--- a/scripts/ChangeLog	Wed Mar 15 20:11:46 2006 +0000
+++ b/scripts/ChangeLog	Wed Mar 15 21:27:35 2006 +0000
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2006-03-15  John W. Eaton  <jwe@octave.org>
+
+	* miscellaneous/doc.m: New file.
+	From Soren Hauberg <soren@hauberg.org>.
+
 2006-03-15  Keith Goodman  <kwgoodman@gmail.com>
 
 	* miscellaneous/mkoctfile.m: New file.

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/doc.m	Wed Mar 15 21:27:35 2006 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2005 Soren Hauberg
+## 
+## This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+## it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+## the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+## (at your option) any later version.
+## 
+## This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+## but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+## GNU General Public License for more details.
+## 
+## You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+## along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+## Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn {Command} doc @var{function_name}
+## Displays documentation for the function @var{function_name}.
+## For example, if you want to see the documentation for the Octave
+## random number generator @code{rand}, type
+## @example
+## @code{doc rand}
+## @end example
+## @seealso{help}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: Soren Hauberg <soren@hauberg.org>
+## Adapted-by: jwe
+
+function retval = doc (fname)
+
+  if (nargin != 1 || ! ischar (fname))
+    usage ("doc function_name")
+  endif
+
+  ## Get the directory where the function lives.
+  ## XXX FIXME XXX -- maybe we should have a better way of doing this.
+
+  x = exist (fname);
+
+  if (x == 2)
+    ffile = file_in_loadpath (strcat (fname, "."));
+  elseif (x == 3)
+    ffile = file_in_loadpath (strcat (fname, "."));
+  else
+    ffile = "";
+  endif
+
+  if (! isempty (ffile))
+    info_dir = fileparts (ffile);
+  else
+    info_dir = octave_config_info ("infodir");
+  endif
+
+  ## Determine if a file called doc.info exist in the same 
+  ## directory as the function.
+
+  info_file = fullfile (info_dir, "doc.info");
+
+  if (! isstruct (stat (info_file)))
+    info_file = INFO_FILE;
+  endif
+
+  cmd = sprintf ("\"%s\" --directory \"%s\" --file \"%s\" --index-search %s",
+		 INFO_PROGRAM, info_dir, info_file, fname);
+
+  status = system (cmd);
+
+  if (status == 127)
+    warning ("unable to find info program `%s'", INFO_PROGRAM);
+  endif
+
+  if (nargout > 0)
+    retval = status;
+  endif
+
+endfunction

--- a/src/ChangeLog	Wed Mar 15 20:11:46 2006 +0000
+++ b/src/ChangeLog	Wed Mar 15 21:27:35 2006 +0000
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+2006-03-15  John W. Eaton  <jwe@octave.org>
+
+	* help.cc (help_from_info): Simplify.
+	(try_info): Use feval to call doc instead of executing info program.
+	(additional_help_message): Point users to doc instead of help -i.
+	From Soren Hauberg <soren@hauberg.org>.
+
+	* toplev.cc (Fsystem): Return output if nargout > 1, not 0.
+
 2006-03-14  Keith Goodman  <kwgoodman@gmail.com>
 
 	* help.cc (Fhelp, Fwhich, Flookfor): Doc string fix.

--- a/src/help.cc	Wed Mar 15 20:11:46 2006 +0000
+++ b/src/help.cc	Wed Mar 15 21:27:35 2006 +0000
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@
     os << "\
 Additional help for built-in functions, operators, and variables\n\
 is available in the on-line version of the manual.  Use the command\n\
-`help -i <topic>' to search the manual index.\n\
+`doc <topic>' to search the manual index.\n\
 \n\
 Help and information about Octave is also available on the WWW\n\
 at http://www.octave.org and via the help@octave.org\n\
@@ -568,45 +568,18 @@
 static int
 try_info (const std::string& nm)
 {
-  int status = 0;
-
-  OSSTREAM cmd_buf;
+  int retval = -1;
 
-#if __MINGW32__
-  cmd_buf << Vinfo_prog << " --file \"" << Vinfo_file << "\"";
-#else
-  cmd_buf << "\"" << Vinfo_prog << "\" --file \"" << Vinfo_file << "\"";
-#endif
-
-  std::string directory_name = Vinfo_file;
-  size_t pos = directory_name.rfind ('/');
-
-  if (pos != NPOS)
-    {
-      directory_name.resize (pos + 1);
-      cmd_buf << " --directory \"" << directory_name << "\"";
-    }
+  warning ("please use `doc' instead of `help -i'");
 
-  if (nm.length () > 0)
-    cmd_buf << " --index-search " << nm;
-
-  cmd_buf << OSSTREAM_ENDS;
-
-  volatile octave_interrupt_handler old_interrupt_handler
-    = octave_ignore_interrupts ();
-
-  status = system (OSSTREAM_C_STR (cmd_buf));
+  octave_value_list args;
+  args(0) = nm;
+  octave_value_list result = feval ("doc", args, 1);
 
-  OSSTREAM_FREEZE (cmd_buf);
-
-  octave_set_interrupt_handler (old_interrupt_handler);
+  if (result.length () > 0)
+    retval = result(0).int_value ();
 
-  if (WIFEXITED (status))
-    status = WEXITSTATUS (status);
-  else
-    status = 127;
-
-  return status;
+  return retval;
 }
 
 static void
@@ -620,20 +593,11 @@
 	{
 	  int status = try_info (argv[i]);
 
-	  if (status)
-	    {
-	      if (status == 127)
-		{
-		  error ("help: unable to find info");
-		  error ("help: you need info 2.18 or later (texinfo 3.12)");
-		  break;
-		}
-	      else
-		{
-		  message ("help", "`%s' is not indexed in the manual",
-			   argv[i].c_str ());
-		}
-	    }
+	  if (status == 127)
+	    break;
+	  else if (status != 0)
+	    message ("help", "`%s' is not indexed in the manual",
+		     argv[i].c_str ());
 	}
     }
 }
@@ -929,7 +893,7 @@
 \n\
 Once the GNU Info browser is running, help for using it is available\n\
 using the command @kbd{C-h}.\n\
-@seealso{which, lookfor}\n\
+@seealso{doc, which, lookfor}\n\
 @end deffn")
 {
   octave_value_list retval;

--- a/src/toplev.cc	Wed Mar 15 20:11:46 2006 +0000
+++ b/src/toplev.cc	Wed Mar 15 21:27:35 2006 +0000
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@
 
   if (nargin > 0 && nargin < 4)
     {
-      bool return_output = (nargout > 0 || nargin > 1);
+      bool return_output = (nargout > 1 || nargin > 1);
 
       std::string cmd_str = args(0).string_value ();