--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/general/bincoeff.m	Sat Oct 19 17:02:50 2013 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+## Copyright (C) 1995-2012 Kurt Hornik
+##
+## This file is part of Octave.
+##
+## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
+## your option) any later version.
+##
+## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn {Mapping Function} {} bincoeff (@var{n}, @var{k})
+## Return the binomial coefficient of @var{n} and @var{k}, defined as
+## @tex
+## $$
+##  {n \choose k} = {n (n-1) (n-2) \cdots (n-k+1) \over k!}
+## $$
+## @end tex
+## @ifnottex
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+##  /   \
+##  | n |    n (n-1) (n-2) @dots{} (n-k+1)
+##  |   |  = -------------------------
+##  | k |               k!
+##  \   /
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## @end ifnottex
+## For example:
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## bincoeff (5, 2)
+##    @result{} 10
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## In most cases, the @code{nchoosek} function is faster for small
+## scalar integer arguments.  It also warns about loss of precision for
+## big arguments.
+##
+## @seealso{nchoosek}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: KH <Kurt.Hornik@wu-wien.ac.at>
+## Created: 8 October 1994
+## Adapted-By: jwe
+
+function b = bincoeff (n, k)
+
+  if (nargin != 2)
+    print_usage ();
+  endif
+
+  [retval, n, k] = common_size (n, k);
+  if (retval > 0)
+    error ("bincoeff: N and K must be of common size or scalars");
+  endif
+
+  if (iscomplex (n) || iscomplex (k))
+    error ("bincoeff: N and K must not be complex");
+  endif
+
+  b = zeros (size (n));
+
+  ok = (k >= 0) & (k == fix (k)) & (! isnan (n));
+  b(! ok) = NaN;
+
+  n_int = (n == fix (n));
+  idx = n_int & (n < 0) & ok;
+  b(idx) = (-1) .^ k(idx) .* exp (gammaln (abs (n(idx)) + k(idx))
+                                  - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
+                                  - gammaln (abs (n(idx))));
+
+  idx = (n >= k) & ok;
+  b(idx) = exp (gammaln (n(idx) + 1)
+                - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
+                - gammaln (n(idx) - k(idx) + 1));
+
+  idx = (! n_int) & (n < k) & ok;
+  b(idx) = (1/pi) * exp (gammaln (n(idx) + 1)
+                         - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
+                         + gammaln (k(idx) - n(idx))
+                         + log (sin (pi * (n(idx) - k(idx) + 1))));
+
+  ## Clean up rounding errors.
+  b(n_int) = round (b(n_int));
+
+  idx = ! n_int;
+  b(idx) = real (b(idx));
+
+endfunction
+
+
+%!assert (bincoeff (4, 2), 6)
+%!assert (bincoeff (2, 4), 0)
+%!assert (bincoeff (-4, 2), 10)
+%!assert (bincoeff (5, 2), 10)
+%!assert (bincoeff (50, 6), 15890700)
+%!assert (bincoeff (0.4, 2), -.12, 8*eps)
+
+%!assert (bincoeff ([4 NaN 4], [-1, 2, 2.5]), NaN (1, 3))
+
+%% Test input validation
+%!error bincoeff ()
+%!error bincoeff (1, 2, 3)
+%!error bincoeff (ones (3),ones (2))
+%!error bincoeff (ones (2),ones (3))
+

--- a/scripts/general/colon.m	Sat Oct 19 12:19:31 2013 -0700
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-## Copyright (C) 2008-2012 David Bateman
-##
-## This file is part of Octave.
-##
-## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
-## your option) any later version.
-##
-## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
-## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{r} =} colon (@var{a}, @var{b})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{r} =} colon (@var{a}, @var{b}, @var{c})
-## Method of a class to construct a range with the @code{:} operator.  For
-## example:
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## a = myclass (@dots{});
-## b = myclass (@dots{});
-## c = a : b
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## @seealso{class, subsref, subsasgn}
-## @end deftypefn
-
-function r = colon (varargin)
-  if (nargin != 0)
-    error ('colon: not defined for class "%s"', class (varargin{1}));
-  endif
-endfunction
-
-
-%!error colon (1)
-
-## FIXME -- what does colon () mean since it doesn't set a return value?
