OK - my mistake. The example below demonstrates how to deal with this issue. Note the way I export the $Outp array from the function ... I never thought it would work!
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BREAK ON

DIM $Outp[3]

$Outp = ClearOutp($Outp)
PrintOutp($Outp)

FUNCTION ClearOutp($Outp)
$i = 0
WHILE $i < 3
$Outp[$i] = "A"
$i = $i + 1
LOOP
$ClearOutp = $Outp
ENDFUNCTION

FUNCTION PrintOutp($Outp)
$i = 0
WHILE $i < 3
? $Outp[$i]
$i = $i + 1
LOOP
ENDFUNCTION