diff --git a/.gitlab/issue_templates/Default.md b/.gitlab/issue_templates/Default.md
index 6d47b7150d6ddd446c2013022b5bfbcdc94abce4..e16e0c7ce417fc74877ae733e1e4d7e913c135fd 100644
--- a/.gitlab/issue_templates/Default.md
+++ b/.gitlab/issue_templates/Default.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 (This is a template to report problems or suggest a new development. Please fill in the relevant information and remove the rest.)
 
-Hi @aho,
+Hi @vagudets,
 
 #### Summary
 (Bug: Summarize the bug and explain briefly the expected and the current behavior.)  
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 8fd5ee18350d5b284ae22abc5ca64e50af7b7184..35bb1b9f57c6d28367f2e1ad3933cb76a66c3c9b 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 Package: startR
 Title: Automatically Retrieve Multidimensional Distributed Data Sets
-Version: 2.3.1
+Version: 2.4.0
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Nicolau", "Manubens", , "nicolau.manubens@bsc.es", role = c("aut")),
-    person("An-Chi", "Ho", , "an.ho@bsc.es", role = c("aut", "cre"), comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-4182-5258")), 
+    person("An-Chi", "Ho", , "an.ho@bsc.es", role = c("aut"), comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0002-4182-5258")), 
     person("Nuria", "Perez-Zanon", , "nuria.perez@bsc.es", role = c("aut"), comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0001-8568-3071")),
     person("Eva", "Rifa", , "eva.rifarovira@bsc.es", role = "ctb"),
-    person("Victoria", "Agudetse", , "victoria.agudetse@bsc.es", role = "ctb"),
+    person("Victoria", "Agudetse", , "victoria.agudetse@bsc.es", role = c("cre", "ctb")),
     person("Bruno", "de Paula Kinoshita", , "bruno.depaulakinoshita@bsc.es", role = "ctb"),
     person("Javier", "Vegas", , "javier.vegas@bsc.es", role = c("ctb")),
     person("Pierre-Antoine", "Bretonniere", , "pierre-antoine.bretonniere@bsc.es", role = c("ctb")),
@@ -44,5 +44,5 @@ URL: https://earth.bsc.es/gitlab/es/startR/
 BugReports: https://earth.bsc.es/gitlab/es/startR/-/issues
 SystemRequirements: cdo ecFlow
 Encoding: UTF-8
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.1
 Config/testthat/edition: 3
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index c19d7a3389ad581d2f70855758fa7417908d21bc..ad8b0957497246722f2ac438f6720c4b18267ead 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# startR v2.4.0 (Release date: 2024-09-10)
+- Allow chunking along inner dimensions that go across file dimensions
+- Allow more than one file dimension to be specified in "metadata_dims"
+- Add check and warning for when special wildcard "$var$" is missing in the path
+- Bugfix: Start() retrieve correct time steps when time is across file dimension and the time steps of the first files are skipped
+- Bugfix: Generate correct file paths when a file dimension has multiple depending dimensions
+
 # startR v2.3.1 (Release date: 2023-12-22)
 - Use Autosubmit as workflow manager on hub 
 - New feature: Collect result by Collect() on HPCs
diff --git a/R/NcDataReader.R b/R/NcDataReader.R
index 25e33d412dca7545f1878b18eabe90d07e0432d4..47817c65e54684380670ab35b2bd928268afce62 100644
--- a/R/NcDataReader.R
+++ b/R/NcDataReader.R
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ NcDataReader <- function(file_path = NULL, file_object = NULL,
   if (is.null(file_to_read)) {
     return(NULL)
   }
-
   var_requested <- is.null(inner_indices)
 