-

--- a/scripts/general/genvarname.m	Sat Oct 19 12:19:31 2013 -0700
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,210 +0,0 @@
-## Copyright (C) 2008-2012 Bill Denney, Robert Platt
-##
-## This file is part of Octave.
-##
-## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
-## your option) any later version.
-##
-## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
-## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{varname} =} genvarname (@var{str})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{varname} =} genvarname (@var{str}, @var{exclusions})
-## Create unique variable(s) from @var{str}.  If @var{exclusions} is
-## given, then the variable(s) will be unique to each other and to
-## @var{exclusions} (@var{exclusions} may be either a string or a cellstr).
-##
-## If @var{str} is a cellstr, then a unique variable is created for each
-## cell in @var{str}.
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## x = 3.141;
-## genvarname ("x", who ())
-##   @result{} x1
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## If @var{wanted} is a cell array, genvarname will make sure the returned
-## strings are distinct:
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## genvarname (@{"foo", "foo"@})
-##   @result{}
-##      @{
-##        [1,1] = foo
-##        [1,2] = foo1
-##      @}
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## Note that the result is a char array/cell array of strings, not the
-## variables themselves.  To define a variable, @code{eval()} can be
-## used.  The following trivial example sets @code{x} to @code{42}.
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## name = genvarname ("x");
-## eval ([name " = 42"]);
-##   @result{} x =  42
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## Also, this can be useful for creating unique struct field names.
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## x = struct ();
-## for i = 1:3
-##   x.(genvarname ("a", fieldnames (x))) = i;
-## endfor
-##   @result{} x =
-##      @{
-##        a =  1
-##        a1 =  2
-##        a2 =  3
-##      @}
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## Since variable names may only contain letters, digits and underscores,
-## genvarname replaces any sequence of disallowed characters with
-## an underscore.  Also, variables may not begin with a digit; in this
-## case an underscore is added before the variable name.
-##
-## Variable names beginning and ending with two underscores @qcode{"__"} are
-## valid but they are used internally by octave and should generally be
-## avoided, therefore genvarname will not generate such names.
-##
-## genvarname will also make sure that returned names do not clash with
-## keywords such as @qcode{"for"} and @qcode{"if"}.  A number will be
-## appended if necessary.  Note, however, that this does @strong{not} include
-## function names, such as @qcode{"sin"}.  Such names should be included in
-## @var{avoid} if necessary.
-## @seealso{isvarname, exist, tmpnam, eval}
-## @end deftypefn
-
-## Authors: Rob Platt <robert.platt@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk>
-##          Bill Denney <bill@denney.ws>
-
-function varname = genvarname (str, exclusions)
-
-  strinput = ischar (str);
-  ## Process the inputs
-  if (nargin < 2)
-    exclusions = {};
-  elseif (ischar (exclusions))
-    if (rows (exclusions) != 1)
-      error ("genvarname: if more than one exclusion is given, it must be a cellstr");
-    endif
-    exclusions = {exclusions};
-  elseif (! iscellstr (exclusions))
-    error ("genvarname: EXCLUSIONS must be a string or a cellstr");
-  endif
-  if (ischar (str))
-    if (rows (str) != 1)
-      error ("genvarname: if more than one STR is given, it must be a cellstr");
-    endif
-    str = {str};
-  elseif (! iscellstr (str))
-    error ("genvarname: STR must be a string or a cellstr");
-  endif
-
-  validchars = ["A":"Z", "a":"z", "0":"9", "_"];
-
-  varname = cell (size (str));
-  for i = 1:numel (str)
-    ## Perform any modifications to the varname to make sure that it is
-    ## a valid variable name.
