--- a/libgui/src/main-window.cc	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/libgui/src/main-window.cc	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -912,6 +912,10 @@
   connect (_octave_qt_link, SIGNAL (exit_debugger_signal ()),
            this, SLOT (handle_exit_debugger ()));
 
+  connect (_octave_qt_link,
+           SIGNAL (show_preferences_signal (void)),
+           this, SLOT (process_settings_dialog_request ()));
+
 #ifdef HAVE_QSCINTILLA
   connect (_octave_qt_link,
            SIGNAL (edit_file_signal (const QString&)),

--- a/libgui/src/octave-qt-link.cc	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/libgui/src/octave-qt-link.cc	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -491,3 +491,11 @@
 
   return ok;
 }
+
+void
+octave_qt_link::do_show_preferences ()
+{
+  emit show_preferences_signal ();
+}
+
+

--- a/libgui/src/octave-qt-link.h	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/libgui/src/octave-qt-link.h	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@
 
   static bool file_in_path (const std::string& file, const std::string& dir);
 
+  void do_show_preferences (void);
 private:
 
   // No copying!
@@ -166,6 +167,8 @@
 
   void insert_debugger_pointer_signal (const QString&, int);
   void delete_debugger_pointer_signal (const QString&, int);
+
+  void show_preferences_signal (void);
 };
 
 #endif

--- a/libinterp/corefcn/octave-link.cc	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/octave-link.cc	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -402,3 +402,18 @@
 
   return retval;
 }
+
+DEFUN (__octave_link_show_preferences__, , ,
+  "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
+@deftypefn {Built-in Function} {} __octave_link_show_preferences__ ()\n\
+Undocumented internal function.\n\
+@end deftypefn")
+{
+  octave_value retval;
+
+  retval = octave_link::show_preferences ();
+
+  return retval;
+}
+
+

--- a/libinterp/corefcn/octave-link.h	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/octave-link.h	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -307,6 +307,18 @@
     return instance_ok () ? instance->link_enabled : false;
   }
 
+  static bool
+  show_preferences ()
+  {
+    if (enabled ())
+      { 
+        instance->do_show_preferences ();
+        return true;
+      }
+    else
+      return false;
+  }
+
 private:
 
   static octave_link *instance;
@@ -425,6 +437,8 @@
 
   virtual void do_set_default_prompts (std::string& ps1, std::string& ps2,
                                        std::string& ps4) = 0;
+
+  virtual void do_show_preferences (void) = 0;
 };
 
 #endif // OCTAVELINK_H

--- a/scripts/prefs/module.mk	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/scripts/prefs/module.mk	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
   prefs/addpref.m \
   prefs/getpref.m \
   prefs/ispref.m \
+  prefs/prefdir.m \
+  prefs/preferences.m \
   prefs/rmpref.m \
   prefs/setpref.m \
   $(prefs_PRIVATE_FCN_FILES)

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/prefs/prefdir.m	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2013 John Donoghue
+##
+## 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} prefdir 
+## @deftypefnx {Function File} {folder =} prefdir 
+## Return the folder that contains the preferences for octave.
+##
+## Examples:
+##
+## Display the preferences folder
+## @example
+## prefdir
+## @end example
+##
+## Change to the preferences folder
+## @example
+## cd(prefdir)
+## @end example
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: John Donoghue
+## Version: 0.01
+
+function folder = prefdir ()
+
+    folder = getenv("HOME");
+      
+endfunction
\ No newline at end of file

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/prefs/preferences.m	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2013 John Donoghue
+##
+## 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} {} preferences 
+## Display the preferences settings. If in GUI mode, display using the preferences dialog, otherwise display in EDITOR.
+##
+## Example:
+#
+## @example
+## preferences
+## @end example
+##
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: John Donoghue
+## Version: 0.01
+
+function preferences ()
+  if (! __octave_link_enabled__ ())
+    prefs_file = [ getenv("HOME")  "/.octave_prefs" ];
+      
+    edit (prefs_file); 
+  else
+    __octave_link_show_preferences__ ();    
+  endif
+endfunction
\ No newline at end of file

--- a/scripts/prefs/private/prefsfile.m	Thu Jul 18 14:30:31 2013 -0400
+++ b/scripts/prefs/private/prefsfile.m	Thu Jul 18 10:56:44 2013 -0400
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 
 function retval = prefsfile ()
 
-  retval = "~/.octave_prefs";
+  retval = [ prefdir()  "/.octave_prefs" ];
+  
 
 endfunction