# HG changeset patch
# User Rik <rik@octave.org>
# Date 1374094952 25200
# Node ID 333243133364de71886f9bd81b3d38480dbeae26
# Parent  78f57b14535c12f9a4c528ffcc2cf6919543f4d8
Use matrix concatenation for strings, rather than cstrcat(), for clarity and performance.
matrix concatenation is ~80% faster than cstrcat().

* doc/interpreter/strings.txi: Document preference for matrix concatenation
as opposed to alternatives.

* doc/interpreter/geometryimages.m, doc/interpreter/interpimages.m,
doc/interpreter/plotimages.m, doc/interpreter/sparseimages.m,
doc/interpreter/splineimages.m, scripts/general/genvarname.m,
scripts/general/int2str.m, scripts/general/num2str.m,
scripts/help/__makeinfo__.m, scripts/help/help.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/copyfile.m, scripts/miscellaneous/dir.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/edit.m, scripts/miscellaneous/fact.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/fullfile.m, scripts/miscellaneous/mkoctfile.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/movefile.m, scripts/miscellaneous/perl.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/python.m, scripts/miscellaneous/run.m,
scripts/miscellaneous/tempdir.m, scripts/miscellaneous/unpack.m,
scripts/pkg/private/configure_make.m, scripts/pkg/private/create_pkgadddel.m,
scripts/pkg/private/extract_pkg.m, scripts/pkg/private/get_description.m,
scripts/pkg/private/get_forge_pkg.m, scripts/pkg/private/getarch.m,
scripts/pkg/private/getarchprefix.m, scripts/pkg/private/install.m,
scripts/pkg/private/installed_packages.m,
scripts/pkg/private/load_packages_and_dependencies.m,
scripts/pkg/private/rebuild.m, scripts/pkg/private/repackage.m,
scripts/pkg/private/shell.m, scripts/pkg/private/uninstall.m,
scripts/plot/private/__go_draw_axes__.m, scripts/signal/spectral_adf.m,
scripts/signal/spectral_xdf.m, scripts/statistics/tests/z_test.m,
scripts/statistics/tests/z_test_2.m, scripts/strings/mat2str.m,
scripts/strings/strtok.m, scripts/testfun/__run_test_suite__.m,
scripts/testfun/assert.m, scripts/testfun/demo.m, scripts/testfun/speed.m,
scripts/testfun/test.m, test/eval-catch.tst, test/io.tst, test/try.tst: Replace
cstrcat() with matrix concatenation where possible.

diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/geometryimages.m
--- a/doc/interpreter/geometryimages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/geometryimages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d" typ];
   endif
 
   if (! __have_feature__ ("QHULL")
@@ -52,14 +52,14 @@
     plot (xc, yc, "g-", "LineWidth", 3);
     axis([0, 1, 0, 1]);
     legend ("Delaunay Triangulation", "Voronoi Diagram");
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "triplot"))
     rand ("state", 2)
     x = rand (20, 1);
     y = rand (20, 1);
     tri = delaunay (x, y);
     triplot (tri, x, y);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "griddata"))
     rand("state",1);
     x=2*rand(1000,1)-1;
@@ -67,14 +67,14 @@
     z=sin(2*(x.^2+y.^2));
     [xx,yy]=meshgrid(linspace(-1,1,32));
     griddata(x,y,z,xx,yy);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "convhull"))
     x = -3:0.05:3;
     y = abs (sin (x));
     k = convhull (x, y);
     plot (x(k),y(k),'r-',x,y,'b+');
     axis ([-3.05, 3.05, -0.05, 1.05]);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ) 
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "delaunay"))
     rand ("state", 1);
     x = rand (1, 10);
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@
     Y = [ y(T(:,1)); y(T(:,2)); y(T(:,3)); y(T(:,1)) ];
     axis ([0, 1, 0, 1]);
     plot(X, Y, "b", x, y, "r*");
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ) 
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "inpolygon"))
     randn ("state", 2);
     x = randn (100, 1);
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
     in = inpolygon (x, y, vx, vy);
     plot(vx, vy, x(in), y(in), "r+", x(!in), y(!in), "bo");
     axis ([-2, 2, -2, 2]);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ) 
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   else
     error ("unrecognized plot requested");
   endif
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@
     if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
       d_typ = "-depsc2";
     else
-      d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+      d_typ = ["-d" typ];
     endif
 
     x = y = linspace (-8, 8, 41)';
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
       mesh (x, y, z);
       title ("Sorry, graphics not available because octave was\\ncompiled without the QHULL library.");
     unwind_protect_cleanup
-      print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ);
+      print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
       hide_output ();
     end_unwind_protect
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/interpimages.m
--- a/doc/interpreter/interpimages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/interpimages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d", typ];
   endif
 
   if (strcmp (typ, "txt"))
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
     plot (ti, yp, 'g', ti, interp1(t, y, ti, 'spline'), 'b', ...
           ti, interpft (y, k), 'c', t, y, 'r+');
     legend ('sin(4t+0.3)cos(3t-0.1)','spline','interpft','data');
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "interpn"))
     x = y = z = -1:1;
     f = @(x,y,z) x.^2 - y - z.^2;
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     [xxi, yyi, zzi] = ndgrid (xi, yi, zi);
     vi = interpn(x, y, z, v, xxi, yyi, zzi, 'spline');
     mesh (zi, yi, squeeze (vi(1,:,:)));
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "interpderiv1"))
     t = -2:2;
     dt = 1;
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
     yp = interp1(t,y,ti,'pchip');
     plot (ti, ys,'r-', ti, yp,'g-');
     legend('spline','pchip', 4);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "interpderiv2"))
     t = -2:2;
     dt = 1;
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
     ddyp = diff(diff(interp1(t,y,ti,'pchip'))./dti)./dti;
     plot (ti(2:end-1),ddys,'r*', ti(2:end-1),ddyp,'g+');
     legend('spline','pchip');
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   endif
   hide_output ();  
 endfunction
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/plotimages.m
--- a/doc/interpreter/plotimages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/plotimages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d", typ];
   endif
 
   if (strcmp(typ , "txt"))
@@ -34,11 +34,11 @@
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "plot"))
     x = -10:0.1:10;
     plot (x, sin (x));
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "hist"))
     rand ("state", 2);
     hist (randn (10000, 1), 30);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "errorbar"))
     rand ("state", 2);
     x = 0:0.1:10;
@@ -47,32 +47,32 @@
     yu = 0.1 .* rand (size (x));
     errorbar (x, sin (x), yl, yu);
     axis ([0, 10, -1.1, 1.1]);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "polar"))
     polar (0:0.1:10*pi, 0:0.1:10*pi);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "mesh"))
     tx = ty = linspace (-8, 8, 41)';
     [xx, yy] = meshgrid (tx, ty);
     r = sqrt (xx .^ 2 + yy .^ 2) + eps;
     tz = sin (r) ./ r;
     mesh (tx, ty, tz);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "plot3"))
     t = 0:0.1:10*pi;
     r = linspace (0, 1, numel (t));
     z = linspace (0, 1, numel (t));
     plot3 (r.*sin(t), r.*cos(t), z);
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)    
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "extended"))
     x = 0:0.01:3;
     plot(x,erf(x));
     hold on;
     plot(x,x,"r");
     axis([0, 3, 0, 1]);
-    text(0.65, 0.6175, cstrcat('\leftarrow x = {2/\surd\pi {\fontsize{16}',
-      '\int_{\fontsize{8}0}^{\fontsize{8}x}} e^{-t^2} dt} = 0.6175'))
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    text(0.65, 0.6175, ['\leftarrow x = {2/\surd\pi {\fontsize{16}', ...
+      '\int_{\fontsize{8}0}^{\fontsize{8}x}} e^{-t^2} dt} = 0.6175']);
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   else
     error ("unrecognized plot requested");
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/sparseimages.m
--- a/doc/interpreter/sparseimages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/sparseimages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   if (__have_feature__ ("COLAMD")
       && __have_feature__ ("CHOLMOD")
       && __have_feature__ ("UMFPACK"))
-    if (strcmp(typ,"txt"))
+    if (strcmp (typ,"txt"))
       txtimages (nm, 15, typ);
     else
       if (strcmp (nm, "gplot"))
@@ -62,14 +62,14 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d" typ];
   endif
 
