EDIT: I've squeezed the filter a lot. I couldn't wrap my head around it before how to make sure something really fit within the time period. It's this: Start date BEFORE the END of the time period, and End date AFTER the BEGINNING of the time period
With the help of someone in my office I think we've figured out how to include everyone in the filter. There are 5 scenarios where a student would be deemed active during the time period in question:
1) Student started and ended during the time period.
2) Student started before and ended during the time period.
3) Student started before and ended after the time period.
4) Student started during the time period and ended after the time period.
5) Student started during the time period and is still active (Doesn't have an end date yet)
Given these criteria, we can actually condense the statements into a few groups because a student can only end between the period dates, after the period date, or they don't have an end date:
1) Student ends during the time period AND [Student starts before OR during]
2) Student ends after the time period AND [Student starts before OR during]
3) Student hasn't finished yet AND [Student starts before OR during]
(
(
student_programs.END_DATE >= '07/01/2017 00:0:0'
OR
student_programs.END_DATE Is Null
)
AND
student_programs.START_DATE <= '06/30/2018 23:59:59'
)
I think this finally covers all the bases and includes all scenarios where a student, or event, or anything is active during a time period when you only have start date and end date. Please, do not hesitate to tell me that I am missing something. I want this to be perfect so others can use this, as I don't believe the other answers have gotten everything right yet.