RainbowStats™ · Series commands
SAME_DATE_RANGE
Prepare a common-range series list and inspect its resulting frequency and dates.
Syntax
Aligned=SAME_DATE_RANGE(seriesOrList,...)Runnable example
Aligned=SAME_DATE_RANGE(INDPRO,PAYEMS)
AlignedInputs and return
Accepts one or more series or DataLists. List arguments are flattened in argument order, preserving variable order for downstream model indices. Returns a DataList using the installed DataSeriesList.getSameDateRange() implementation.
Non-series inputs are ignored rather than rejected. Check the returned list size and names: a failed series expression must not silently remove a variable from a model. This command is not a generic table join.
Frequency and date labels may change
Do not describe this as endpoint trimming alone, exact-date intersection without resampling, or guaranteed preservation of frequency. In live checks, monthly INDPRO combined with quarterly GDP returned quarterly series. Monthly EIA month-end and FRED month-start inputs were returned on common month-end labels.
Boundary observations can also be lost during alignment. A live check using January through March 1975 EIA month-end prices and FRED month-start industrial production retained only February after common-range processing. This example is a warning to inspect output, not a universal rule about how many observations are removed.
The dispatcher does not specify the aggregation formula, interpolation behavior or treatment of internal missing values; these belong to the installed series implementation. Do not promise averaging, summation, forward filling, exact intersection or complete-case deletion without verifying the relevant implementation. Use explicit conversion or aggregation commands when the economic meaning depends on that choice.
Recommended modeling workflow
Aligned=SAME_DATE_RANGE(INDPRO,PAYEMS)
Growth=LOGDIFF(Aligned)
Sample=SERIES_BETWEEN(Growth,19750101,20191231)
SampleAlign full histories, apply a transformation requiring prior observations, then clip to the desired analysis interval. Inspect the resulting series names, frequency, first and last dates and counts. Matching endpoints alone does not prove that every internal observation is finite and correctly aligned.
For monthly analysis, confirm that every returned series is still monthly before interpreting a lag of 12 as one year. Check observation spacing and effective model sample separately.
Aliases: SAME_RANGE, COMMON_RANGE.