   A = sparse ([2,6,1,3,2,4,3,5,4,6,1,5],
               [1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6], 1, 6, 6);
   xy = [0,4,8,6,4,2;5,0,5,7,5,7]';
-  gplot (A, xy)
-  print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+  gplot (A, xy);
+  print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   hide_output ();
 endfunction
 
@@ -84,16 +84,16 @@
     fputs (fid, "+---------------------------------+\n");
     fclose (fid);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "spmatrix"))
-    printsparse(a,cstrcat("spmatrix.",typ));
+    printsparse (a, ["spmatrix." typ]);
   else
     if (__have_feature__ ("COLAMD")
         && __have_feature__ ("CHOLMOD"))
       if (strcmp (nm, "spchol"))
-        r1 = chol(a);
-        printsparse(r1,cstrcat("spchol.",typ));
+        r1 = chol (a);
+        printsparse (r1, ["spchol." typ]);
       elseif (strcmp (nm, "spcholperm"))
-        [r2,p2,q2]=chol(a);
-        printsparse(r2,cstrcat("spcholperm.",typ));
+        [r2,p2,q2] = chol (a);
+        printsparse(r2, ["spcholperm." typ]);
       endif
       ## printf("Text NNZ: Matrix %d, Chol %d, PermChol %d\n",nnz(a),nnz(r1),nnz(r2));
     endif
@@ -105,30 +105,30 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d" typ];
   endif
 
   a = 10*speye(n) + sparse(1:n,ceil([1:n]/2),1,n,n) + ...
       sparse(ceil([1:n]/2),1:n,1,n,n);
   if (strcmp (nm, "spmatrix"))
-    spy(a);
-    axis("ij")
-    print(cstrcat("spmatrix.",typ), d_typ)
+    spy (a);
+    axis ("ij");
+    print (["spmatrix." typ], d_typ);
     hide_output ();
   else
     if (__have_feature__ ("COLAMD")
         && __have_feature__ ("CHOLMOD"))
       if (strcmp (nm, "spchol"))
-        r1 = chol(a);
-        spy(r1);
-        axis("ij")
-        print(cstrcat("spchol.",typ), d_typ)
+        r1 = chol (a);
+        spy (r1);
+        axis ("ij");
+        print (["spchol." typ], d_typ);
         hide_output ();
       elseif (strcmp (nm, "spcholperm"))
-        [r2,p2,q2]=chol(a);
-        spy(r2);
-        axis("ij")
-        print(cstrcat("spcholperm.",typ), d_typ)
+        [r2,p2,q2] = chol (a);
+        spy (r2);
+        axis ("ij");
+        print (["spcholperm." typ], d_typ);
         hide_output ();
       endif
       ## printf("Image NNZ: Matrix %d, Chol %d, PermChol %d\n",nnz(a),nnz(r1),nnz(r2));
@@ -136,42 +136,42 @@
   endif
 endfunction
 
-function printsparse(a, nm)
+function printsparse (a, nm)
   fid = fopen (nm,"wt");
   fputs (fid, "\n");
-  for i = 1:size(a,1)
-    if (rem(i,5) == 0)
+  for i = 1:rows (a)
+    if (rem (i,5) == 0)
       fprintf (fid,"         %2d - ", i);
     else
       fprintf (fid,"            | ");
     endif
-    for j = 1:size(a,2)
+    for j = 1:columns (a)
       if (a(i,j) == 0)
-        fprintf(fid,"  ")
+        fprintf (fid,"  ");
       else
-        fprintf(fid," *")
+        fprintf (fid," *");
       endif
     endfor
-    fprintf(fid,"\n")
+    fprintf (fid,"\n");
   endfor
-  fprintf(fid,"            |-");
-  for j=1:size(a,2)
-    if (rem(j,5)==0)
-      fprintf(fid,"-|");
+  fprintf (fid,"            |-");
+  for j=1:columns (a)
+    if (rem (j,5) == 0)
+      fprintf (fid,"-|");
     else
-      fprintf(fid,"--");
+      fprintf (fid,"--");
     endif
   endfor
-  fprintf(fid,"\n")
-  fprintf(fid,"              ");
-  for j=1:size(a,2)
-    if (rem(j,5)==0)
-      fprintf(fid,"%2d",j);
+  fprintf (fid,"\n");
+  fprintf (fid,"              ");
+  for j=1:columns (a)
+    if (rem (j,5) == 0)
+      fprintf (fid,"%2d",j);
     else
-      fprintf(fid,"  ");
+      fprintf (fid,"  ");
     endif
   endfor
-  fclose(fid);
+  fclose (fid);
 endfunction
 
 function femimages (nm, typ)
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d" typ];
   endif
 
   if (__have_feature__ ("COLAMD")
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@
     node_x = ones(5,1)*[1,1.05,1.1,1.2,1.3,1.5,1.7,1.8,1.9,1.95,2];
     nodes = [node_x(:), node_y(:)];
 
-    [h,w] = size(node_x);
+    [h,w] = size (node_x);
     elems = [];
     for idx = 1:w-1
       widx = (idx-1)*h;
@@ -198,14 +198,14 @@
       elems = [elems; widx+[(2:h);h+(2:h);h+(1:h-1)]']; 
     endfor
 
-    E = size(elems,1);  #No. of elements
-    N = size(nodes,1);  #No. of elements
-    D = size(elems,2);  #dimensions+1
+    E = size (elems,1);  #No. of elements
+    N = size (nodes,1);  #No. of elements
+    D = size (elems,2);  #dimensions+1
 
     ## Plot FEM Geometry
     elemx = elems(:,[1,2,3,1])';
-    xelems = reshape( nodes(elemx, 1), 4, E);
-    yelems = reshape( nodes(elemx, 2), 4, E);
+    xelems = reshape (nodes(elemx, 1), 4, E);
+    yelems = reshape (nodes(elemx, 2), 4, E);
 
     ## Set element conductivity
     conductivity = [1*ones(1,16),2*ones(1,48),1*ones(1,16)];
@@ -221,43 +221,43 @@
     N_value = [];
 
     ## Calculate connectivity matrix
-    C = sparse((1:D*E), reshape(elems',D*E,1),1, D*E, N);
+    C = sparse ((1:D*E), reshape (elems',D*E,1),1, D*E, N);
 
     ## Calculate stiffness matrix
-    Siidx = floor([0:D*E-1]'/D)*D*ones(1,D) + ones(D*E,1)*(1:D) ;
-    Sjidx = [1:D*E]'*ones(1,D);
-    Sdata = zeros(D*E,D);
-    dfact = prod(2:(D-1));
+    Siidx = floor ([0:D*E-1]'/D)*D*ones(1,D) + ones(D*E,1)*(1:D) ;
+    Sjidx = [1:D*E]'*ones (1,D);
+    Sdata = zeros (D*E,D);
+    dfact = prod (2:(D-1));
     for j = 1:E
-      a = inv([ ones(D,1), nodes( elems(j,:), : ) ]);
+      a = inv ([ ones(D,1), nodes( elems(j,:), : ) ]);
       const = conductivity(j)*2/dfact/abs(det(a));
       Sdata(D*(j-1)+(1:D),:)= const * a(2:D,:)'*a(2:D,:);
     endfor
 
     ## Element-wise system matrix
-    SE = sparse(Siidx,Sjidx,Sdata);
+    SE = sparse (Siidx,Sjidx,Sdata);
     ## Global system matrix
     S = C'* SE *C;
 
     ## Set Dirichlet boundary
-    V = zeros(N,1);
+    V = zeros (N,1);
     V(D_nodes) = D_value;
     idx = 1:N;
     idx(D_nodes) = [];
 
     ## Set Neumann boundary
-    Q = zeros(N,1);
+    Q = zeros (N,1);
     Q(N_nodes) = N_value; # FIXME
 
     V(idx) = S(idx,idx)\( Q(idx) - S(idx,D_nodes)*V(D_nodes) );
 
-    velems = reshape( V(elemx), 4, E);
+    velems = reshape ( V(elemx), 4, E);
 
