\HeaderA{start}{Encode the Terminal Times of Time Series}{start}
\aliasA{end}{start}{end}
\keyword{ts}{start}
\begin{Description}\relax
Extract and encode the times the first and last observations were
taken. Provided only for compatibility with S version 2.
\end{Description}
\begin{Usage}
\begin{verbatim}
start(x, ...)
end(x, ...)
\end{verbatim}
\end{Usage}
\begin{Arguments}
\begin{ldescription}
\item[\code{x}] a univariate or multivariate time-series, or a vector or matrix.
\item[\code{...}] extra arguments for future methods.
\end{ldescription}
\end{Arguments}
\begin{Details}\relax
These are generic functions, which will use the
\code{\LinkA{tsp}{tsp}} attribute of \code{x} if it exists.
Their default methods decode the start time from the original time
units, so that for a monthly series \code{1995.5} is represented
as \code{c(1995, 7)}. For a series of frequency \code{f}, time
\code{n+i/f} is presented as \code{c(n, i+1)} (even for \code{i = 0}
and \code{f = 1}).
\end{Details}
\begin{Section}{Warning}
The representation used by \code{start} and \code{end} has no
meaning unless the frequency is supplied.
\end{Section}
\begin{SeeAlso}\relax
\code{\LinkA{ts}{ts}}, \code{\LinkA{time}{time}}, \code{\LinkA{tsp}{tsp}}.
\end{SeeAlso}

