--- a/NEWS	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/NEWS	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -53,6 +53,12 @@
     There is still one difference:  Matlab switches to '%e' and Octave
     is currently switching to '%g'.
 
+ ** The archive family of functions (bzip2, gzip, zip, tar) and their
+    unpacking routines (bunzip2, gunzip, unzip, untar, unpack) have
+    been recoded.  Excepting unpack, the default is now to place files
+    in the same directory as the archive (on unpack) or as the original
+    files (on archiving).
+
  ** Z-order stacking issues with patches, grid lines, and line object
     plot markers for on screen display and printing have all been resolved.
     For 2-D plots the axis grid lines can be placed on top of the plot

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/bunzip2.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/bunzip2.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -17,27 +17,39 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {} bunzip2 (@var{bzfile})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} bunzip2 (@var{bzfile}, @var{dir})
-## Unpack the bzip2 archive @var{bzfile} to the directory @var{dir}.  If
-## @var{dir} is not specified, it defaults to the current directory.
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} bunzip2 (@var{bzfile})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} bunzip2 (@var{bzfile}, @var{dir})
+## Unpack the bzip2 archive @var{bzfile}.
+##
+## If @var{dir} is specified the files are unpacked in this directory rather
+## than the one where @var{bzfile} is located.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the uncompressed files.
 ## @seealso{bzip2, unpack, gunzip, unzip, untar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Bill Denney <denney@seas.upenn.edu>
 
-function varargout = bunzip2 (bzfile, dir = ".")
+function filelist = bunzip2 (bzfile, dir = [])
 
-  if (nargin != 1 && nargin != 2)
+  if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
+  if (isempty (dir))
+    dir = fileparts (bzfile);
+  endif
+
   if (nargout > 0)
-    varargout = cell (1, nargout);
-    [varargout{:}] = unpack (bzfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    filelist = unpack (bzfile, dir, "bunzip2");
   else
-    unpack (bzfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    unpack (bzfile, dir, "bunzip2");
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
+
+## Tests for this m-file are located in bzip2.m
+## Remove from test statistics
+%!assert (1)
+

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/bzip2.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/bzip2.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -18,46 +18,71 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{entries} =} bzip2 (@var{files})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{entries} =} bzip2 (@var{files}, @var{outdir})
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} bzip2 (@var{files})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} bzip2 (@var{files}, @var{dir})
 ## Compress the list of files specified in @var{files}.
-## Each file is compressed separately and a new file with a @file{".bz2"}
-## extension is created.  The original files are not modified.  Existing
-## compressed files are silently overwritten.  If @var{outdir} is defined the
-## compressed files are placed in this directory.
-## @seealso{bunzip2, gzip, zip, tar}
+##
+## @var{files} is a character array or cell array of strings.  Shell
+## wildcards in the filename such as @samp{*} or @samp{?} are accepted and
+## expanded.  Each file is compressed separately and a new file with a
+## @file{".bz2"} extension is created.  The original files are not modified,
+## but existing compressed files will be silently overwritten. 
+##
+## If @var{dir} is defined the compressed files are placed in this directory,
+## rather than the original directory where the uncompressed file resides.
+## If @var{dir} does not exist it is created.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the compressed files.
+## @seealso{bunzip2, unpack, gzip, zip, tar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
-function entries = bzip2 (varargin)
+function filelist = bzip2 (varargin)
 
-  if (nargin == 1 || nargin == 2)
-    if (nargout == 0)
-      __xzip__ ("bzip2", "bz2", "bzip2 %s", varargin{:});
-    else
-      entries = __xzip__ ("bzip2", "bz2", "bzip2 %s", varargin{:});
-    endif
+  if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2 || nargout > 1)
+    print_usage ();
+  endif
+
+  if (nargout == 0)
+    __xzip__ ("bzip2", "bz2", "bzip2 %s", varargin{:});
   else
-    print_usage ();
+    filelist = __xzip__ ("bzip2", "bz2", "bzip2 %s", varargin{:});
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
 
