[Gretl-devel] "goodies" for function writers

New in CVS: 1) smpl <varlist> --contiguous "The --contiguous form of smpl is intended for use with time series data. The effect is to trim any observations at the start and end of the current sample range that contain missing values (either for the variables in varlist, or for all data series if no varlist is given). Then a check is performed to see if there are any missing values in the remaining range; if so, an error is flagged." Designed for use by function writers who want to ensure they have a clean sample for doing time series things where embedded NAs are a problem. See also point 3 below. 2) gnuplot <specs> --output=display Modifies the usual behavior of gretl's gnuplot command when in script mode; as in interactive mode, the graph is displayed in a window. 3) Experimental: commands may be prefixed with "catch ", and the effect is that gretl does not stop running a script if executing the command produces an error. Instead the internal error variable, accessible via $error, is set. This is intended to be a more general and flexible replacement for the --continue flag that's currently available for a few commands. E.g. catch smpl <varlist> --contiguous if $error # respond appropriately endif This should work OK for block commands such as mle: the "catch" applies to the whole block. It does not protect against errors in parsing commands, only execution. If you use this facility, you should always check $error immediately afterwards or things are likely to get very confused. Accessing $error causes the internal error code to be cleared. The "catch" facility almost surely has bugs at this point. Allin.