function mms_get_abs_file_names, start_date=start_date, end_date=end_date

  ; Build query.
  ; Start by building an array of arguments based on inputs.
  ; Many values may be arrays so join with ",".
  ; Note that a single value will be treated as an array of one by IDL.
  query_args = ["hack"] ;IDL doesn't allow empty arrays before version 8.
  if n_elements(start_date)     gt 0 then query_args = [query_args, "start_date=" + start_date]
  if n_elements(end_date)       gt 0 then query_args = [query_args, "end_date=" + end_date]

  ; Join query args with "&", drop the "hack"
  if n_elements(query_args) lt 2 then query = '' $
  else query = strjoin(query_args[1:*], "&")

  ; Execute the query.
  names = get_mms_file_names("abs_selections", query=query)

  return, names
end