Days;
        }

    }
    evaluate if days_between(add_business_days(@2026-03-06, 3 business_day), @2026-03-12) >= 0 then true else false;
    expect value == true;
}
```

## Counterfactual

The two filing forms meet in notice. runs.without drops BridgeB and reveals a missed bridge. teaches replaces the integer threshold with a quantity and requires E2108; a separate comparison query shows that at the cutoff the difference is zero.

## Boundary

Strict > is chosen for the wording “three full business days before, the event day not included”. Another wording may include the cutoff: see [Check a notice before an event](/recipes/e-time/before-event/). For a real shared code the rule lives with the owner and is imported; this standalone page does not import the corpus.

## Pitfall

The scene excludes the event day and shows the difference between >= and >; the error cannot be fixed by a hidden subtraction of a day.