   drop_var_dim <- FALSE
diff --git a/R/Start.R b/R/Start.R
index 5bfb3bfc67487ff764e7debe1fb7881c325ba610..75e352cbcf78bbea193fe832cce68c7c869e7a43 100644
--- a/R/Start.R
+++ b/R/Start.R
@@ -750,6 +750,9 @@
 #'  components used to build up the paths to each of the files in the data
 #'  sources.
 #'  }
+#'  \item{PatternDim}{
+#'  Character string containing the name of the file pattern dimension.
+#'  }
 #'If \code{retrieve = FALSE} the involved data is not loaded into RAM memory and
 #'an object of the class 'startR_header' with the following components is
 #' returned:\cr
@@ -766,7 +769,7 @@
 #'  multidimensional array with named dimensions, and potentially with the
 #'  attribute 'variables' with additional auxiliary data.
 #'  }
-#'  \item{Files}{
+#'  \item{ExpectedFiles}{
 #'  Multidimensonal character string array with named dimensions. Its dimensions
 #'  are the file dimensions (as requested in \dots). Each cell in this array
 #'  contains a path to a file to be retrieved (which may exist or not).
@@ -777,6 +780,9 @@
 #'  components used to build up the paths to each of the files in the data
 #'  sources.
 #'  }
+#'  \item{PatternDim}{
+#'  Character string containing the name of the file pattern dimension.
+#'  }
 #'  \item{StartRCall}{
 #'  List of parameters sent to the Start() call, with the parameter
 #'  'retrieve' set to TRUE. Intended for calling in order to
@@ -874,7 +880,6 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
   if (!merge_across_dims & merge_across_dims_narm) {
     merge_across_dims_narm <- FALSE
   }
-  
   # Leave alone the dimension parameters in the variable dim_params
   dim_params <- rebuild_dim_params(dim_params, merge_across_dims,
                                    inner_dims_across_files)
@@ -887,6 +892,12 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
   found_pattern_dim <- found_pattern_dims(pattern_dims, dim_names, var_params,
                                           dim_params, dim_reorder_params)
 
+  # Check if file pattern contains '$var$' substring
+  if (any(!grepl("$var$", dim_params[[found_pattern_dim]], fixed = TRUE))) {
+    .warning(paste("The special wildcard '$var$' is not present in the file",
+                   "path. This might cause Start() to fail if it cannot parse",
+                   "the inner dimensions in all the files."))
+  }
   # Check all *_reorder are NULL or functions, and that they all have 
   # a matching dimension param.
   i <- 1
@@ -954,15 +965,13 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
     metadata_dims <- c(pattern_dims, metadata_dims[-which(metadata_dims == pattern_dims)])
   }
   # Check if metadata_dims has more than 2 elements
-  if ((metadata_dims[1] == pattern_dims & length(metadata_dims) > 2)) {
-    .warning(paste0("Parameter 'metadata_dims' has too many elements which serve repetitive ",
-                    "function. Keep '", metadata_dims[1], "' and '", metadata_dims[2], "' only."))
-    metadata_dims <- metadata_dims[1:2]
-  } else if (!(pattern_dims %in% metadata_dims) & length(metadata_dims) > 1) {
-    .warning(paste0("Parameter 'metadata_dims' has too many elements which serve repetitive ",
-                    "function. Keep '", metadata_dims[1], "' only."))
-    metadata_dims <- metadata_dims[1]
-  }
+  if ((metadata_dims[1] == pattern_dims & length(metadata_dims) > 2) ||
+      (!(pattern_dims %in% metadata_dims) & length(metadata_dims) > 1)) {
+    .warning(paste0("Parameter 'metadata_dims' contains some elements which",
+                    "might serve a repetitive purpose: ",
+                    metadata_dims[which(metadata_dims != pattern_dims)],
+                    ". This could impact the performance of Start()."))
+  }                 
 
   # Once the pattern dimension with dataset specifications is found,
   # the variable 'dat' is mounted with the information of each
@@ -2492,6 +2501,10 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
             }
             # Find the largest length of each time step
             inner_dim_lengths <- do.call(pmax, inner_dim_lengths_cat)
+            ## NOTE: NA values can be present if the size of a depending 
+            ## dimension varies along its depended dim. Removing them allows
+            ## retrieval of the common indices. Could cause other issues?
+            inner_dim_lengths <- inner_dim_lengths[which(!is.na(inner_dim_lengths))]
           }
 
           fri <- first_round_indices <- NULL
@@ -2768,10 +2781,10 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
                       !is.null(dim_reorder_params[[inner_dim]])) {
                     if ('circular' %in% names(attributes(dim_reorder_params[[inner_dim]]))) {
                       is_circular_dim <- attr(dim_reorder_params[[inner_dim]], "circular")
-                    if (is_circular_dim & is.list(sub_array_of_selectors)) {
-                      tmp <- dim_reorder_params[[inner_dim]](unlist(sub_array_of_selectors))$ix
-                      goes_across_prime_meridian <-  tmp[1] > tmp[2]
-                    }
+                      if (is_circular_dim & is.list(sub_array_of_selectors)) {
+                        tmp <- dim_reorder_params[[inner_dim]](unlist(sub_array_of_selectors))$ix
+                        goes_across_prime_meridian <-  tmp[1] > tmp[2]
+                      }
                     }
                   }
 
@@ -2918,7 +2931,7 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
                       sub_array_of_indices[[1]] <- vect[tmp[1]]
                       sub_array_of_indices[[2]] <- vect[tmp[length(tmp)]]
                     }
-                 }
+                  }
                   # The sub_array_of_indices now contains numeric indices of the values to be taken by each chunk.
                   #////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
@@ -3195,10 +3208,12 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
                   }
                 }
                 # If "<inner_dim>_across = <crossed_file_dim> + merge_across_dims = FALSE + chunk over <inner_dim>", return error because this instance is not logically correct.
-                if (chunks[[inner_dim]]["n_chunks"] > 1 & inner_dim %in% inner_dims_across_files) {
+                if (chunks[[inner_dim]]["n_chunks"] > 1 & inner_dim %in% inner_dims_across_files &
+                    merge_across_dims == FALSE) {
                   stop("Chunk over dimension '", inner_dim, "' is not allowed because '",
                        inner_dim, "' is across '",
-                       names(inner_dims_across_files)[which(inner_dim %in% inner_dims_across_files)], "'.")
+                       names(inner_dims_across_files)[which(inner_dim %in% inner_dims_across_files)],
+                       "' and 'merge_across_dims' is set to FALSE'.")
                 }
 
                 if (inner_dim %in% names(dim(sub_array_of_selectors))) {
@@ -3273,8 +3288,11 @@ Start <- function(..., # dim = indices/selectors,
                       indices_chunk <- c(indices_chunk, rep(item, length(tmp) - length(indices_chunk)))
                     }
                     sub_array_of_indices_by_file <- split(sub_array_of_indices, indices_chunk)
-                    for (item in 2:length(sub_array_of_indices_by_file)) {
-                      sub_array_of_indices_by_file[[item]] <- sub_array_of_indices_by_file[[item]] - cumsum(inner_dim_lengths)[item - 1]
+                    for (item in names((sub_array_of_indices_by_file))) {
+                      # If item is 1, cumsum(inner_dim_lengths)[item - 1] returns numeric(0)
+                      if (as.numeric(item) > 1) {
+                        sub_array_of_indices_by_file[[item]] <- sub_array_of_indices_by_file[[item]] - cumsum(inner_dim_lengths)[as.numeric(item) - 1]
+                      }
                     }
                     transformed_indices <- unlist(sub_array_of_indices_by_file, use.names = FALSE)
                   }
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index f098a3b11651e260dc72a23f5ec490e5e76a7320..f198746362c9dc6876d3b98a722c38696cae5d20 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ rebuild_dim_params <- function(dim_params, merge_across_dims,
 
 # Look for chunked dims
 look_for_chunks <- function(dim_params, dim_names) {
-    chunks <- vector('list', length(dim_names))
+  chunks <- vector('list', length(dim_names))
   names(chunks) <- dim_names
   for (dim_name in dim_names) {
     if (!is.null(attr(dim_params[[dim_name]], 'chunk'))) {
@@ -382,6 +382,16 @@ find_ufd_value <- function(undefined_file_dims, dat, i, replace_values,
       depending_dims <- names(depending_file_dims)[which(sapply(depending_file_dims, function(x) u_file_dim %in% x))]
       replace_values[depending_dims] <- rep('*', length(depending_dims))
     }
+    # If u_file_dim depends on the same depended dimension as another depending
+    # dimension, then the value of the depending dim should be replaced with '*'
+    # to avoid only the first value being used, which can result in the wrong
+    # path specification.
+    other_depending_file_dims <- depending_file_dims[-which(names(depending_file_dims) == u_file_dim)]
+    if (length(depending_file_dims) > 1 && 
+        any(unlist(other_depending_file_dims) == depended_dim)) {
+      depending_dims <- names(other_depending_file_dims)[which(other_depending_file_dims == depended_dim)]
+      replace_values[depending_dims] <- rep('*', length(depending_dims))
+    }
     for (j in 1:length(depended_dim_values)) {
       parsed_values <- c()
       if (!is.null(depended_dim)) {
@@ -1021,7 +1031,6 @@ build_work_pieces <- function(work_pieces, i, selectors, file_dims, inner_dims,
     }
     j <- j + 1
   }
-
   return(work_pieces)
 }
 
diff --git a/inst/doc/usecase/ex3_1_SubseasonalECVHindcast.md b/inst/doc/usecase/ex3_1_SubseasonalECVHindcast.md
index 85015130a5c60462493cb96dd168f410d7d995af..e554c66ddbb3d8f86334b111a7bb34b69cbb8874 100644
--- a/inst/doc/usecase/ex3_1_SubseasonalECVHindcast.md
+++ b/inst/doc/usecase/ex3_1_SubseasonalECVHindcast.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ After loading startR package, the paths to the hindcast should be defined, inclu
 library(startR)
 
