This seems to works and is easy to understand.
public static IEnumerable<Range<T>> Collapse<T>(this IEnumerable<Range<T>> me, IComparer<T> comparer)
{
List<Range<T>> orderdList = me.OrderBy(r => r.Start).ToList();
List<Range<T>> newList = new List<Range<T>>();
T max = orderdList[0].End;
T min = orderdList[0].Start;
foreach (var item in orderdList.Skip(1))
{
if (comparer.Compare(item.End, max) > 0 && comparer.Compare(item.Start, max) > 0)
{
newList.Add(new Range<T> { Start = min, End = max });
min = item.Start;
}
max = comparer.Compare(max, item.End) > 0 ? max : item.End;
}
newList.Add(new Range<T>{Start=min,End=max});
return newList;
}
Here is the variation which I mentioned in the comments. It’s basically the same thing, but with some checking and yielding of the results instead of collecting in a list before returning.
public static IEnumerable<Range<T>> Collapse<T>(this IEnumerable<Range<T>> ranges, IComparer<T> comparer)
{
if(ranges == null || !ranges.Any())
yield break;
if (comparer == null)
comparer = Comparer<T>.Default;
var orderdList = ranges.OrderBy(r => r.Start);
var firstRange = orderdList.First();
T min = firstRange.Start;
T max = firstRange.End;
foreach (var current in orderdList.Skip(1))
{
if (comparer.Compare(current.End, max) > 0 && comparer.Compare(current.Start, max) > 0)
{
yield return Create(min, max);
min = current.Start;
}
max = comparer.Compare(max, current.End) > 0 ? max : current.End;
}
yield return Create(min, max);
}