 %!xtest
-%! ## test for correct cleanup of temporary files
+%! ## test bzip2 together with bunzip2
 %! unwind_protect
-%!   filename = tmpnam;
-%!   dummy    = 1;
+%!   filename = tempname;
+%!   dummy    = pi;
 %!   save (filename, "dummy");
-%!   n_tmpfiles_before = length (find (strncmp ("oct-", cellstr (ls (tempdir)), 4)));
-%!   entry = bzip2 (filename);
-%!   n_tmpfiles_after = length (find (strncmp ("oct-", cellstr (ls (tempdir)), 4)));
-%!   if (n_tmpfiles_before != n_tmpfiles_after)
-%!     error ("bzip2 has not cleaned up temporary files correctly!");
+%!   dirname  = tempname;
+%!   mkdir (dirname);
+%!   filelist = bzip2 (filename, dirname);
+%!   filelist = filelist{1};
+%!   [~, basename, extension] = fileparts (filename);
+%!   if (! strcmp (filelist, [dirname, filesep, basename, extension, ".bz2"]))
+%!     error ("bzipped file does not match expected name!");
+%!   endif
+%!   if (! exist (filelist, "file"))
+%!     error ("bzipped file cannot be found!");
+%!   endif
+%!   bunzip2 (filelist);
+%!   fid = fopen (filename, "rb");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   orig_data = fread (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   fid = fopen ([dirname filesep basename extension], "rb");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   new_data = fread (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   if (orig_data != new_data)
+%!     error ("bunzipped file not equal to original file!");
 %!   endif
 %! unwind_protect_cleanup
 %!   delete (filename);
-%!   [path, basename, extension] = fileparts (filename);
-%!   delete ([basename, extension, ".bz2"]);
+%!   delete ([dirname, filesep, basename, extension]);
+%!   rmdir (dirname);
 %! end_unwind_protect
 

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/gunzip.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/gunzip.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{files} =} gunzip (@var{gzfile})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{files} =} gunzip (@var{gzfile}, @var{dir})
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} gunzip (@var{gzfile})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} gunzip (@var{gzfile}, @var{dir})
 ## Unpack the gzip archive @var{gzfile}.
 ##
 ## If @var{gzfile} is a directory, all gzfiles in the directory will be
@@ -27,13 +27,13 @@
 ## If @var{dir} is specified the files are unpacked in this directory rather
 ## than the one where @var{gzfile} is located.
 ##
-## The optional output @var{files} is a list of the uncompressed files.
-## @seealso{gzip, bunzip2, unzip, untar, unpack}
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the uncompressed files.
+## @seealso{gzip, unpack, bunzip2, unzip, untar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Bill Denney <denney@seas.upenn.edu>
 
-function files = gunzip (gzfile, dir)
+function filelist = gunzip (gzfile, dir = [])
 
   if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2)
     print_usage ();
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
   endif
 
   if (nargout > 0)
-    files = unpack (gzfile, dir, "gunzip");
+    filelist = unpack (gzfile, dir, "gunzip");
   else
     unpack (gzfile, dir, "gunzip");
   endif
@@ -54,5 +54,5 @@
 
 ## Tests for this m-file are located in gzip.m
 ## Remove from test statistics
-%!assert (1);
+%!assert (1)
 

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/gzip.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/gzip.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -21,16 +21,20 @@
 ## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} gzip (@var{files}, @var{dir})
 ## Compress the list of files and directories specified in @var{files}.
 ##
-## @var{files} is a character array or cell array of strings.  Each file is
-## compressed separately and a new file with a @file{".gz"} extension is
-## created.  The original files are not modified, but, existing compressed
-## files will be silently overwritten.  If a directory is specified then
-## @code{gzip} recursively compresses all files in the directory.
+## @var{files} is a character array or cell array of strings.  Shell
+## wildcards in the filename such as @samp{*} or @samp{?} are accepted and
+## expanded.  Each file is compressed separately and a new file with a
+## @file{".gz"} extension is created.  The original files are not modified,
+## but existing compressed files will be silently overwritten. If a directory
+## is specified then @code{gzip} recursively compresses all files in the
+## directory.
 ##
-## If @var{dir} is defined the compressed files are placed in this directory.
+## If @var{dir} is defined the compressed files are placed in this directory,
+## rather than the original directory where the uncompressed file resides.
+## If @var{dir} does not exist it is created.
 ##
 ## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the compressed files.
-## @seealso{gunzip, bzip2, zip, tar, unpack}
+## @seealso{gunzip, unpack, bzip2, zip, tar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 function filelist = gzip (varargin)
@@ -85,6 +89,5 @@
 
 %!error gzip ()
 %!error gzip ("1", "2", "3")
-%!error <output directory does not exist> gzip ("1", tempname)
 %!error <FILES must be a character array or cellstr> gzip (1)
 

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/private/__xzip__.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/private/__xzip__.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn {Function File} {@var{entries} =} __xzip__ (@var{commandname}, @var{extension}, @var{commandtemplate}, @var{files}, @var{outdir})
+## @deftypefn {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} __xzip__ (@var{commandname}, @var{extension}, @var{commandtemplate}, @var{files}, @var{outdir})
 ## Undocumented internal function.
 ## @end deftypefn
 
@@ -30,23 +30,28 @@
 ## are not touched. Existing compressed files are silently overwritten.
 ## This is an internal function. Do not use directly.
 
