On Dec 31, 2007, at 12:30 PM, Ben Abbott wrote:
On Dec 31, 2007, at 1:12 AM, Ben Abbott wrote:
On Dec 31, 2007, at 12:49 AM, John W. Eaton wrote:
The savepath function only exists for compatibility with Matlab, so
whatever it does should be compatible.
jwe
Good point.
I've spent some time looking over the differences between Matlab
and Octave regarding path related functions. I've enumerated what I
found below.
(1) pathdef: In Octave, pathdef() load's the virgin default path.
In Matlab pathdef.m is a script created by savepath.m, and
pathdef.m is used to setup Matlab's path each time Matlab is run.
(2) savepath: In Octave, savepath.m saves to current working path
to ~/.octaverc. In Matlab, it saves the current working path to
pathdef.m. On my Mac, Matlab doesn't require admin access to
execute savepath.m ... Can someone tell us if it does on Linux?
(3) restoredefaultpath: In Matlab this allows a user to restore the
working path to its virgin form. It only impacts the current
session. In Octave, this may be done by path (pathdef);
(4) matlabroot: In Matlab this returns the path to the root of
Matlab's installation directory. The Octave equivalent is
OCTAVE_HOME.
(5) matlabrc: In Matlab matlabrc.m is supposed to have admin access
(?) and is run each time Matlab is started. It is located in
<matlabroot>/toolbox/local. The Octave equivalent [of startup] is
octaverc located in octave-home/share/octave/version/m/startup.
(6) startup: In Matlab startup.m is run (if it exists in the path)
each time Matlab is started, but only after matlabrc.m. The Octave
equilvalent is ~/.octaverc.
(7) finish: In Matlab finish.m is run upon a clean exit. From what
I can tell there is no Octave equivalent.
There are many differences. Some will require changes to c-code
while the majority require changes to m-files.
I'm up to the task of handling the m-files but will need someone to
take on the c part.
If it is desirable and appropriate to reconcile these differences,
I can put together an approach that will allow for incremental
changes that ensures a functional Octave.
I'll get started on the sequence of events needed. In the meantime,
I'm eager for feedback so that I'm not wasting effort and/or time.
Ben
I thought I'd rename the thread, as we've branched into a new
direction.
Regarding a possible sequence of events to resolve these differences
between Octave and Matlab, I'd like to propose the following.
(1) Rename the built-in function "pathdef" with to "defaultpath".
(2) Introduce ".../scripts/path/restoredefaultpath.m", which is
essentially "path (defaultpath);"
(3) Introduce a new script, named ".../scripts/path/pathdef.m",
which returns the path which an octave session begins with, prior to
running "~/.octaverc".
(4) The purpose of "savepath" can be left as it is, but might be
modified to save the path to "octave-home/share/octave/version/m/
startup/octavrc" when run with admin privilege. In either event, the
script should warn the user of which file is modified, when a file
is not explicitly specified.
(5) Add script "matlabroot.m" to ".../scripts/path/matlabroot.m" ...
perhaps an "octaveroot.m" also/instead?
(6) If it exists in the path, run script "finish.m" upon exiting.
As I have no experience in c/c++ programming, it is likely a bad
idea for me to take on (1) or (6), but I'm willing to give (1) a
try ... However, if someone is up to posting a patch for (1), I'll
incorporate it into my local build and take on the rest.
Ben