[ferret_users] non-standard variable names - inconsistent behavior (version 6.7)

[Hella Riede <hella.riede@xxxxxxx>]

Dear ferreters,

I have come across an inconsistent behavior for non-standard variable names:

I load a file into ferret, which introduces non-standard variable names, 
i.e. including a dash as in 'N4-12'. I know these variable names can be 
often handled by enclosing them in single quotes:

yes? list `N4-12,return=lsize`
 **ERROR: variable unknown or not in data set: N4

yes? list `'N4-12',return=lsize`
             VARIABLE : constant
          3498.

However, this does not work for standard variable names:

yes? let abc = 2
yes? list `abc,return=isize`
             VARIABLE : constant
          1.000

yes? list `'abc',return=isize`
 **ERROR: variable unknown or not in data set: 'abc'


Thus, I need to figure out first for each variable whether it has a 
standard name or not to decide whether I need to use single quotes. It 
would be more consistent and convenient to be able to enclose any 
variable name - standard or not - in single quotes. Sorry if this has 
already been fixed since version 6.7.

Greetings,
Hella