--- a/src/variables.cc	Thu Jan 07 08:31:41 2010 +0100
+++ b/src/variables.cc	Thu Jan 07 15:07:19 2010 -0500
@@ -607,7 +607,7 @@
   octave_value val = symbol_table::global_varval (nm);
 
   if (val.is_undefined () && ! silent)
-    error ("get_global_by_name: undefined symbol `%s'", nm.c_str ());
+    error ("get_global_value: undefined symbol `%s'", nm.c_str ());
 
   return val;
 }
@@ -618,6 +618,23 @@
   symbol_table::global_varref (nm) = val;
 }
 
+octave_value
+get_top_level_value (const std::string& nm, bool silent)
+{
+  octave_value val = symbol_table::top_level_varval (nm);
+
+  if (val.is_undefined () && ! silent)
+    error ("get_top_level_value: undefined symbol `%s'", nm.c_str ());
+
+  return val;
+}
+
+void
+set_top_level_value (const std::string& nm, const octave_value& val)
+{
+  symbol_table::top_level_varref (nm) = val;
+}
+
 // Variable values.
 
 octave_value