-
-    ## remove invalid characters
-    str{i}(! ismember (str{i}, validchars)) = "_";
-    ## do not use keywords
-    if (iskeyword (str{i}))
-      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
-    endif
-    ## double underscores at the beginning and end are reserved variables
-    underscores = (str{i} == "_");
-    if (any (underscores))
-      firstnon = find (!underscores, 1);
-      lastnon = find (!underscores, 1, "last");
-      str{i}([1:firstnon-2, lastnon+2:end]) = [];
-    endif
-    ## The variable cannot be empty
-    if (isempty (str{i}))
-      str{i} = "x";
-    endif
-    ## it cannot start with a number
-    if (ismember (str{i}(1), "0":"9"))
-      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
-    endif
-
-    ## make sure that the variable is unique relative to other variables
-    ## and the exclusions list
-    excluded = any (strcmp (str{i}, exclusions));
-    if (excluded && ismember (str{i}(end), "0":"9"))
-      ## if it is not unique and ends with a digit, add an underscore to
-      ## make the variable name more readable ("x1_1" instead of "x11")
-      str{i}(end+1) = "_";
-    endif
-    varname(i) = str(i);
-    idx = 0;
-    while (excluded)
-      idx++;
-      varname{i} = sprintf ("%s%d", str{i}, idx);
-      excluded = any (strcmp (varname{i}, exclusions));
-    endwhile
-    exclusions(end+1) = varname(i);
-  endfor
-
-  if (strinput)
-    varname = varname{1};
-  endif
-
-endfunction
-
-
-## a single argument
-%!assert (genvarname ("a"), "a")
-## a single argument with a non-conflicting exception
-%!assert (genvarname ("a", "b"), "a")
-## a single argument with a conflicting exception
-%!assert (genvarname ("a", "a"), "a1")
-## a single argument as a cell
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}), {"a"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, "b"), {"a"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, {"b"}), {"a"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, "a"), {"a1"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, {"a"}), {"a1"})
-## Test different arguments
-## orientation
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b"}), {"a" "b"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a";"b"}), {"a";"b"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a"}), {"a" "a1"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b";"c" "d"}), {"a" "b";"c" "d"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a";"a" "a" "a"}), {"a" "a2" "a4";"a1" "a3" "a5"})
-## more than one repetition
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a"}), {"a" "a1" "a2"})
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a"}, {"a" "a1" "a2"}), {"a3" "a4" "a5"})
-## more than one repetition not in order
-%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b" "a" "b" "a"}), {"a" "b" "a1" "b1" "a2"})
-## Variable name munging
-%!assert (genvarname ("__x__"), "_x_")
-%!assert (genvarname ("123456789"), "_123456789")
-%!assert (genvarname ("_$1__"), "_1_")
-%!assert (genvarname ("__foo__", "_foo_"), "_foo_1")
-%!assert (genvarname ("1million_and1", "_1million_and1"), "_1million_and1_1")
-%!assert (genvarname ({"", "", ""}), {"x", "x1", "x2"})
-%!assert (genvarname ("if"), "_if")
-%!assert (genvarname ({"if", "if", "if"}), {"_if", "_if1", "_if2"})
-

--- a/scripts/general/module.mk	Sat Oct 19 12:19:31 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/general/module.mk	Sat Oct 19 17:02:50 2013 -0700
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   general/accumarray.m \
   general/accumdim.m \
   general/bicubic.m \
+  general/bincoeff.m \
   general/bitcmp.m \
   general/bitget.m \
   general/bitset.m \
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@
   general/celldisp.m \
   general/chop.m \
   general/circshift.m \
-  general/colon.m \
   general/common_size.m \
   general/cplxpair.m \
   general/cumtrapz.m \
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
   general/flipdim.m \
   general/fliplr.m \
   general/flipud.m \
-  general/genvarname.m \
   general/gradient.m \
   general/idivide.m \
   general/int2str.m \

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/bincoeff.m	Sat Oct 19 12:19:31 2013 -0700
+++ /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
@@ -1,120 +0,0 @@
-## Copyright (C) 1995-2012 Kurt Hornik
-##
-## This file is part of Octave.
-##
-## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
-## your option) any later version.
-##
-## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
-## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
-
-## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn {Mapping Function} {} bincoeff (@var{n}, @var{k})
-## Return the binomial coefficient of @var{n} and @var{k}, defined as
-## @tex
-## $$
-##  {n \choose k} = {n (n-1) (n-2) \cdots (n-k+1) \over k!}
-## $$
-## @end tex
-## @ifnottex
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-##  /   \
-##  | n |    n (n-1) (n-2) @dots{} (n-k+1)
-##  |   |  = -------------------------
-##  | k |               k!
-##  \   /
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## @end ifnottex
-## For example:
-##
-## @example
-## @group
-## bincoeff (5, 2)
-##    @result{} 10
-## @end group
-## @end example
-##
-## In most cases, the @code{nchoosek} function is faster for small
-## scalar integer arguments.  It also warns about loss of precision for
-## big arguments.
-##
-## @seealso{nchoosek}
-## @end deftypefn
-
-## Author: KH <Kurt.Hornik@wu-wien.ac.at>
-## Created: 8 October 1994
-## Adapted-By: jwe
-
-function b = bincoeff (n, k)
-
-  if (nargin != 2)
-    print_usage ();
-  endif
-
-  [retval, n, k] = common_size (n, k);
-  if (retval > 0)
-    error ("bincoeff: N and K must be of common size or scalars");
-  endif
-
-  if (iscomplex (n) || iscomplex (k))
-    error ("bincoeff: N and K must not be complex");
-  endif
-
-  b = zeros (size (n));
-
-  ok = (k >= 0) & (k == fix (k)) & (! isnan (n));
-  b(! ok) = NaN;
-
-  n_int = (n == fix (n));
-  idx = n_int & (n < 0) & ok;
-  b(idx) = (-1) .^ k(idx) .* exp (gammaln (abs (n(idx)) + k(idx))
-                                  - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
-                                  - gammaln (abs (n(idx))));
-
-  idx = (n >= k) & ok;
-  b(idx) = exp (gammaln (n(idx) + 1)
-                - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
-                - gammaln (n(idx) - k(idx) + 1));
-
-  idx = (! n_int) & (n < k) & ok;
-  b(idx) = (1/pi) * exp (gammaln (n(idx) + 1)
-                         - gammaln (k(idx) + 1)
-                         + gammaln (k(idx) - n(idx))
-                         + log (sin (pi * (n(idx) - k(idx) + 1))));
-
-  ## Clean up rounding errors.
-  b(n_int) = round (b(n_int));
-
-  idx = ! n_int;
-  b(idx) = real (b(idx));
-
-endfunction
-
-
-%!assert (bincoeff (4, 2), 6)
-%!assert (bincoeff (2, 4), 0)
-%!assert (bincoeff (-4, 2), 10)
-%!assert (bincoeff (5, 2), 10)
-%!assert (bincoeff (50, 6), 15890700)
-%!assert (bincoeff (0.4, 2), -.12, 8*eps)
-
-%!assert (bincoeff ([4 NaN 4], [-1, 2, 2.5]), NaN (1, 3))
-
-%% Test input validation
-%!error bincoeff ()
-%!error bincoeff (1, 2, 3)
-%!error bincoeff (ones (3),ones (2))
-%!error bincoeff (ones (2),ones (3))
-

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/colon.m	Sat Oct 19 17:02:50 2013 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2008-2012 David Bateman
+##
+## This file is part of Octave.
+##
+## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
+## your option) any later version.
+##
+## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{r} =} colon (@var{a}, @var{b})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{r} =} colon (@var{a}, @var{b}, @var{c})
+## Method of a class to construct a range with the @code{:} operator.  For
+## example:
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## a = myclass (@dots{});
+## b = myclass (@dots{});
+## c = a : b
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## @seealso{class, subsref, subsasgn}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+function r = colon (varargin)
+  if (nargin != 0)
+    error ('colon: not defined for class "%s"', class (varargin{1}));
+  endif
+endfunction
+
+
+%!error colon (1)
+
+## FIXME -- what does colon () mean since it doesn't set a return value?
+

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/genvarname.m	Sat Oct 19 17:02:50 2013 -0700
@@ -0,0 +1,210 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2008-2012 Bill Denney, Robert Platt
+##
+## This file is part of Octave.
+##
+## Octave 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 3 of the License, or (at
+## your option) any later version.
+##
+## Octave 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 Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{varname} =} genvarname (@var{str})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{varname} =} genvarname (@var{str}, @var{exclusions})
+## Create unique variable(s) from @var{str}.  If @var{exclusions} is
+## given, then the variable(s) will be unique to each other and to
+## @var{exclusions} (@var{exclusions} may be either a string or a cellstr).
+##
+## If @var{str} is a cellstr, then a unique variable is created for each
+## cell in @var{str}.
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## x = 3.141;
+## genvarname ("x", who ())
+##   @result{} x1
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## If @var{wanted} is a cell array, genvarname will make sure the returned
+## strings are distinct:
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## genvarname (@{"foo", "foo"@})
+##   @result{}
+##      @{
+##        [1,1] = foo
+##        [1,2] = foo1
+##      @}
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## Note that the result is a char array/cell array of strings, not the
+## variables themselves.  To define a variable, @code{eval()} can be
+## used.  The following trivial example sets @code{x} to @code{42}.
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## name = genvarname ("x");
+## eval ([name " = 42"]);
+##   @result{} x =  42
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## Also, this can be useful for creating unique struct field names.
+##
+## @example
+## @group
+## x = struct ();
+## for i = 1:3
+##   x.(genvarname ("a", fieldnames (x))) = i;
+## endfor
+##   @result{} x =
+##      @{
+##        a =  1
+##        a1 =  2
+##        a2 =  3
+##      @}
+## @end group
+## @end example
+##
+## Since variable names may only contain letters, digits and underscores,
+## genvarname replaces any sequence of disallowed characters with
+## an underscore.  Also, variables may not begin with a digit; in this
+## case an underscore is added before the variable name.
+##
+## Variable names beginning and ending with two underscores @qcode{"__"} are
+## valid but they are used internally by octave and should generally be
+## avoided, therefore genvarname will not generate such names.
+##
+## genvarname will also make sure that returned names do not clash with
+## keywords such as @qcode{"for"} and @qcode{"if"}.  A number will be
+## appended if necessary.  Note, however, that this does @strong{not} include
+## function names, such as @qcode{"sin"}.  Such names should be included in
+## @var{avoid} if necessary.
+## @seealso{isvarname, exist, tmpnam, eval}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Authors: Rob Platt <robert.platt@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk>
+##          Bill Denney <bill@denney.ws>
+
+function varname = genvarname (str, exclusions)
+
+  strinput = ischar (str);
+  ## Process the inputs
+  if (nargin < 2)
+    exclusions = {};
+  elseif (ischar (exclusions))
+    if (rows (exclusions) != 1)
+      error ("genvarname: if more than one exclusion is given, it must be a cellstr");
+    endif
+    exclusions = {exclusions};
+  elseif (! iscellstr (exclusions))
+    error ("genvarname: EXCLUSIONS must be a string or a cellstr");
+  endif
+  if (ischar (str))
+    if (rows (str) != 1)
+      error ("genvarname: if more than one STR is given, it must be a cellstr");
+    endif
+    str = {str};
+  elseif (! iscellstr (str))
+    error ("genvarname: STR must be a string or a cellstr");
+  endif
+
+  validchars = ["A":"Z", "a":"z", "0":"9", "_"];
+
+  varname = cell (size (str));
+  for i = 1:numel (str)
+    ## Perform any modifications to the varname to make sure that it is
+    ## a valid variable name.
+
+    ## remove invalid characters
+    str{i}(! ismember (str{i}, validchars)) = "_";
+    ## do not use keywords
+    if (iskeyword (str{i}))
+      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
+    endif
+    ## double underscores at the beginning and end are reserved variables
+    underscores = (str{i} == "_");
+    if (any (underscores))
+      firstnon = find (!underscores, 1);
+      lastnon = find (!underscores, 1, "last");
+      str{i}([1:firstnon-2, lastnon+2:end]) = [];
+    endif
+    ## The variable cannot be empty
+    if (isempty (str{i}))
+      str{i} = "x";
+    endif
+    ## it cannot start with a number
+    if (ismember (str{i}(1), "0":"9"))
+      str{i} = ["_" str{i}];
+    endif
+
+    ## make sure that the variable is unique relative to other variables
+    ## and the exclusions list
+    excluded = any (strcmp (str{i}, exclusions));
+    if (excluded && ismember (str{i}(end), "0":"9"))
+      ## if it is not unique and ends with a digit, add an underscore to
+      ## make the variable name more readable ("x1_1" instead of "x11")
+      str{i}(end+1) = "_";
+    endif
+    varname(i) = str(i);
+    idx = 0;
+    while (excluded)
+      idx++;
+      varname{i} = sprintf ("%s%d", str{i}, idx);
+      excluded = any (strcmp (varname{i}, exclusions));
+    endwhile
+    exclusions(end+1) = varname(i);
+  endfor
+
+  if (strinput)
+    varname = varname{1};
+  endif
+
+endfunction
+
+
+## a single argument
+%!assert (genvarname ("a"), "a")
+## a single argument with a non-conflicting exception
+%!assert (genvarname ("a", "b"), "a")
+## a single argument with a conflicting exception
+%!assert (genvarname ("a", "a"), "a1")
+## a single argument as a cell
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}), {"a"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, "b"), {"a"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, {"b"}), {"a"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, "a"), {"a1"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a"}, {"a"}), {"a1"})
+## Test different arguments
+## orientation
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b"}), {"a" "b"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a";"b"}), {"a";"b"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a"}), {"a" "a1"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b";"c" "d"}), {"a" "b";"c" "d"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a";"a" "a" "a"}), {"a" "a2" "a4";"a1" "a3" "a5"})
+## more than one repetition
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a"}), {"a" "a1" "a2"})
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "a" "a"}, {"a" "a1" "a2"}), {"a3" "a4" "a5"})
+## more than one repetition not in order
+%!assert (genvarname ({"a" "b" "a" "b" "a"}), {"a" "b" "a1" "b1" "a2"})
+## Variable name munging
+%!assert (genvarname ("__x__"), "_x_")
+%!assert (genvarname ("123456789"), "_123456789")
+%!assert (genvarname ("_$1__"), "_1_")
+%!assert (genvarname ("__foo__", "_foo_"), "_foo_1")
+%!assert (genvarname ("1million_and1", "_1million_and1"), "_1million_and1_1")
+%!assert (genvarname ({"", "", ""}), {"x", "x1", "x2"})
+%!assert (genvarname ("if"), "_if")
+%!assert (genvarname ({"if", "if", "if"}), {"_if", "_if1", "_if2"})
+

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/module.mk	Sat Oct 19 12:19:31 2013 -0700
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/module.mk	Sat Oct 19 17:02:50 2013 -0700
@@ -6,11 +6,11 @@
 
 miscellaneous_FCN_FILES = \
   miscellaneous/ans.m \
-  miscellaneous/bincoeff.m \
   miscellaneous/bug_report.m \
   miscellaneous/bunzip2.m \
   miscellaneous/bzip2.m \
   miscellaneous/cast.m \
+  miscellaneous/colon.m \
   miscellaneous/citation.m \
   miscellaneous/comma.m \
   miscellaneous/compare_versions.m \
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
   miscellaneous/fileattrib.m \
   miscellaneous/fileparts.m \
   miscellaneous/fullfile.m \
+  miscellaneous/genvarname.m \
   miscellaneous/getappdata.m \
   miscellaneous/getfield.m \
   miscellaneous/gunzip.m \