-    sz = size(xelems,2);
+    sz = size (xelems,2);
 
     plot3 (xelems, yelems, velems);
     view (10, 10);
-    print(cstrcat(nm,".",typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
     hide_output ();
   endif
 endfunction
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
     if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
       d_typ = "-depsc2";
     else
-      d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+      d_typ = ["-d" typ];
     endif
 
     x = y = linspace (-8, 8, 41)';
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@
       mesh (x, y, z);
       title ("Sorry, graphics are unavailable because Octave was\ncompiled without a sparse matrix implementation.");
     unwind_protect_cleanup
-      print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ);
+      print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
       hide_output ();
     end_unwind_protect
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/splineimages.m
--- a/doc/interpreter/splineimages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/splineimages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
   if (strcmp (typ, "eps"))
     d_typ = "-depsc2";
   else
-    d_typ = cstrcat ("-d", typ);
+    d_typ = ["-d" typ];
   endif
 
   if (strcmp (typ, "txt"))
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
     axis tight
     ylim ([-2.5 2.5])
     legend ("data", "41 breaks, 40 pieces", "11 breaks, 10 pieces")
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "splinefit2")) ## Spline orders
     ## Data (200 points)
     x = 2 * pi * rand (1, 200);
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
     axis tight
     ylim ([-2.5 2.5])
     legend ({"data", "order 0", "order 1", "order 2", "order 3", "order 4"})
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm, "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "splinefit3"))
     ## Data (100 points)
     x = 2 * pi * [0, (rand (1, 98)), 1];
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
     axis tight
     ylim ([-2 3])
     legend ({"data", "no constraints", "periodic"})
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "splinefit4"))
     ## Data (200 points)
     x = 2 * pi * rand (1, 200);
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@
     axis tight
     ylim ([-1.5 1.5])
     legend({"data", "clamped", "hinged periodic"})
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "splinefit5"))
     ## Truncated data
     x = [0,  1,  2,  4,  8, 16, 24, 40, 56, 72, 80] / 80;
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
     legend ({"data", "spline", "breaks"})
     axis tight
     ylim ([0 0.1])
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   elseif (strcmp (nm, "splinefit6"))
     ## Data
     x = linspace (0, 2*pi, 200);
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@
             "robust, beta = 0.75", "no robust fitting"})
     axis tight
     ylim ([-2 2])
-    print (cstrcat (nm, ".", typ), d_typ)
+    print ([nm "." typ], d_typ);
   endif
   hide_output ();  
 endfunction
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 doc/interpreter/strings.txi
--- a/doc/interpreter/strings.txi	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/doc/interpreter/strings.txi	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -229,10 +229,27 @@
 @node Concatenating Strings
 @subsection Concatenating Strings
 
-It has been shown above that strings can be concatenated using matrix notation
-(@pxref{Strings}, @ref{Character Arrays}).  Apart from that, there are several
-functions to concatenate string objects: @code{char},
-@code{strvcat}, @code{strcat} and @code{cstrcat}.  In addition, the general
+Strings can be concatenated using matrix notation
+(@pxref{Strings}, @ref{Character Arrays}) which is often the most natural
+method.  For example:
+
+@example
+@group
+fullname = [fname ".txt"];
+email = ["<" user "@" domain ">"];
+@end group
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+In each case it is easy to see what the final string will look like.  This
+method is also the most efficient.  When using matrix concatenation the parser
+immediately begins joining the strings without having to process
+the overhead of a function call and the input validation of the associated
+function.
+
+Nevertheless, there are several other functions for concatenating string
+objects which can be useful in specific circumstances: @code{char},
+@code{strvcat}, @code{strcat} and @code{cstrcat}.  Finally, the general
 purpose concatenation functions can be used: see @ref{docXcat,,cat},
 @ref{docXhorzcat,,horzcat} and @ref{docXvertcat,,vertcat}.
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/general/genvarname.m
--- a/scripts/general/genvarname.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/general/genvarname.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@
     error ("genvarname: STR must be a string or a cellstr");
   endif
 
-  validchars = cstrcat ("A":"Z", "a":"z", "0":"9", "_");
+  validchars = ["A":"Z", "a":"z", "0":"9", "_"];
 
   varname = cell (size (str));
   for i = 1:numel (str)
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
     str{i}(! ismember (str{i}, validchars)) = "_";
     ## do not use keywords
     if (iskeyword (str{i}))
-      str{i} = cstrcat ("_", str{i});
+      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
     endif
     ## double underscores at the beginning and end are reserved variables
     underscores = (str{i} == "_");
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@
     endif
     ## it cannot start with a number
     if (ismember (str{i}(1), "0":"9"))
-      str{i} = cstrcat ("_", str{i});
+      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
     endif
 
     ## make sure that the variable is unique relative to other variables
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/general/int2str.m
--- a/scripts/general/int2str.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/general/int2str.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@
     ifmt = get_fmt (n(idx{:}), 0);
     idx(2) = 2:sz(2);
     rfmt = get_fmt (n(idx{:}), 2);
-    fmt = cstrcat (ifmt, repmat (rfmt, 1, nc-1), "\n");
+    fmt = [ifmt repmat(rfmt,1,nc-1) "\n"];
   else
-    fmt = cstrcat (get_fmt (n, 0), "\n");
+    fmt = [get_fmt(n, 0) "\n"];
   endif
   tmp = sprintf (fmt, permute (n, [2, 1, 3 : nd]));
   tmp(end) = "";
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/general/num2str.m
--- a/scripts/general/num2str.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/general/num2str.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -115,14 +115,14 @@
         fmt = "%3d";
       endif
     endif
-    fmt = cstrcat (deblank (repmat (fmt, 1, columns (x))), "\n");
+    fmt = [deblank(repmat(fmt, 1, columns(x))), "\n"];
     nd = ndims (x);
     tmp = sprintf (fmt, permute (x, [2, 1, 3:nd]));
     retval = strtrim (char (ostrsplit (tmp(1:end-1), "\n")));
   else   # Complex matrix input
     if (nargin == 2)
       if (ischar (arg))
-        fmt = cstrcat (arg, "%-+", arg(2:end), "i");
+        fmt = [arg "%-+" arg(2:end) "i"];
       elseif (isnumeric (arg) && isscalar (arg) && arg >= 0)
         fmt = sprintf ("%%%d.%dg%%-+%d.%dgi", arg+7, arg, arg+7, arg);
       else
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@
     x = horzcat (real (x), imag (x));
     x = x(idx{:});
 
-    fmt = cstrcat (deblank (repmat (fmt, 1, nc)), "\n");
+    fmt = [deblank(repmat(fmt, 1, nc)), "\n"];
     tmp = sprintf (fmt, permute (x, [2, 1, 3:nd]));
 
     ## Put the "i"'s where they are supposed to be.
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/help/__makeinfo__.m
--- a/scripts/help/__makeinfo__.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/help/__makeinfo__.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
     error ("unable to open %s for reading", file);
   else
     macros_text = fread (fid, Inf, "*char")';
-    text = cstrcat (macros_text, text);
+    text = [macros_text text];
   endif
   fclose (fid);
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/help/help.m
--- a/scripts/help/help.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/help/help.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@
     endif
   endfor
 
-  retval = cstrcat (operators, keywords, builtins, flist);
+  retval = [operators, keywords, builtins, flist];
 
 endfunction
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/copyfile.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/copyfile.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/copyfile.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     endif
 
     if (nargin == 3 && strcmp (force, "f"))
-      cmd = cstrcat (cmd, " ", cmd_force_flag);
+      cmd = [cmd " " cmd_force_flag];
     endif
 
     ## If f1 isn't a cellstr convert it to one.
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/dir.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/dir.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/dir.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
             endif
           endif
           [dummy, fn, ext] = fileparts (fn);
-          fn = cstrcat (fn, ext);
+          fn = [fn ext];
           info(i,1).name = fn;
           lt = localtime (st.mtime);
           info(i,1).date = strftime ("%d-%b-%Y %T", lt);
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/edit.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/edit.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/edit.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@
 
   ## Pick up globals or default them.
 
-  persistent FUNCTION = struct ("EDITOR", cstrcat (EDITOR (), " %s"),
+  persistent FUNCTION = struct ("EDITOR", [EDITOR() " %s"],
                                 "HOME", fullfile (default_home, "octave"),
                                 "AUTHOR", default_user(1),
                                 "EMAIL",  [],
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@
         fid = fopen (fileandpath, "r+t");
         if (fid < 0)
           from = fileandpath;
-          fileandpath = cstrcat (FUNCTION.HOME, from (rindex (from, filesep):end));
+          fileandpath = [FUNCTION.HOME, from(rindex(from, filesep):end)];
           [status, msg] = copyfile (from, fileandpath, 1);
           if (status == 0)
             error (msg);
@@ -386,19 +386,19 @@
       if (isempty (host))
         FUNCTION.EMAIL = " ";
       else
-        FUNCTION.EMAIL = cstrcat ("<", default_user(0), "@", host, ">");
+        FUNCTION.EMAIL = ["<" default_user(0) "@" host ">"];
       endif
     endif
 
