Octave version 0.73 released

[John Eaton]

Octave version 0.73 is now available for ftp from ftp.che.utexas.edu
in the directory /pub/octave.  Compressed and gzipped tar files are
available, as are diffs relative to version 0.72.

We are now distributing tar files with binaries included and currently
have versions available for DECstation, SPARCstation, IBM RS/6000, and
i386/i486 Linux systems.  If you would like to volunteer to make
binaries available for other systems, please contact
address@hidden

The Linux binary was compiled without proper support for IEEE infinity
and NaN because the Linux system that I have access to doesn't appear
to support them.  If someone can make a binary for Linux that does
properly support these features, I would be happy to distribute it.

Octave's Texinfo documentation is far from complete, but has been
included in this distribution anyway.  Comments on the organization
and layout of the manual are welcome, as are any additions and
corrections.  If you are interested in working on the manual, please
contact address@hidden

Here's a summary of other changes for version 0.73:

  * Saving and loading global variables works correctly now.

  * The save command no longer saves builtin variables.

  * Global variables are more reliable.

  * Matrices may now have one or both dimensions zero, so that
    operations on empty matrices are now handled more consistently.

    By default, dimensions of the empty matrix are now printed along
    with the empty matrix symbol, `[]'.  For example:

      octave:13> zeros (3, 0)
      ans = 

      [](3x0)

    The new variable `print_empty_dimensions' controls this behavior.
    
    See also Carl de Boor, An Empty Exercise, SIGNUM, Volume 25,
    pages 2--6, 1990, or C. N. Nett and W. M. Haddad, A
    System-Theoretic Appropriate Realization of the Empty Matrix
    Concept, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Volume 38,
    Number 5, May 1993.

  * The right and left division operators `/' and `\' will now find a
    minimum norm solution if the system is not square, or if the
    coefficient matrix is singular.

  * New functions:

      hess   -- Hessenberg decomposition
      schur  -- Ordered Schur factorization
      perror -- print error messages corresponding to error codes
                returned from the functions fsolve, npsol, and qpsol
                (with others to possibly be added later).

  * Octave now prints a warning if it finds anything other than
    whitespace or comments after the final `end' or `endfunction'
    statement.

  * The bodies of functions, and the for, while, and if commands are
    now allowed to be empty.

  * Support for Gill and Murray's QPSOL has been added.  Like NPSOL,
    QPSOL is not freely redistributable either, so you must obtain
    your own copy to be able to use this feature.


--
Virtually all of the programs obtained by our sampling | John W. Eaton
procedure were written in FORTRAN.  -- Donald E. Knuth | address@hidden