Calendar Conflict Resolver

Scheduling Algorithms Parsing

You are given a list of events scheduled within a single day. Each event is defined by a start time and an end time in the format HH:MM (24-hour clock). Some events may overlap.

Your task is to write a program that processes the list of events and outputs a new list where all overlapping events are merged into a single continuous event. The resulting list should represent all time intervals during which there is at least one event scheduled, with no overlaps or gaps within a merged interval.

Example:

Given the events:

  • Event 1: 09:00 - 10:30
  • Event 2: 10:15 - 12:00
  • Event 3: 12:30 - 13:30

The merged events would be:

  • Merged Event 1: 09:00 - 12:00
  • Merged Event 2: 12:30 - 13:30

Constraints:

  • Assume the input is provided as a list (or array) of strings with each string representing an event range in the format "HH:MM-HH:MM".
  • Consider edge cases such as events that touch at their boundaries (e.g., one event ends at 10:00 and another starts at 10:00).
  • Your solution must efficiently handle a large number of events.

Write a complete, self-contained program that:

  1. Parses the input events.
  2. Merges overlapping events.
  3. Outputs the minimal list of non-overlapping event intervals in the same format.

Ensure your code is well-structured and includes error handling for potential invalid time formats.