-function entries = __xzip__ (commandname, extension,
-                             commandtemplate, files, outdir)
+function filelist = __xzip__ (commandname, extension, commandtemplate,
+                              files, outdir)
 
   if (nargin == 5 && ! exist (outdir, "dir"))
-    error ("__xzip__: OUTDIR output directory does not exist");
+    r = mkdir (outdir);
+    if (! r)
+      error ("%s: Failed to create output directory DIR", commandname);
+    endif
   endif
 
   if (ischar (files))
     files = cellstr (files);
-  endif
-  if (! iscellstr (files))
-    error ("__xzip__: FILES must be a character array or cellstr");
+  elseif (! iscellstr (files))
+    error ("%s: FILES must be a character array or cellstr", commandname);
   endif
 
   if (nargin == 4)
-    outdir = tmpnam ();
-    mkdir (outdir);
+    outdir = tempname ();
+    r = mkdir (outdir);
+    if (! r)
+      error ("%s: Failed to create temporary output directory", commandname);
+    endif
   endif
 
   cwd = pwd ();
@@ -61,31 +66,35 @@
 
     copyfile (files, outdir);
 
-    [d, f] = myfileparts (files);
+    fnames = fname_only (files);
 
     cd (outdir);
 
-    cmd = sprintf (commandtemplate, sprintf (" %s", f{:}));
+    cmd = sprintf (commandtemplate, sprintf (" %s", fnames{:}));
 
     [status, output] = system (cmd);
     if (status)
-      error ("__xzip__: %s command failed with exit status = %d",
-             commandname, status);
+      fcn = evalin ("caller", "mfilename ()");
+      error ("%s: %s command failed with exit status = %d",
+             fcn, commandname, status);
     endif
 
     if (nargin == 5)
       if (nargout > 0)
-        entries = cellfun(
+        ## FIXME: This doesn't work if a directory is compressed
+        filelist = cellfun (
             @(x) fullfile (outdir, sprintf ("%s.%s", x, extension)),
-            f, "uniformoutput", false);
+            fnames, "uniformoutput", false);
       endif
     else
-      movefile (cellfun (@(x) sprintf ("%s.%s", x, extension), f,
-                        "uniformoutput", false), cwd);
+      ## FIXME: This does not work when you try to compress directories
+      ##        The resulting name is dir/.gz which is totally wrong.
+      ##        See bug #43431.
+      movefile (cellfun (@(x) sprintf ("%s.%s", x, extension),
+                         fnames, "uniformoutput", false), cwd);
       if (nargout > 0)
-        ## FIXME: This does not work when you try to compress directories
-        entries  = cellfun (@(x) sprintf ("%s.%s", x, extension),
-                            files, "uniformoutput", false);
+        filelist  = cellfun (@(x) sprintf ("%s.%s", x, extension),
+                             files, "uniformoutput", false);
       endif
     endif
 
@@ -99,34 +108,10 @@
 
 endfunction
 
-function [d, f] = myfileparts (files)
-  [d, f, ext] = cellfun ("fileparts", files, "uniformoutput", false);
-  f = cellfun (@(x, y) sprintf ("%s%s", x, y), f, ext,
-               "uniformoutput", false);
+function f = fname_only (files)
+  [~, f, ext] = cellfun ("fileparts", files, "uniformoutput", false);
+  f = cellfun (@(x, y) sprintf ("%s%s", x, y), f, ext, "uniformoutput", false);
   idx = cellfun ("isdir", files);
-  d(idx) = "";
   f(idx) = files(idx);
 endfunction
 
