# Challenges with the \`schedule\` table for organizations in the USA

**URL:** <https://forum.openreferral.org/t/challenges-with-the-schedule-table-for-organizations-in-the-usa/429>\
**Category:** Technical\
**Tags:** datastructure\
**Created:** [September 14, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://forum.openreferral.org/t/challenges-with-the-schedule-table-for-organizations-in-the-usa/429 "2023-09-14T00:35:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 13

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**Author:** ![mrshll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@mrshll](https://forum.openreferral.org/u/mrshll)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2026, 10:17am UTC](https://forum.openreferral.org/t/challenges-with-the-schedule-table-for-organizations-in-the-usa/429/13 "2026-03-05T10:17:31Z")

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Hi folks,

I’ve mocked up some sample data of how a service could look with some changes to the schedules object, that Skyler and I have been discussing:

- [sample service.json](https://gist.github.com/mrshll1001/802b7d4bcc7a4d55c611c55edd6eb1c6)

Broadly, the changes can be summarised as the following:

- deprecate `service.schedules`, but replace it with two fields: `service.opening_hours` and `service.events`. _Each_ of these is a separate array of `schedule` objects, with different semantics (one is for the regular hours or opening hours, one is for events)
- add in a `schedule.group` field which allows systems/publishers to group individual schedule objects. For example you might have separate weekend and weekday hours, which are in turn different across holiday periods. This allows you to label each schedule as belonging to a group. Systems can use them to determine which schedules would go together.
- add in a `schedule.shortcode` field which draws from a codelist (enum) and acts as shorthand for particular recurrence rules e.g. `24-7` or `24-hours`.

Keen to hear thoughts. I’m definitely not wedded to any particular field names etc. so feel free to suggest alternatives e.g. if `service.regular_hours` is better than `service.opening_hours` etc.

I think we’ll add this as an agenda item to the commmitte meeting, so there’ll also be an opporunity to feed back there.

Skyler and I are intending to work through this some more with the goal of putting a proposal in for a MINOR upgrade at some point in the near future.

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