     ## Fill in the revision string.
     now = localtime (time);
-    revs = cstrcat ("Created: ", strftime ("%Y-%m-%d", now));
+    revs = ["Created: " strftime("%Y-%m-%d",now)];
 
     ## Fill in the copyright string.
-    copyright = cstrcat (strftime ("Copyright (C) %Y ", now), FUNCTION.AUTHOR);
+    copyright = [strftime("Copyright (C) %Y ",now) FUNCTION.AUTHOR];
 
     ## Fill in the author tag field.
-    author = cstrcat ("Author: ", FUNCTION.AUTHOR, " ", FUNCTION.EMAIL);
+    author = ["Author: " FUNCTION.AUTHOR " " FUNCTION.EMAIL];
 
     ## Fill in the header.
     uclicense = toupper (FUNCTION.LICENSE);
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@
   along with Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see\n\
   <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.\
   ");
-        tail = cstrcat (author, "\n", revs);
+        tail = [author, "\n", revs];
 
       case "BSD"
         head = cstrcat (copyright, "\n\n", "\
@@ -445,17 +445,16 @@
   OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF\n\
   SUCH DAMAGE.\
   ");
-        tail = cstrcat (author, "\n", revs);
+        tail = [author, "\n", revs];
 
       case "PD"
         head = "";
-        tail = cstrcat (author, "\n", revs, "\n\n",
-                       "This program is granted to the public domain.");
+        tail = [author, "\n", revs, "\n\n", ...
+                "This program is granted to the public domain."];
 
       otherwise
         head = "";
-        tail = cstrcat (copyright, "\n\n", FUNCTION.LICENSE, "\n",
-                       author, "\n", revs);
+        tail = [copyright, "\n\n", FUNCTION.LICENSE, "\n", author, "\n", revs];
     endswitch
 
     ## Generate the function template.
@@ -463,45 +462,45 @@
     switch (ext)
       case {"cc", "C", "cpp"}
         if (isempty (head))
-          comment = cstrcat ("/*\n", tail, "\n\n*/\n\n");
+          comment = ["/*\n", tail, "\n\n*/\n\n"];
         else
-          comment = cstrcat ("/*\n", head, "\n\n", tail, "\n\n*/\n\n");
+          comment = ["/*\n", head, "\n\n", tail, "\n\n*/\n\n"];
         endif
         ## If we are shadowing an m-file, paste the code for the m-file.
         if (any (exists == [2, 103]))
-          code = cstrcat ("\\ ", strrep (type (name){1}, "\n", "\n// "));
+          code = ['\ ', strrep(type(name){1}, "\n", "\n// ")];
         else
           code = " ";
         endif
         body = cstrcat ("#include <octave/oct.h>\n\n",
-                       "DEFUN_DLD(", name, ",args,nargout,\"\\\n",
-                       name, "\\n\\\n\")\n{\n",
-                       "  octave_value_list retval;\n",
-                       "  int nargin = args.length ();\n\n",
-                       code, "\n  return retval;\n}\n");
+                        "DEFUN_DLD(", name, ",args,nargout,\"\\\n",
+                        name, "\\n\\\n\")\n{\n",
+                        "  octave_value_list retval;\n",
+                        "  int nargin = args.length ();\n\n",
+                        code, "\n  return retval;\n}\n");
 
-        text = cstrcat (comment, body);
+        text = [comment, body];
       case "m"
         ## If we are editing a function defined on the fly, paste the
         ## code.
         if (any (exists == [2, 103]))
           body = type (name){1};
         else
-          body = cstrcat ("function [ret] = ", name, " ()\n\nendfunction\n");
+          body = ["function [ret] = " name " ()\n\nendfunction\n"];
         endif
         if (isempty (head))
-          comment = cstrcat ("## -*- texinfo -*- \n## @deftypefn {Function File}", 
-                             "{@var{ret} =}", name, "(@var{x}, @var{y})\n##\n",
-                             "## @seealso{}\n## @end deftypefn\n\n",
-                             "## ", strrep (tail, "\n", "\n## "), "\n\n");
+          comment = ["## -*- texinfo -*- \n## @deftypefn {Function File}" \
+                     "{@var{ret} =}" name "(@var{x}, @var{y})\n##\n"      \
+                     "## @seealso{}\n## @end deftypefn\n\n"               \
+                     "## " strrep(tail, "\n", "\n## ") "\n\n"];
         else
-          comment = cstrcat ("## ", strrep (head,"\n","\n## "), "\n\n", ...
-                             "## -*- texinfo -*- \n## @deftypefn {Function File}", 
-                             "{@var{ret} =}", name, "(@var{x}, @var{y})\n##\n",
-                             "## @seealso{}\n## @end deftypefn\n\n",
-                             "## ", strrep (tail, "\n", "\n## "), "\n\n");
+          comment = ["## " strrep(head,"\n","\n## ") "\n\n"               \
+                     "## -*- texinfo -*- \n## @deftypefn {Function File}" \
+                     "{@var{ret} =}" name "(@var{x} @var{y})\n##\n"       \
+                     "## @seealso{}\n## @end deftypefn\n\n"               \
+                     "## " strrep(tail, "\n", "\n## ") "\n\n"];
         endif
-        text = cstrcat (comment, body);
+        text = [comment, body];
     endswitch
 
     ## Write the initial file (if there is anything to write)
@@ -566,9 +565,7 @@
   status = __octave_link_edit_file__ (file);
 
   if (! status)
-    system (sprintf (undo_string_escapes (editor),
-                     cstrcat ("\"", file, "\"")),
-            [], mode);
+    system (sprintf (undo_string_escapes (editor), ['"' file '"']), [], mode);
   endif
 
 endfunction
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/fact.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/fact.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/fact.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -257,12 +257,13 @@
   while (i <= numwords);
     line = wc{i};
     while (i < numwords
-           && length (newline = cstrcat (line, " ", wc{i+1})) < cols)
+           && length (newline = [line " " wc{i+1}]) < cols)
       line = newline;
       i++;
     endwhile
-    out = cstrcat (out, line, "\n");
+    out = [out, line, "\n"];
     i++;
   endwhile
-  out = cstrcat (out, "\n");
+  out = [out, "\n"];
 endfunction
+
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/fullfile.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/fullfile.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/fullfile.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
         elseif (i == nargs && strcmp (tmp, filesep))
           tmp = "";
         endif
-        filename = cstrcat (filename, filesep, tmp);
+        filename = [filename filesep tmp];
       endfor
     elseif (nargs == 1)
       filename = varargin{1};
@@ -56,10 +56,10 @@
 
 %!shared fs, fsx, xfs, fsxfs, xfsy
 %! fs = filesep ();
-%! fsx = cstrcat (fs, "x");
-%! xfs = cstrcat ("x", fs);
-%! fsxfs = cstrcat (fs, "x", fs);
-%! xfsy = cstrcat ("x", fs, "y");
+%! fsx = [fs "x"];
+%! xfs = ["x" fs];
+%! fsxfs = [fs "x" fs];
+%! xfsy = ["x" fs "y"];
 %!assert (fullfile (""), "")
 %!assert (fullfile (fs), fs)
 %!assert (fullfile ("", fs), fs)
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/mkoctfile.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/mkoctfile.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/mkoctfile.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -146,9 +146,9 @@
 
   shell_script = fullfile (bindir, sprintf ("mkoctfile-%s", OCTAVE_VERSION));
 
-  cmd = cstrcat ("\"", shell_script, "\"");
+  cmd = ['"' shell_script '"'];
   for i = 1:nargin
-    cmd = cstrcat (cmd, " \"", varargin{i}, "\"");
+    cmd = [cmd ' "' varargin{i} '"'];
   endfor
 
   [sys, out] = system (cmd);
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/movefile.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/movefile.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/movefile.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     endif
 
     if (nargin == 3 && strcmp (force, "f"))
-      cmd = cstrcat (cmd, " ", cmd_force_flag);
+      cmd = [cmd " " cmd_force_flag];
     endif
 
     ## If f1 isn't a cellstr convert it to one.
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/perl.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/perl.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/perl.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@
       scriptfile = file_in_loadpath (scriptfile);
     endif
 