-
-## FIXME: Reinstate tests if we invent a way to test private functions directly.
-##
-## %!error <extension has to be a string with finite length>
-## %!  __xzip__ ("gzip", "", "gzip -r %s", "bla");
-## %!error <no files to move>
-## %!  __xzip__ ("gzip", ".gz", "gzip -r %s", tmpnam);
-## %!error <command failed with exit status>
-## %!  # test __xzip__ with invalid compression command
-## %!  unwind_protect
-## %!    filename = tmpnam;
-## %!    dummy    = 1;
-## %!    save (filename, "dummy");
-## %!    dirname  = tmpnam;
-## %!    mkdir (dirname);
-## %!    entry = __xzip__ ("gzip", ".gz", "xxxzipxxx -r %s 2>/dev/null",
-## %!                     filename, dirname);
-## %!  unwind_protect_cleanup
-## %!    delete (filename);
-## %!    rmdir (dirname);
-## %!  end_unwind_protect
-

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/tar.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/tar.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -17,37 +17,46 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{entries} =} tar (@var{tarfile}, @var{files})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{entries} =} tar (@var{tarfile}, @var{files}, @var{root})
-## Pack @var{files} @var{files} into the TAR archive @var{tarfile}.  The
-## list of files must be a string or a cell array of strings.
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} tar (@var{tarfile}, @var{files})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} tar (@var{tarfile}, @var{files}, @var{rootdir})
+## Pack the list of files and directories specified in @var{files} into the
+## TAR archive @var{tarfile}.
 ##
-## The optional argument @var{root} changes the relative path of @var{files}
-## from the current directory.
+## @var{files} is a character array or cell array of strings.  Shell
+## wildcards in the filename such as @samp{*} or @samp{?} are accepted and
+## expanded.  Directories are recursively traversed and all files are added to
+## the archive.
 ##
-## If an output argument is requested the entries in the archive are
-## returned in a cell array.
-## @seealso{untar, bzip2, gzip, zip}
+## If @var{rootdir} is defined then any files without absolute pathnames are
+## located relative to @var{rootdir} rather than the current directory.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the files that were included
+## in the archive.
+## @seealso{untar, unpack, bzip2, gzip, zip}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Søren Hauberg <hauberg@gmail.com>
 
-function entries = tar (tarfile, files, root = ".")
+function filelist = tar (tarfile, files, rootdir = ".")
 
   if (nargin < 2 || nargin > 3)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
-  if (ischar (files))
+  if (! ischar (tarfile))
+    error ("tar: TARFILE must be a string");
+  elseif (ischar (files))
     files = cellstr (files);
+  elseif (! iscellstr (files))
+    error ("tar: FILES must be a character array or cellstr");
   endif
 
-  if (! (ischar (tarfile) && iscellstr (files) && ischar (root)))
-    error ("tar: all arguments must be character strings");
-  endif
+  rootdir = tilde_expand (rootdir);
 
-  cmd = sprintf ("tar cvf %s -C %s %s", tarfile, root,
-                 sprintf (" %s", files{:}));
+  tarfile = make_absolute_filename (tarfile);
+       
+  cmd = sprintf ("tar cvf %s -C %s %s",
+                          tarfile, rootdir, sprintf (" %s", files{:}));
 
   [status, output] = system (cmd);
 
@@ -59,9 +68,61 @@
     if (output(end) == "\n")
       output(end) = [];
     endif
-    entries = ostrsplit (output, "\n");
-    entries = entries';
+    filelist = ostrsplit (output, "\n");
+    filelist = filelist';
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
+
+%!xtest
+%! ## test gzip together with gunzip
+%! unwind_protect
+%!   dirname = tempname;
+%!   assert (mkdir (dirname));
+%!   dirname2 = fullfile (dirname, "dir2");
+%!   assert (mkdir (dirname2));
+%!   fname1 = fullfile (dirname, "f1");
+%!   fname2 = fullfile (dirname2, "f2");
+%!   fid = fopen (fname1, "wt");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   fdisp (fid, "Hello World");
+%!   fclose (fid); 
+%!   fid = fopen (fname2, "wt");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   fdisp (fid, "Goodbye World");
+%!   fclose (fid); 
+%!   tarname = [tempname ".tar"];
+%!   filelist = tar (tarname, {dirname2, fname1});
+%!   if (! strcmp (filelist{3}, fname1))
+%!     error ("tar file contents does not match expected file");
+%!   endif
+%!   if (! exist (tarname, "file"))
+%!     error ("tar archive file cannot be found!");
+%!   endif
+%!   outdir = tempname;
+%!   untar (tarname, outdir);
+%!   fid = fopen (fullfile (outdir, fname1), "rt");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   str = fgetl (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   assert (str, "Hello World");
+%!   fid = fopen (fullfile (outdir, fname2), "rt");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   str = fgetl (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   assert (str, "Goodbye World");
+%! unwind_protect_cleanup
+%!   delete (tarname);
+%!   confirm_recursive_rmdir (false, "local");
+%!   rmdir (dirname, "s");
+%!   rmdir (outdir, "s");
+%! end_unwind_protect
+
+## Test input validation
+%!error tar ()
+%!error tar (1)
+%!error tar (1,2,3,4)
+%!error <TARFILE must be a string> tar (1, "foobar")
+%!error <FILES must be a character array or cellstr> tar ("foobar", 1)
+

