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ceil

Returns the smallest integral value greater than or equal to each input value.

Prototype

	function ceil (
		values  : numeric   
	)

	return_val [dimsizes(values)] :  float or double

Arguments

values

One or more numeric values of any dimension.

Return value

Returns an array dimensioned the same as values. The return type is double if the input is double, and float otherwise.

Description

This function returns the smallest integral value greater than or equal to each value in values. Missing values are ignored.

Note that the values returned will be float or double. If you want integers, convert them with toint. See example below.

Examples

Example 1

  f       = 6.4
  floor_f = floor(f)
  ceil_ f = ceil(ceil_f)
  print(floor_f)        ; Should be 6
  print(ceil_f)         ; Should be 7

Example 2

A common use of both ceil and floor is to return 'nice' values so you can use them to create integer ranges for contour levels, labeling X/Y axes, time arrays, etc:

  years    = (/1985.2,1986.8,1990.5,1993.2,1995.0,1997.9,1998.3/)
  min_year = toint(floor(min(years)))
  max_year = toint(ceil(max(years)))
  
  years_int = ispan(min_year,max_year,1)
  print(years_int)

Output: