Issue 714 Bugfix

[scrasmussen]

TYPE: bugfix

KEYWORDS: optional argument check

SOURCE: Soren Rasmussen, NCAR

DESCRIPTION OF CHANGES: Need to check if optional arguments are present before assigning them to a variable. Code cleanup of commented out and dead code.

ISSUE: Fixes #714

TESTS CONDUCTED: Build and ran Croton testcase.

Checklist

• [X] Closes issue #714
• [ ] Tests added (unit tests and/or regression/integration tests)
• [X] Backwards compatible
• [ ] Requires new files? If so, how to generate them.
• [ ] Documentation included
• [ ] Short description in the Development section of NEWS.md