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/untar.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/untar.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -19,26 +19,38 @@
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
 ## @deftypefn  {Function File} {} untar (@var{tarfile})
 ## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} untar (@var{tarfile}, @var{dir})
-## Unpack the TAR archive @var{tarfile} to the directory @var{dir}.
-## If @var{dir} is not specified, it defaults to the current directory.
+## Unpack the TAR archive @var{tarfile}.
+##
+## If @var{dir} is specified the files are unpacked in this directory rather
+## than the one where @var{tarfile} is located.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the uncompressed files.
 ## @seealso{tar, unpack, bunzip2, gunzip, unzip}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Søren Hauberg <hauberg@gmail.com>
 ## Adapted-By: jwe, Bill Denney
 
-function varargout = untar (tarfile, dir = ".")
+function filelist = untar (tarfile, dir = [])
 
-  if (nargin != 1 && nargin != 2)
+  if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
+  if (isempty (dir))
+    dir = fileparts (tarfile);
+  endif
+
   if (nargout > 0)
-    varargout = cell (1, nargout);
-    [varargout{:}] = unpack (tarfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    filelist = unpack (tarfile, dir, "untar");
   else
-    unpack (tarfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    unpack (tarfile, dir, "untar");
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
+
+## Tests for this m-file are located in tar.m
+## Remove from test statistics
+%!assert (1)
+

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/unzip.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/unzip.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -17,28 +17,40 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {} unzip (@var{zipfile})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {} unzip (@var{zipfile}, @var{dir})
-## Unpack the ZIP archive @var{zipfile} to the directory @var{dir}.
-## If @var{dir} is not specified, it defaults to the current directory.
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} unzip (@var{zipfile})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} unzip (@var{zipfile}, @var{dir})
+## Unpack the ZIP archive @var{zipfile}.
+##
+## If @var{dir} is specified the files are unpacked in this directory rather
+## than the one where @var{zipfile} is located.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the uncompressed files.
 ## @seealso{zip, unpack, bunzip2, gunzip, untar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Søren Hauberg <hauberg@gmail.com>
 ## Adapted-By: jwe, Bill Denney
 
-function varargout = unzip (zipfile, dir = ".")
+function filelist = unzip (zipfile, dir = [])
 
-  if (nargin != 1 && nargin != 2)
+  if (nargin < 1 || nargin > 2)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
+  if (isempty (dir))
+    dir = fileparts (zipfile);
+  endif
+
   if (nargout > 0)
-    varargout = cell (1, nargout);
-    [varargout{:}] = unpack (zipfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    filelist = unpack (zipfile, dir, "unzip");
   else
-    unpack (zipfile, dir, mfilename ());
+    unpack (zipfile, dir, "unzip");
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
+
+## Tests for this m-file are located in zip.m
+## Remove from test statistics
+%!assert (1)
+

