;*************************************************
; trick_1.ncl
;*************************************************
load "$NCARG_ROOT/lib/ncarg/nclscripts/csm/contributed.ncl"

begin

years  = sprinti("%4i",ispan(1998,2000,1))        ; write integers as string
months = sprinti("%0.2i", ispan(1,12,1))          ; ditto for months

time = new(dimsizes(years)*dimsizes(months),"integer") ; create time array
k=0
do i=0,dimsizes(years)-1
   do j = 0, dimsizes(months)-1
      time(k)=stringtointeger(years(i)+months(j))      ; combine to strings
      k=k+1                                            ; and convert to int
   end do
end do
print(time)


end