[ferret_users] return=tstart,p=1

[David Wang <climater@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Ferreters,

I'm using `var,return=tstart,p=1` to return the starting year and likewise the ending year. However when the starting year is 0, the command returns nothing (a null string) which causes troubles when I'd like to assign the value to other variables/symbols. My intention is to calculate multi-year means and variances from monthly data by the approach described here at http://ferret.pmel.noaa.gov/FERRET_17sep07/FAQ/analysis/annual_from_monthly.html
I need the starting and the ending years of the original time axis to define a new time axis. Any clues? 

> yes? say `temp,return=tstart`
>  !-> MESSAGE/CONTINUE 16-JAN 12:00
> 16-JAN 12:00
>
> yes? say `temp,return=tstart,p=1`
>  !-> MESSAGE/CONTINUE

 

Thanks very much,
David