--- a/scripts/miscellaneous/zip.m	Fri Oct 17 09:29:10 2014 +0200
+++ b/scripts/miscellaneous/zip.m	Fri Oct 17 10:45:25 2014 -0700
@@ -17,35 +17,46 @@
 ## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 ## -*- texinfo -*-
-## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{entries} =} zip (@var{zipfile}, @var{files})
-## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{entries} =} zip (@var{zipfile}, @var{files}, @var{rootdir})
-## Compress the list of files and/or directories specified in @var{files}
-## into the archive @var{zipfile} in the same directory.  If @var{rootdir}
-## is defined the @var{files} are located relative to @var{rootdir} rather
-## than the current directory.
-## @seealso{unzip, bzip2, gzip, tar}
+## @deftypefn  {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} zip (@var{zipfile}, @var{files})
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {@var{filelist} =} zip (@var{zipfile}, @var{files}, @var{rootdir})
+## Compress the list of files and directories specified in @var{files} into the
+## ZIP archive @var{zipfile}.
+##
+## @var{files} is a character array or cell array of strings.  Shell
+## wildcards in the filename such as @samp{*} or @samp{?} are accepted and
+## expanded.  Directories are recursively traversed and all files are
+## compressed and added to the archive.
+##
+## If @var{rootdir} is defined then any files without absolute pathnames are
+## located relative to @var{rootdir} rather than the current directory.
+##
+## The optional output @var{filelist} is a list of the files that were included
+## in the archive.
+## @seealso{unzip, unpack, bzip2, gzip, tar}
 ## @end deftypefn
 
 ## Author: Sylvain Pelissier <sylvain.pelissier@gmail.com>
 
-function entries = zip (zipfile, files, rootdir = ".")
+function filelist = zip (zipfile, files, rootdir = ".")
 
-  if (nargin != 2 && nargin != 3)
+  if (nargin < 2 || nargin > 3)
     print_usage ();
   endif
 
+  if (! ischar (zipfile))
+    error ("zip: ZIPFILE must be a string");
+  elseif (ischar (files))
+    files = cellstr (files);
+  elseif (! iscellstr (files))
+    error ("zip: FILES must be a character array or cellstr");
+  endif
+  
   rootdir = tilde_expand (rootdir);
 
-  if (ischar (files))
-    files = cellstr (files);
-  endif
-
-  if (! ischar (zipfile) && ! iscellstr (files))
-    error ("zip: expecting all arguments to be character strings");
-  endif
-
-  cmd = sprintf ("cd %s; zip -r %s/%s %s", rootdir, pwd (), zipfile,
-                 sprintf (" %s", files{:}));
+  zipfile = make_absolute_filename (zipfile);
+       
+  cmd = sprintf ("cd %s; zip -r %s %s",
+                     rootdir,   zipfile, sprintf (" %s", files{:}));
 
   [status, output] = system (cmd);
 
@@ -54,16 +65,60 @@
   endif
 
   if (nargout > 0)
-    cmd = sprintf ("unzip -Z -1 %s", zipfile);
-    [status, entries] = system (cmd);
+    cmd = ["unzip -Z -1 " zipfile];
+    [status, filelist] = system (cmd);
     if (status)
       error ("zip: zipinfo failed with exit status = %d", status);
     endif
-    if (entries(end) == "\n")
-      entries(end) = [];
+    if (filelist(end) == "\n")
+      filelist(end) = [];
     endif
-    entries = ostrsplit (entries, "\n");
+    filelist = ostrsplit (filelist, "\n");
   endif
 
 endfunction
 
+
+%!xtest
+%! ## test zip together with unzip
+%! unwind_protect
+%!   filename = tempname;
+%!   tmp_var  = pi;
+%!   save (filename, "tmp_var");
+%!   dirname = tempname;
+%!   mkdir (dirname);
+%!   zipfile = tempname;
+%!   [~, basename, ext] = fileparts (filename);
+%!   filelist = zip (zipfile, [basename ext], tempdir);
+%!   filelist = filelist{1};
+%!   if (! strcmp (filelist, [basename ext]))
+%!     error ("zip archive does not contain expected name!");
+%!   endif
+%!   if (! exist ([zipfile ".zip"], "file"))
+%!     error ("zip file cannot be found!");
+%!   endif
+%!   unzip ([zipfile ".zip"], dirname);
+%!   fid = fopen (filename, "rb");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   orig_data = fread (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   fid = fopen ([dirname filesep basename ext], "rb");
+%!   assert (fid >= 0);
+%!   new_data = fread (fid);
+%!   fclose (fid);
+%!   if (orig_data != new_data)
+%!     error ("unzipped file not equal to original file!");
+%!   endif
+%! unwind_protect_cleanup
+%!   delete (filename);
+%!   delete ([dirname, filesep, basename, extension]);
+%!   rmdir (dirname);
+%! end_unwind_protect
+
+## Test input validation
+%!error zip ()
+%!error zip (1)
+%!error zip (1,2,3,4)
+%!error <ZIPFILE must be a string> zip (1, "foobar")
+%!error <FILES must be a character array or cellstr> zip ("foobar", 1)
+