-    [status, output] = system (cstrcat ("perl ", scriptfile,
-                                        sprintf (" %s", varargin{:})));
+    [status, output] = system (["perl " scriptfile ...
+                                sprintf(" %s", varargin{:})]);
   else
     error ("perl: invalid arguments");
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/python.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/python.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/python.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -40,8 +40,8 @@
       scriptfile = file_in_loadpath (scriptfile);
     endif
 
-    [status, output] = system (cstrcat ("python ", scriptfile,
-                                        sprintf (" %s", varargin{:})));
+    [status, output] = system (["python ", scriptfile, ...
+                                sprintf(" %s", varargin{:})]);
   else
     error ("python: invalid arguments");
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/run.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/run.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/run.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@
       wd = pwd ();
       unwind_protect
         cd (d);
-        if (! exist (cstrcat (f, ext), "file"))
+        if (! exist ([f ext], "file"))
           error ("run: file SCRIPT must exist and be a valid Octave scriptfile");
         endif
         evalin ("caller", sprintf ("source (\"%s%s\");", f, ext),
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/tempdir.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/tempdir.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/tempdir.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
   endif
 
   if (! strcmp (dirname(end), filesep))
-    dirname = cstrcat (dirname, filesep);
+    dirname = [dirname filesep];
   endif
 
   if (! isdir (dirname))
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/miscellaneous/unpack.m
--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/unpack.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/unpack.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
       [tmppathstr, tmpname, tmpext] = fileparts (name);
       if (strcmpi (tmpext, ".tar"))
         name = tmpname;
-        ext = cstrcat (tmpext, ext);
+        ext = [tmpext ext];
       endif
     endif
 
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@
       urlfile = file;
       ## FIXME -- should we name the file that we download with the
       ## same file name as the URL requests?
-      tmpfile = cstrcat (tmpnam (), ext);
+      tmpfile = [tmpnam() ext];
       [file, success, msg] = urlwrite (urlfile, tmpfile);
       if (! success)
         error ("unpack: could not get \"%s\": %s", urlfile, msg);
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
 
   unwind_protect
     cd (dir);
-    [status, output] = system (sprintf (cstrcat (command, " 2>&1"), file));
+    [status, output] = system (sprintf ([command " 2>&1"], file));
   unwind_protect_cleanup
     cd (origdir);
   end_unwind_protect
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/configure_make.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/configure_make.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/configure_make.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -41,21 +41,20 @@
     if (exist (fullfile (src, "configure"), "file"))
       flags = "";
       if (isempty (getenv ("CC")))
-        flags = cstrcat (flags, " CC=\"", mkoctfile ("-p", "CC"), "\"");
+        flags = [flags ' CC="' mkoctfile("-p", "CC") '"'];
       endif
       if (isempty (getenv ("CXX")))
-        flags = cstrcat (flags, " CXX=\"", mkoctfile ("-p", "CXX"), "\"");
+        flags = [flags ' CXX="' mkoctfile("-p", "CXX") '"'];
       endif
       if (isempty (getenv ("AR")))
-        flags = cstrcat (flags, " AR=\"", mkoctfile ("-p", "AR"), "\"");
+        flags = [flags ' AR="' mkoctfile("-p" "AR") '"'];
       endif
       if (isempty (getenv ("RANLIB")))
-        flags = cstrcat (flags, " RANLIB=\"", mkoctfile ("-p", "RANLIB"), "\"");
+        flags = [flags ' RANLIB="' mkoctfile("-p" "RANLIB") '"'];
       endif
-      [status, output] = shell (cstrcat ("cd '", src, "'; ", scenv,
-                                         "./configure --prefix=\"",
-                                         desc.dir, "\"", flags),
-                                verbose);
+      cmd = ["cd '" src "'; " ...
+             scenv "./configure --prefix=\"" desc.dir "\"" flags];
+      [status, output] = shell (cmd, verbose);
       if (status != 0)
         rmdir (desc.dir, "s");
         disp (output);
@@ -65,8 +64,7 @@
 
     ## Make.
     if (exist (fullfile (src, "Makefile"), "file"))
-      [status, output] = shell (cstrcat (scenv, "make -C '", src, "'"),
-                                verbose);
+      [status, output] = shell ([scenv "make -C '" src "'"], verbose);
       if (status != 0)
         rmdir (desc.dir, "s");
         disp (output);
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/create_pkgadddel.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/create_pkgadddel.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/create_pkgadddel.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@
   ## architecture dependent directory so that the autoload/mfilename
   ## commands work as expected. The only part that doesn't is the
   ## part in the main directory.
-  archdir = fullfile (getarchprefix (desc, global_install), cstrcat (desc.name,
-                      "-", desc.version), getarch ());
+  archdir = fullfile (getarchprefix (desc, global_install), 
+                      [desc.name "-" desc.version], getarch ());
   if (exist (getarchdir (desc, global_install), "dir"))
     archpkg = fullfile (getarchdir (desc, global_install), nm);
     archfid = fopen (archpkg, "at");
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/extract_pkg.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/extract_pkg.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/extract_pkg.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@
       if (ln > 0)
         t = regexp (ln, pat, "tokens");
         if (! isempty (t))
-          pkg = cstrcat (pkg, "\n", t{1}{1});
+          pkg = [pkg "\n" t{1}{1}];
         endif
       endif
     endwhile
     if (! isempty (pkg))
-      pkg = cstrcat (pkg, "\n");
+      pkg = [pkg "\n"];
     endif
     fclose (fid);
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/get_description.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/get_description.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/get_description.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     elseif (isspace (line(1)))
       ## Continuation lines
       if (exist ("keyword", "var") && isfield (desc, keyword))
-        desc.(keyword) = cstrcat (desc.(keyword), " ", deblank (line));
+        desc.(keyword) = [desc.(keyword) " " deblank(line)];
       endif
     else
       ## Keyword/value pair
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/get_forge_pkg.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/get_forge_pkg.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/get_forge_pkg.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
       if (nargout > 1)
         # Build download string.
         pkg_file = sprintf ("%s-%s.tar.gz", name, ver);
-        url = cstrcat ("http://packages.octave.org/download/", pkg_file);
+        url = ["http://packages.octave.org/download/" pkg_file];
         ## Verify that the package string exists on the page.
         if (isempty (strfind (html, pkg_file)))
           warning ("get_forge_pkg: download URL not verified");
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/getarch.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/getarch.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/getarch.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 function arch = getarch ()
-  persistent _arch = cstrcat (octave_config_info ("canonical_host_type"),
-                              "-", octave_config_info ("api_version"));
+  persistent _arch = [octave_config_info("canonical_host_type"), "-", ...
+                      octave_config_info("api_version")];
   arch = _arch;
 endfunction
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/getarchprefix.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/getarchprefix.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/getarchprefix.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 function archprefix = getarchprefix (desc, global_install)
   if (global_install)
     archprefix = fullfile (octave_config_info ("libdir"), "octave",
-                           "packages", cstrcat (desc.name, "-", desc.version));
+                           "packages", [desc.name "-" desc.version]);
   else
     archprefix = desc.dir;
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/install.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/install.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/install.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -121,11 +121,10 @@
         endif
 
         ## Set default installation directory.
-        desc.dir = fullfile (prefix, cstrcat (desc.name, "-", desc.version));
+        desc.dir = fullfile (prefix, [desc.name "-" desc.version]);
 
         ## Set default architectire dependent installation directory.
-        desc.archprefix = fullfile (archprefix, cstrcat (desc.name, "-",
-                                                         desc.version));
+        desc.archprefix = fullfile (archprefix, [desc.name "-" desc.version]);
 
