determinent of undefined matrix?

[NZG]

I want to solve the determinent of a matrix containing an unknown s such as

det[s 1;1 s]

ans
        s^2 - 1

in Matlab I just define 
s = sym('s')
beforehand.

This doesn't work in Octave, what's an equivalent method?
Does one exist?

thx,
NZG.



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
-------------------------------------------------------------