Gretl Manual: Gnu Regression, Econometrics and Time-series Library
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# Scope of variables

All variables created within a function are local to that function, and are destroyed when the function exits, unless they are made available as return values and these values are "picked up" or assigned by the caller.

Functions do not have access to variables in "outer scope" (that is, variables that exist in the script from which the function is called) except insofar as these are explicitly passed to the function as arguments. Even in this case, what the function actually gets is a copy of the variables in question. Therefore, variables in outer scope are never modified by a function other than via assignment of the return values from the function.

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