         ## Save desc.
         descriptions{end+1} = desc;
@@ -172,9 +171,8 @@
         ok = false;
         for i = 1:length (bad_deps)
           dep = bad_deps{i};
-          error_text = cstrcat (error_text, " ", desc.name, " needs ",
-                               dep.package, " ", dep.operator, " ",
-                               dep.version, "\n");
+          error_text = [error_text " " desc.name " needs " ...
+                        dep.package " " dep.operator " " dep.version "\n"]);
         endfor
       endif
     endfor
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/installed_packages.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/installed_packages.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/installed_packages.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -140,10 +140,9 @@
       first_char = length (cur_dir) - max_dir_length + 4;
       first_filesep = strfind (cur_dir(first_char:end), filesep ());
       if (! isempty (first_filesep))
-        cur_dir = cstrcat ("...",
-                          cur_dir((first_char + first_filesep(1) - 1):end));
+        cur_dir = ["..." cur_dir((first_char + first_filesep(1) - 1):end)];
       else
-        cur_dir = cstrcat ("...", cur_dir(first_char:end));
+        cur_dir = ["..." cur_dir(first_char:end)];
       endif
     endif
     if (installed_pkgs_lst{idx(i)}.loaded)
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/load_packages_and_dependencies.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/load_packages_and_dependencies.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/load_packages_and_dependencies.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@
     ndir = installed_pkgs_lst{i}.dir;
     dirs{end+1} = ndir;
     if (exist (fullfile (dirs{end}, "bin"), "dir"))
-      execpath = cstrcat (execpath, pathsep (), fullfile (dirs{end}, "bin"));
+      execpath = [execpath pathsep() fullfile(dirs{end}, "bin")];
     endif
     tmpdir = getarchdir (installed_pkgs_lst{i});
     if (exist (tmpdir, "dir"))
       dirs{end + 1} = tmpdir;
       if (exist (fullfile (dirs{end}, "bin"), "dir"))
-        execpath = cstrcat (execpath, pathsep (), fullfile (dirs{end}, "bin"));
+        execpath = [execpath pathsep() fullfile(dirs{end}, "bin")];
       endif
     endif
   endfor
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/rebuild.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/rebuild.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/rebuild.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     wd = pwd ();
     unwind_protect
       cd (prefix);
-      dirlist = glob (cellfun(@(x) cstrcat (x, '-*'), files, 'uniformoutput', 0));
+      dirlist = glob (cellfun(@(x) [x '-*'], files, 'uniformoutput', 0));
     unwind_protect_cleanup
       cd (wd);
     end_unwind_protect
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@
     if (exist (descfile, "file"))
       desc = get_description (descfile);
       desc.dir = fullfile (prefix, dirlist{k});
-      desc.archprefix = fullfile (archprefix, cstrcat (desc.name, "-",
-                                  desc.version));
+      desc.archprefix = fullfile (archprefix, [desc.name "-" desc.version]);
       if (auto != 0)
         if (exist (fullfile (desc.dir, "packinfo", ".autoload"), "file"))
           unlink (fullfile (desc.dir, "packinfo", ".autoload"));
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/repackage.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/repackage.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/repackage.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@
       if (exist (fullfile (pack.name, "inst", "bin"), "dir"))
         movefile (fullfile (pack.name, "inst", "bin"), pack.name);
       endif
-      archdir = fullfile (pack.archprefix, cstrcat (pack.name, "-",
-                          pack.version), getarch ());
+      archdir = fullfile (pack.archprefix, [pack.name "-" pack.version],
+                          getarch ());
       if (exist (archdir, "dir"))
         if (exist (fullfile (pack.name, "inst", "PKG_ADD"), "file"))
           unlink (fullfile (pack.name, "inst", "PKG_ADD"));
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
                     fullfile (pack.name, "PKG_DEL"));
         endif
       endif
-      tfile = cstrcat (pack.name, "-", pack.version, ".tar");
+      tfile = [pack.name "-" pack.version ".tar"];
       tar (tfile, pack.name);
       try
         gzip (tfile);
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/shell.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/shell.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/shell.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -30,14 +30,14 @@
   cmd = strrep (cmd, "\\", "/");
   if (ispc () && ! isunix ())
     if (isempty (have_sh))
-      if (system ("sh.exe -c \"exit\""))
+      if (system ('sh.exe -c "exit"'))
         have_sh = false;
       else
         have_sh = true;
       endif
     endif
     if (have_sh)
-      cmd = cstrcat ("sh.exe -c \"", cmd, "\"");
+      cmd = ['sh.exe -c "' cmd '"'];
     else
       error ("pkg: unable to find the command shell.");
     endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/pkg/private/uninstall.m
--- a/scripts/pkg/private/uninstall.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/pkg/private/uninstall.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -81,9 +81,8 @@
       if (! isempty (bad_deps))
         for i = 1:length (bad_deps)
           dep = bad_deps{i};
-          error_text = cstrcat (error_text, " ", desc.name, " needs ",
-                               dep.package, " ", dep.operator, " ",
-                               dep.version, "\n");
+          error_text = [error_text " " desc.name " needs " ...
+                        dep.package " " dep.operator " " dep.version "\n"];
         endfor
       endif
     endfor
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/plot/private/__go_draw_axes__.m
--- a/scripts/plot/private/__go_draw_axes__.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/plot/private/__go_draw_axes__.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@
             titlespec{data_idx} = "title \"\"";
           else
             tmp = undo_string_escapes (__maybe_munge_text__ (enhanced, obj, "displayname"));
-            titlespec{data_idx} = cstrcat ("title \"", tmp, "\"");
+            titlespec{data_idx} = ['title "' tmp '"'];
           endif
           usingclause{data_idx} = sprintf ("record=%d", numel (obj.xdata));
           errbars = "";
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@
                  titlespec{local_idx} = "title \"\"";
                else
                  tmp = undo_string_escapes (__maybe_munge_text__ (enhanced, obj, "displayname"));
-                 titlespec{local_idx} = cstrcat ("title \"", tmp, "\"");
+                 titlespec{local_idx} = ['title "' tmp '"'];
                endif
                if (isfield (obj, "facecolor"))
                  if ((strncmp (obj.facecolor, "flat", 4)
@@ -1119,7 +1119,7 @@
               titlespec{data_idx} = "title \"\"";
             else
               tmp = undo_string_escapes (__maybe_munge_text__ (enhanced, obj, "displayname"));
-              titlespec{data_idx} = cstrcat ("title \"", tmp, "\"");
+              titlespec{data_idx} = ['title "' tmp '"'];
             endif
             withclause{data_idx} = sprintf ("with pm3d linestyle %d",
                                             data_idx);
@@ -2262,17 +2262,17 @@
     if (! isempty (t.fontangle)
         && (strcmpi (t.fontangle, "italic")
             || strcmpi (t.fontangle, "oblique")))
-      f = cstrcat (f, "-bolditalic");
+      f = [f "-bolditalic"];
       it = true;
       bld = true;
     else
-      f = cstrcat (f, "-bold");
+      f = [f "-bold"];
       bld = true;
     endif
   elseif (! isempty (t.fontangle)
           && (strcmpi (t.fontangle, "italic")
               || strcmpi (t.fontangle, "oblique")))
-    f = cstrcat (f, "-italic");
+    f = [f "-italic"];
     it = true;
   endif
   if (isempty (t.fontsize))
@@ -2367,7 +2367,7 @@
   for i = length (s) : -1 : 1
     ## special case for "\0"  and replace with "{/Symbol \306}'
     if (strncmp (m{i}, '\0', 2))
-      str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '{/Symbol \306}', str(s(i) + 2:end));
+      str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '{/Symbol \306}' str(s(i) + 2:end)];
     else
       f = m{i}(2:end);
       if (isfield (sym, f))
@@ -2382,28 +2382,24 @@
         ##elseif (it)
         ##  g = regexprep (g, '/Symbol', '/Symbol-italic');
         ##endif
-        str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), g, str(e(i) + 1:end));
+        str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) g str(e(i) + 1:end)];
       elseif (strncmp (f, "rm", 2))
         bld = false;
         it = false;
-        str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', fnt, ' ', str(s(i) + 3:end));
+        str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '/' fnt ' ' str(s(i) + 3:end)];
       elseif (strncmp (f, "it", 2) || strncmp (f, "sl", 2))
         it = true;
         if (bld)
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', fnt, '-bolditalic ',
-                         str(s(i) + 3:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '/' fnt '-bolditalic ' str(s(i) + 3:end)];
         else
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', fnt, '-italic ',
-                         str(s(i) + 3:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '/' fnt '-italic ' str(s(i) + 3:end)];
         endif
       elseif (strncmp (f, "bf", 2))
         bld = true;
         if (it)
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', fnt, '-bolditalic ',
-                         str(2(i) + 3:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '/' fnt '-bolditalic ' str(s(i) + 3:end)];
         else
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', fnt, '-bold ',
-                         str(s(i) + 3:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) '/' fnt '-bold ' str(s(i) + 3:end)];
         endif
       elseif (strcmpi (f, "color"))
         ## FIXME Ignore \color but remove trailing {} block as well
@@ -2411,7 +2407,7 @@
         if (isempty (d))
           warning ('syntax error in \color argument');
         else
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), str(e(i) + d + 1:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) str(e(i) + d + 1:end)];
         endif
       elseif (strcmpi (f, "fontname"))
         b1 = strfind (str(e(i) + 1:end),'{');
@@ -2419,9 +2415,8 @@
         if (isempty (b1) || isempty (b2))
           warning ('syntax error in \fontname argument');
         else
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/',
-                         str(e(i)+b1(1) + 1:e(i)+b2(1)-1), '{}',
-                         str(e(i) + b2(1) + 1:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1), '/', str(e(i)+b1(1) + 1:e(i)+b2(1)-1), ...
+                 '{}', str(e(i) + b2(1) + 1:end)];
         endif
       elseif (strcmpi (f, "fontsize"))
         b1 = strfind (str(e(i) + 1:end),'{');
@@ -2429,9 +2424,8 @@
         if (isempty (b1) || isempty (b2))
           warning ('syntax error in \fontname argument');
         else
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), '/=',
-                         str(e(i)+b1(1) + 1:e(i)+b2(1)-1), '{}',
-                         str(e(i) + b2(1) + 1:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i) - 1), '/=', str(e(i)+b1(1) + 1:e(i)+b2(1)-1), ...
+                 '{}', str(e(i) + b2(1) + 1:end)];
         endif
       else
         ## Last desperate attempt to treat the symbol. Look for things
@@ -2449,8 +2443,7 @@
             ##elseif (it)
             ##  g = regexprep (g, '/Symbol', '/Symbol-italic');
             ##endif
-            str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i) - 1), g,
-                           str(s(i) + length (flds{j}) + 1:end));
+            str = [str(1:s(i) - 1) g str(s(i) + length (flds{j}) + 1:end)];
             break;
           endif
         endfor
@@ -2507,16 +2500,16 @@
             if (length_string (str(s(i)+p+2:s(i)+p+l1-1)) <=
                 length_string (str(s(i+1)+p+2:s(i+1)+p+l2-1)))
               ## Shortest already first!
-              str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i)+p:end));
+              str = [str(1:s(i)+p-1) "@" str(s(i)+p:end)];
             else
               ## Have to swap sub/super-script to get shortest first.
-              str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i+1)+p:s(i+1)+p+l2),
-                             str(s(i)+p:s(i)+p+l1), str(s(i+1)+p+l2+1:end));
+              str = [str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i+1)+p:s(i+1)+p+l2), ...
+                     str(s(i)+p:s(i)+p+l1), str(s(i+1)+p+l2+1:end)];
             endif
           else
             ## Have to swap sub/super-script to get shortest first.
-            str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i+1)+p:s(i+1)+p+1),
-                           str(s(i)+p:s(i)+p+l1), str(s(i+1)+p+2:end));
+            str = [str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i+1)+p:s(i+1)+p+1), ...
+                   str(s(i)+p:s(i)+p+l1), str(s(i+1)+p+2:end)];
           endif
           i += 2;
           p ++;
@@ -2526,7 +2519,7 @@
       else
         if (s(i+1) == s(i) + 2)
           ## Shortest already first!
-          str = cstrcat (str(1:s(i)+p-1), "@", str(s(i)+p:end));
+          str = [str(1:s(i)+p-1) "@" str(s(i)+p:end)];
           p ++;
           i += 2;
         else
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/signal/spectral_adf.m
--- a/scripts/signal/spectral_adf.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/signal/spectral_adf.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
   if (nargin == 1)
     w = triangle_lw (cr, b);
   else
-    win = str2func (cstrcat (win, "_lw"));
+    win = str2func ([win "_lw")];
     w = feval (win, cr, b);
   endif
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/signal/spectral_xdf.m
--- a/scripts/signal/spectral_xdf.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/signal/spectral_xdf.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
   if (nargin == 1)
     w = triangle_sw (xr, b);
   else
-    win = str2func (cstrcat (win, "_sw"));
+    win = str2func ([win "_sw")];
     w = feval (win, xr, b);
   endif
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/statistics/tests/z_test.m
--- a/scripts/statistics/tests/z_test.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/statistics/tests/z_test.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -78,9 +78,9 @@
   endif
 