 ecmwf_path <- paste0('/esarchive/exp/ecmwf/s2s-monthly_ensforhc/',
-                     'weekly_mean/$var$_f24h/$sdate$/$var$_$syear$.nc')
+                     'weekly_mean/$var$_f6h/$sdate$/$var$_$syear$.nc')
 ```
 
 Now, create the sequence of start dates in 2016 following the scheme in this figure:
diff --git a/man/Start.Rd b/man/Start.Rd
index 640c5a9e8b6a2b27b827231fac0ede40c4258b94..275ae9bb391c36f379294dcf43a8f05997729a9a 100644
--- a/man/Start.Rd
+++ b/man/Start.Rd
@@ -734,6 +734,9 @@ If \code{retrieve = TRUE} the involved data is loaded into RAM memory
  components used to build up the paths to each of the files in the data
  sources.
  }
+ \item{PatternDim}{
+ Character string containing the name of the file pattern dimension.
+ }
 If \code{retrieve = FALSE} the involved data is not loaded into RAM memory and
 an object of the class 'startR_header' with the following components is
 returned:\cr
@@ -750,7 +753,7 @@ returned:\cr
  multidimensional array with named dimensions, and potentially with the
  attribute 'variables' with additional auxiliary data.
  }
- \item{Files}{
+ \item{ExpectedFiles}{
  Multidimensonal character string array with named dimensions. Its dimensions
  are the file dimensions (as requested in \dots). Each cell in this array
  contains a path to a file to be retrieved (which may exist or not).
@@ -761,6 +764,9 @@ returned:\cr
  components used to build up the paths to each of the files in the data
  sources.
  }
+ \item{PatternDim}{
+ Character string containing the name of the file pattern dimension.
+ }
  \item{StartRCall}{
  List of parameters sent to the Start() call, with the parameter
  'retrieve' set to TRUE. Intended for calling in order to
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-Compute-chunk_across_dim.R b/tests/testthat/test-Compute-chunk_across_dim.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0fb3382facf9e6dcadf687ec2c64024362038db7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-Compute-chunk_across_dim.R
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+suppressMessages({
+# This unit test tests the chunking over dimension that goes across files.
+# 1. across dim is a vector
+#   a. merge_across_dims is TRUE
+#   b. merge_across_dims is FALSE
+# Note that 1.b. doesn't work.
+
+path <- '/esarchive/exp/CMIP6/dcppA-hindcast/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/DCPP/MOHC/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/dcppA-hindcast/r1i1p1f2/Omon/tos/gn/v20200417/$var$_Omon_HadGEM3-GC31-MM_dcppA-hindcast_s$sdate$-r1i1p1f2_gn_$chunk$.nc'
+path <- paste0('/esarchive/scratch/aho/startR_unittest_files/', path)
+
+sdates <- c('2016', '2017', '2018')
+
+# retrieve = T for verification
+suppressWarnings(
+  data_T <- Start(dat = path,
+                  var = 'tos',
+                  sdate = sdates,
+                  chunk = 'all',
+                  chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+                  time = indices(1:24),
+                  i = indices(450:452),
+                  j = indices(650:651),
+                  time_across = 'chunk',
+                  merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+                  largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+                  retrieve = TRUE,
+                  return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'))
+)
+
+test_that("1.a. across dim is a vector, merge_across_dims = TRUE", {
+
+suppressWarnings(
+data <- Start(dat = path,
+              var = 'tos',
+              sdate = sdates,
+              chunk = 'all',
+              chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+              time = indices(1:24),
+              i = indices(450:452),
+              j = indices(650:651),
+              merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+              largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+              time_across = 'chunk',
+              return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'),
+              retrieve = FALSE)
+)
+
+fun <- function(x) {
+return(x)
+}
+
+step <- Step(fun = fun,
+             target_dims = 'dat', output_dims = 'dat')
+wf <- AddStep(inputs = data, step_fun = step)
+suppressWarnings(
+res1 <- Compute(workflow = wf, chunks = list(time = 1))$output1
+)
+suppressWarnings(
+res2 <- Compute(workflow = wf, chunks = list(time = 2))$output1
+)
+suppressWarnings(
+res3 <- Compute(workflow = wf, chunks = list(time = 3))$output1
+)
+
+expect_equal(
+as.vector(data_T),
+as.vector(res1)
+)
+expect_equal(
+res1,
+res2
+)
+expect_equal(
+res1,
+res3
+)
+
+expect_equal(
+as.vector(drop(res1)[ , 1, 1, 1]),
+c(29.91125, 29.94805, 30.35584),
+tolerance = 0.0001
+)
+expect_equal(
+as.vector(drop(res1)[ , 2, 1, 1]),
+c(29.53878, 29.72491, 30.34167),
+tolerance = 0.0001
+)
+
+})
+
+#################################################################
+#################################################################
+#################################################################
+
+test_that("1.b. across dim is a vector, merge_across_dims = FALSE", {
+
+suppressWarnings(
+data <- Start(dat = path,
+              var = 'tos',
+              sdate = sdates,
+              chunk = 'all',
+              chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+              time = indices(1:24),
+              i = indices(450:452),
+              j = indices(650:651),
+              merge_across_dims = FALSE,
+              largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+              time_across = 'chunk',
+              return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'),
+              retrieve = FALSE)
+)
+
+fun <- function(x) {
+return(x)
+}
+
+step <- Step(fun = fun,
+             target_dims = 'dat', output_dims = 'dat')
+wf <- AddStep(inputs = data, step_fun = step)
+
+expect_error(
+suppressWarnings(
