Applying string matching algorithms to finding ad unit availability interval

1. A method for identifying availability of a content unit for a contiguous set of time units, comprising:

receiving, by a data processing system including one or more processors, a request to reserve inventory of a content unit for a contiguous set of time units within a given date range, the request identifying the date range and a reservation size value for each time unit corresponding to a size of a portion of the time unit to reserve;

generating, by the data processing system, from the request, a request string including a first plurality of characters, each character of the first plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the request string and having a character value, the position corresponding to a respective time unit of the contiguous set of time units and the character value corresponding to the reservation size value associated with the time unit to which the character corresponds;

generating, from an availability schedule of the content unit, an inventory string including a second plurality of characters, each character of the second plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the inventory string and having a character value, the position in the inventory string corresponding to a respective time unit of the date range and the character value representing a size of an available portion of the time unit;

determining a substring of the inventory string that includes an equal number of characters as the request string and each character of the substring having a character value that is equal to or greater than a character value of a corresponding character of the request string; and

providing, for display, dates corresponding to the substring.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the request string from the request includes assigning, to each time unit, a character corresponding to the reservation size value of the time unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the length of the inventory string is equal to a number of time units within the date range, each of the characters of the inventory string corresponding to a time unit within the date range.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating, from the availability schedule of the content unit, the inventory string including the second plurality of characters includes:

identifying, for each time unit in the date range, a size of an available portion of the time unit that; and

assigning a character corresponding to the size of the available portion of the time unit.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a substring of the inventory string includes:

identifying a first character of the request string;

determining a character value corresponding to the first character of the request string; and

determining a first character of the inventory string having a character value that is equal to or greater than the character value corresponding to the first character of the request string.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

identifying, for each subsequent character of the request string, a character value corresponding to the subsequent character;

determining, for the subsequent character, a corresponding character of the inventory string based on a position of the character of the inventory string relative to the first character of the inventory string;

determining, for the corresponding character of the inventory string, a character value that is equal to or greater than the character value of the character of the request string to which the character of the inventory string corresponds based on a position of the character of the request string relative to the first character of the request string.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing, for display, dates corresponding to the substring includes:

identifying a first date corresponding to the first character of the substring; and

providing, for display, the first date that is within the given date range.

8. A system for identifying availability of a content unit for a contiguous set of time units id described, comprising:

a data processing system comprising a memory storing processor-executable instructions; and

a processor configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to receive a request to reserve inventory of a content unit for a contiguous set of time units within a given date range, the request identifying the date range and a reservation size value for each time unit corresponding to a size of a portion of the time unit to reserve;

generate, from the request, a request string including a first plurality of characters, each character of the first plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the request string and having a character value, the position corresponding to a respective time unit of the contiguous set of time units and the character value corresponding to the reservation size value associated with the time unit to which the character corresponds;

generate, from an availability schedule of the content unit, an inventory string including a second plurality of characters, each character of the second plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the inventory string and having a character value, the position in the inventory string corresponding to a respective time unit of the date range and the character value representing a size of an available portion of the time unit;

determine a sub string of the inventory string that includes an equal number of characters as the request string and each character of the sub string having a character value that is equal to or greater than a character value of a corresponding character of the request string; and

provide, for display, dates corresponding to the substring.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein to generate the request string from the request, the processor is further configured to assign, to each time unit, a character corresponding to the reservation size value of the time unit.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the length of the inventory string is equal to a number of time units within the date range, each of the characters of the inventory string corresponding to a time unit within the date range.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein to generate, from an availability schedule of the content unit, the inventory string including a second plurality of characters, the processor is further configured to:

identify, for each time unit in the date range, a size of an available portion of the time unit that; and

assign a character corresponding to the size of the available portion of the time unit.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein to determine a substring of the inventory string, the processor is further configured to:

identify a first character of the request string;

determine a character value corresponding to the first character of the request string; and

determine a first character of the inventory string having a character value that is equal to or greater than the character value corresponding to the first character of the request string.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify, for each subsequent character of the request string, a character value corresponding to the subsequent character;

determine, for the subsequent character, a corresponding character of the inventory string based on a position of the character of the inventory string relative to the first character of the inventory string;

determine, for the corresponding character of the inventory string, a character value that is equal to or greater than the character value of the character of the request string to which the character of the inventory string corresponds based on a position of the character of the request string relative to the first character of the request string.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein to provide, for display, dates corresponding to the substring, the processor is further configured to:

identify a first date corresponding to the first character of the substring; and

provide, for display, the first date that is within the given date range.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions to provide information via a computer network, the instructions comprising instructions to:

receive a request to reserve inventory of a content unit for a contiguous set of time units within a given date range, the request identifying the date range and a reservation size value for each time unit corresponding to a size of a portion of the time unit to reserve;

generate, from the request, a request string including a first plurality of characters, each character of the first plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the request string and having a character value, the position corresponding to a respective time unit of the contiguous set of time units and the character value corresponding to the reservation size value associated with the time unit to which the character corresponds;

generate, from an availability schedule of the content unit, the inventory string including a second plurality of characters, each character of the second plurality of characters corresponding to a position in the inventory string and having a character value, the position in the inventory string corresponding to a respective time unit of the date range and the character value representing a size of an available portion of the time unit;

determine a sub string of the inventory string that includes an equal number of characters as the request string and each character of the sub string having a character value that is equal to or greater than a character value of a corresponding character of the request string; and

provide, for display, dates corresponding to the substring.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein generating the request string from the request includes assigning, to each time unit, a character corresponding to the reservation size value of the time unit.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the length of the inventory string is equal to a number of time units within the date range, each of the characters of the inventory string corresponding to a time unit within the date range.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein generating, from the availability schedule of the content unit, the inventory string including the second plurality of characters includes:

identifying, for each time unit in the date range, a size of an available portion of the time unit that; and

assigning a character corresponding to the size of the available portion of the time unit.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein determining a substring of the inventory string includes:

identify a first character of the request string;

determine a character value corresponding to the first character of the request string; and

determine a first character of the inventory string having a character value that is equal to or greater than the character value corresponding to the first character of the request string.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein providing, for display, dates corresponding to the substring includes:

identify a first date corresponding to the first character of the substring; and

provide, for display, the first date that is within the given date range.