   if (nargout == 0)
-    s = cstrcat ("Z-test of mean(x) == %g against mean(x) %s %g,\n",
-                 "with known var(x) == %g:\n",
-                 "  pval = %g\n");
+    s = ["Z-test of mean(x) == %g against mean(x) %s %g,\n", \
+         "with known var(x) == %g:\n",                       \
+         "  pval = %g\n");
     printf (s, m, alt, m, v, pval);
   endif
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/statistics/tests/z_test_2.m
--- a/scripts/statistics/tests/z_test_2.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/statistics/tests/z_test_2.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@
   endif
 
   if (nargout == 0)
-    s = cstrcat ("Two-sample Z-test of mean(x) == mean(y) against ",
-                 "mean(x) %s mean(y),\n",
-                 "with known var(x) == %g and var(y) == %g:\n",
-                 "  pval = %g\n");
+    s = ["Two-sample Z-test of mean(x) == mean(y) against ", \
+         "mean(x) %s mean(y),\n",                            \
+         "with known var(x) == %g and var(y) == %g:\n",      \
+         "  pval = %g\n"];
     printf (s, alt, v_x, v_y, pval);
   endif
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/strings/mat2str.m
--- a/scripts/strings/mat2str.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/strings/mat2str.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
     endif
   else
     ## Non-scalar X, print brackets
-    fmt = cstrcat (fmt, " ");
+    fmt = [fmt " "];
     if (x_iscomplex)
       t = x.';
       s = sprintf (fmt, [real(t(:))'; imag(t(:))']);
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@
       s = sprintf (fmt, x.');
     endif
 
-    s = cstrcat ("[", s);
+    s = ["[" s];
     s(end) = "]";
     idx = strfind (s, " ");
     nc = columns (x);
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@
   endif
 
   if (strcmp ("class", cls))
-    s = cstrcat (class (x), "(", s, ")");
+    s = [class(x) "(" s ")"];
   endif
 
 endfunction
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/strings/strtok.m
--- a/scripts/strings/strtok.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/strings/strtok.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -211,9 +211,9 @@
 %% Test with TAB, LF, VT, FF, and CR
 %!test
 %! for ch = "\t\n\v\f\r"
-%!   [t, r] = strtok (cstrcat ("beg", ch, "end"));
+%!   [t, r] = strtok (["beg", ch, "end"]);
 %!   assert (t, "beg");
-%!   assert (r, cstrcat (ch, "end"));
+%!   assert (r, [ch, "end"]);
 %! endfor
 
 %% Test input validation
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/testfun/__run_test_suite__.m
--- a/scripts/testfun/__run_test_suite__.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/testfun/__run_test_suite__.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@
 endfunction
 
 function report_files_with_no_tests (with, without, typ)
-  pat = cstrcat ('\', typ, "$");
+  pat = ['\' typ "$"];
   n_with = num_elts_matching_pattern (with, pat);
   n_without = num_elts_matching_pattern (without, pat);
   n_tot = n_with + n_without;
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/testfun/assert.m
--- a/scripts/testfun/assert.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/testfun/assert.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@
 
   in = deblank (argn(1,:));
   for i = 2:rows (argn)
-    in = cstrcat (in, ",", deblank (argn(i,:)));
+    in = [in "," deblank(argn(i,:))];
   endfor
-  in = cstrcat ("(", in, ")");
+  in = ["(" in ")"];
 
   if (nargin == 1 || (nargin > 1 && islogical (cond) && ischar (varargin{1})))
     if ((! isnumeric (cond) && ! islogical (cond)) || ! all (cond(:)))
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
         ## Without explicit tolerance, be more strict.
         if (! strcmp (class (cond), class (expected)))
           iserror = 1;
-          coda = cstrcat ("Class ", class (cond), " != ", class (expected));
+          coda = ["Class " class (cond) " != " class(expected)];
         elseif (isnumeric (cond))
           if (issparse (cond) != issparse (expected))
             if (issparse (cond))
@@ -228,9 +228,9 @@
     if (! isempty (idx))
       str2 = str2 (idx(1):idx(end));
     endif
-    msg = cstrcat ("assert ", in, " expected\n", str, "\nbut got\n", str2);
+    msg = ["assert " in " expected\n" str "\nbut got\n" str2];
     if (! isempty (coda))
-      msg = cstrcat (msg, "\n", coda);
+      msg = [msg, "\n", coda];
     endif
     error ("%s", msg);
   endif
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/testfun/demo.m
--- a/scripts/testfun/demo.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/testfun/demo.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@
     try
       block = code(idx(doidx(i)):idx(doidx(i)+1)-1);
       ## Use an environment without variables
-      eval (cstrcat ("function __demo__ ()\n", block, "\nendfunction"));
+      eval (["function __demo__()\n" block "\nendfunction"]);
       ## Display the code that will be executed before executing it
       printf ("%s example %d:%s\n\n", name, doidx(i), block);
       __demo__;
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/testfun/speed.m
--- a/scripts/testfun/speed.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/testfun/speed.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -187,14 +187,14 @@
   do_display = (nargout == 0);
 
   if (do_display)
-    disp (cstrcat ("testing ", __f1, "\ninit: ", __init));
+    disp (["testing " __f1 "\ninit: " __init]);
   endif
 