+res <- Compute(workflow = wf, chunks = list(time = 2))$output1),
+"Chunk over dimension 'time' is not allowed because 'time' is across 'chunk' and 'merge_across_dims' is set to FALSE'."
+)
+
+})
+
+}) #suppressMessages
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-Start-DCPP-across-depends-largest_dims_length.R b/tests/testthat/test-Start-DCPP-across-depends-largest_dims_length.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..843ea98de3da653d488a705328c1872742e5fd1d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-Start-DCPP-across-depends-largest_dims_length.R
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+suppressMessages({
+test_that("Chunks of DCPP files with largest_dims_length = TRUE - Local execution", {
+  path <- '/esarchive/exp/CMIP6/dcppA-hindcast/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/DCPP/MOHC/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/dcppA-hindcast/r1i1p1f2/Omon/tos/gn/v20200417/$var$_Omon_HadGEM3-GC31-MM_dcppA-hindcast_s$sdate$-r1i1p1f2_gn_$chunk$.nc'
+  path <- paste0('/esarchive/scratch/aho/startR_unittest_files/', path)
+
+  sdates <- c('2017', '2018')
+suppressWarnings(
+  dat1 <- Start(dat = path,
+                var = 'tos',
+                sdate = sdates,
+                chunk = 'all',
+                chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+                time = indices(1:15),
+                i = indices(450:452),
+                j = indices(650:651),
+                time_across = 'chunk',
+                merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+                largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+                retrieve = TRUE,
+                return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'))
+)
+
+# Start at chunk 2 (skip time steps in the first file)
+suppressWarnings(
+  dat2 <- Start(dat = path,
+                var = 'tos',
+                sdate = sdates,
+                chunk = 'all',
+                chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+                time = indices(3:15),
+                i = indices(450:452),
+                j = indices(650:651),
+                time_across = 'chunk',
+                merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+                largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+                retrieve = TRUE,
+                return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'))
+)
+
+expect_equal(dat1[1, 1, 1:2, 3:15, , ], dat2[1, 1, 1:2, , , ])
+
+# Start at chunk 3 (skip time steps in the first and second files)
+suppressWarnings(
+  dat3 <- Start(dat = path,
+                var = 'tos',
+                sdate = sdates,
+                chunk = 'all',
+                chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+                time = indices(15),
+                i = indices(450:452),
+                j = indices(650:651),
+                time_across = 'chunk',
+                merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+                largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+                retrieve = TRUE,
+                return_vars = list(time = 'sdate'))
+)
+
+expect_equal(dat1[1, 1, 1:2, 15, , ], dat3[1, 1, 1:2, , , ])
+
+})
+
+}) #suppressMessages
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-Start-multiple_depends.R b/tests/testthat/test-Start-multiple_depends.R
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..473d0614522458decee0aaae21a4d3bc36f72f20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-Start-multiple_depends.R
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+suppressMessages({
+# This unit test tests the case where a depended dimension has multiple
+# depending dimensions and the 'all' selector is used for a depending dim.
+
+path <- "/esarchive/exp/CMIP6/$dcpp$/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/DCPP/MOHC/HadGEM3-GC31-MM/$dcpp$/r1i1p1f2/Omon/tos/gn/v20200417/$var$_Omon_HadGEM3-GC31-MM_$dcpp$_s$sdate$-r1i1p1f2_gn_$chunk$.nc"
+
+path <- paste0('/esarchive/scratch/aho/startR_unittest_files', path)
+
+sdates <- c('2018', '2019')
+
+test_that("1. ", {
+suppressWarnings(
+dat1 <- Start(dat = path,
+              var = 'tos',
+              chunk = 'all', 
+              time = indices(1:14),
+              time_across = 'chunk',
+              sdate = sdates,
+              dcpp = list('2018' = "dcppA-hindcast", '2019' = "dcppB-forecast"),
+              dcpp_depends = 'sdate',
+              chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+              merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+              largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+              i = indices(450:460),
+              j = indices(685:700),
+              return_vars = list(time = c('chunk', 'sdate')),
+              retrieve = TRUE)
+)
+
+suppressWarnings(
+dat2 <- Start(dat = path,
+              var = 'tos',
+              chunk = list('2018' = c('201811-201812', '201901-201912'),
+                           '2019' = c('201911-201912', '202001-202012')),
+              time = 'all',
+              time_across = 'chunk',
+              sdate = sdates,
+              dcpp = list('2018' = "dcppA-hindcast", '2019' = "dcppB-forecast"),
+              dcpp_depends = 'sdate',
+              chunk_depends = 'sdate',
+              merge_across_dims = TRUE,
+              largest_dims_length = TRUE,
+              i = indices(450:460),
+              j = indices(685:700),
+              return_vars = list(time = c('chunk', 'sdate')),
+              retrieve = TRUE)
+)
+
+expect_equal(
+  as.vector(dat1),
+  as.vector(dat2)
+)
+expect_equal(
+  mean(dat2, na.rm = T),
+  29.21144,
+  tolerance = 0.0001
+)
+expect_equal(
+  dat1[1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1:3, 10],
+  c(28.84955, 28.84827, 28.84126),
+  tolerance = 0.0001
+  )
+})
+
+}) #suppressMessages