   ## Add semicolon closure to all code fragments in case user has not done so.
-  __init = cstrcat (__init, ";");
-  __f1 = cstrcat (__f1, ";");
+  __init(end+1) = ";";
+  __f1(end+1) = ";";
   if (! isempty (__f2))
-    __f2 = cstrcat (__f2, ";");
+    __f2(end+1) = ";";
   endif
 
   ## Make sure the functions are freshly loaded by evaluating them at
@@ -217,19 +217,19 @@
       fflush (stdout);
     endif
 
-    eval (cstrcat ("__t = time();", __f1, "__v1=ans; __t = time()-__t;"));
+    eval (["__t = time();" __f1 "__v1=ans; __t = time()-__t;"]);
     if (__t < 0.25)
-      eval (cstrcat ("__t2 = time();", __f1, "__t2 = time()-__t2;"));
-      eval (cstrcat ("__t3 = time();", __f1, "__t3 = time()-__t3;"));
+      eval (["__t2 = time();" __f1 "__t2 = time()-__t2;"]);
+      eval (["__t3 = time();" __f1 "__t3 = time()-__t3;"]);
       __t = min ([__t, __t2, __t3]);
     endif
     __tnew(k) = __t;
 
     if (! isempty (__f2))
-      eval (cstrcat ("__t = time();", __f2, "__v2=ans; __t = time()-__t;"));
+      eval (["__t = time();" __f2 "__v2=ans; __t = time()-__t;"]);
       if (__t < 0.25)
-        eval (cstrcat ("__t2 = time();", __f2, "__t2 = time()-__t2;"));
-        eval (cstrcat ("__t3 = time();", __f2, "__t3 = time()-__t3;"));
+        eval (["__t2 = time();" __f2 "__t2 = time()-__t2;"]);
+        eval (["__t3 = time();" __f2 "__t3 = time()-__t3;"]);
         __t = min ([__t, __t2, __t3]);
       endif
       __torig(k) = __t;
@@ -280,27 +280,25 @@
     loglog (__test_n, __tnew*1000, "*-g;execution time;");
     xlabel ("test length");
     ylabel ("best execution time (ms)");
-    title ({__f1, cstrcat("init: ", __init)});
+    title ({__f1, ["init: " __init]});
 
   elseif (do_display)
 
     subplot (1, 2, 1);
     semilogx (__test_n, __torig./__tnew,
-              cstrcat ("-*r;", strrep (__f1, ";", "."), " / ",
-                       strrep (__f2, ";", "."), ";"),
-               __test_n, __tnew./__torig,
-              cstrcat ("-*g;", strrep (__f2, ";", "."), " / ",
-                       strrep (__f1, ";", "."), ";"));
+             ["-*r;" strrep(__f1, ";", ".") " / " strrep(__f2, ";", ".") ";"],
+              __test_n, __tnew./__torig,
+             ["-*g;", strrep(__f2, ";", ".") " / " strrep(__f1, ";", ".") ";"]);
     title ("Speedup Ratio");
     xlabel ("test length");
     ylabel ("speedup ratio");
 
     subplot (1, 2, 2);
     loglog (__test_n, __tnew*1000,
-            cstrcat ("*-g;", strrep (__f1, ";", "."), ";"),
+            ["*-g;" strrep(__f1,";",".") ";"],
             __test_n, __torig*1000,
-            cstrcat ("*-r;", strrep (__f2,";","."), ";"));
-    title ({"Execution Times", cstrcat("init: ", __init)});
+            ["*-r;" strrep(__f2,";",".") ";"]);
+    title ({"Execution Times", ["init: " __init]});
     xlabel ("test length");
     ylabel ("best execution time (ms)");
 
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 scripts/testfun/test.m
--- a/scripts/testfun/test.m	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/testfun/test.m	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -155,10 +155,10 @@
   ## Locate the file to test.
   __file = file_in_loadpath (__name, "all");
   if (isempty (__file))
-    __file = file_in_loadpath (cstrcat (__name, ".m"), "all");
+    __file = file_in_loadpath ([__name ".m"], "all");
   endif
   if (isempty (__file))
-    __file = file_in_loadpath (cstrcat (__name, ".cc"), "all");
+    __file = file_in_loadpath ([__name ".cc"], "all");
   endif
   if (iscell (__file))
       ## If repeats, return first in path.
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@
 
   ## Ready to start tests ... if in batch mode, tell us what is happening.
   if (__verbose)
-    disp (cstrcat (__signal_file, __file));
+    disp ([__signal_file, __file]);
   endif
 
   ## Assume all tests will pass.
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
           __demo_code = __code;
           __demo_idx = [1, length(__demo_code)+1];
         else
-          __demo_code = cstrcat (__demo_code, __code);
+          __demo_code = [__demo_code, __code];
           __demo_idx = [__demo_idx, length(__demo_code)+1];
         endif
 
@@ -326,9 +326,9 @@
       try
         __vars = deblank (__vars);
         if (! isempty (__vars))
-          eval (cstrcat (strrep (__vars, ",", "=[];"), "=[];"));
+          eval ([strrep(__vars, ",", "=[];"), "=[];"]);
           __shared = __vars;
-          __shared_r = cstrcat ("[ ", __vars, "] = ");
+          __shared_r = ["[ ", __vars, "] = "];
         else
           __shared = " ";
           __shared_r = " ";
@@ -686,7 +686,7 @@
       if (length (ln) >= 2 && strcmp (ln(1:2), "%!"))
         body = [body, "\n"];
         if (length (ln) > 2)
-          body = cstrcat (body, ln(3:end));
+          body = [body, ln(3:end)];
         endif
       endif
     endwhile
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 test/eval-catch.tst
--- a/test/eval-catch.tst	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/test/eval-catch.tst	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 %!function ms = mangle (s)
 %!  ## Wrap angle brackets around S.
-%!  ms = cstrcat ("<", s, ">");
+%!  ms = ["<" s ">"];
 %!endfunction
 %!test
 %! eval ("clear a; a; str='';", "str = mangle (lasterr);");
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 test/io.tst
--- a/test/io.tst	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/test/io.tst	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@
 %!       else
 %!         fclose (id);
 %!       endif
-%!       tmp_mode = cstrcat (mode, "b");
+%!       tmp_mode = [mode, "b"];
 %!       [id, err] = fopen (nm, tmp_mode, arch);
 %!       if (id < 0)
 %!         __printf_assert__ ("open failed: %s (%s, %s): %s\n", nm, tmp_mode, arch, err);
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@
 %!       else
 %!         fclose (id);
 %!       endif
-%!       tmp_mode = cstrcat (mode, "t");
+%!       tmp_mode = [mode, "t"];
 %!       [id, err] = fopen (nm, tmp_mode, arch);
 %!       if (id < 0)
 %!         __printf_assert__ ("open failed: %s (%s, %s): %s\n", nm, tmp_mode, arch, err);
diff -r 78f57b14535c -r 333243133364 test/try.tst
--- a/test/try.tst	Wed Jul 17 10:09:44 2013 -0700
+++ b/test/try.tst	Wed Jul 17 14:02:32 2013 -0700
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
 
 %!function ms = mangle (s)
 %!  ## Wrap angle brackets around S.
-%!  ms = cstrcat ("<", s, ">");
+%!  ms = ["<" s ">"];
 %!endfunction
 %!test
 %! try
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@
 %!     a;
 %!     error ("Shoudn't get here");
 %!   catch
-%!     error (cstrcat ("rethrow: ", lasterr));
+%!     error (["rethrow: " lasterr]);
 %!   end_try_catch
 %! catch
 %!   assert (lasterr()(1:22), "rethrow: 'a' undefined");