--- a/NEWS	Tue Dec 25 12:41:52 2018 +0100
+++ b/NEWS	Mon Dec 24 18:09:58 2018 +0100
@@ -235,9 +235,9 @@
     be removed from Octave 7 (or whatever version is the second major
     release after 5.0):
 
-      Function             | Replacement
-      ---------------------|------------------
-                           |
+      Function               | Replacement
+      -----------------------|------------------
+      output_max_field_width | output_precision
 
  ** The following functions were deprecated in Octave 4.2 and have been
     removed from Octave 5.0.

--- a/doc/interpreter/numbers.txi	Tue Dec 25 12:41:52 2018 +0100
+++ b/doc/interpreter/numbers.txi	Mon Dec 24 18:09:58 2018 +0100
@@ -290,14 +290,11 @@
 section to indicate which columns are being displayed.  You can use the
 following variables to control the format of the output.
 
-@DOCSTRING(output_max_field_width)
-
 @DOCSTRING(output_precision)
 
 It is possible to achieve a wide range of output styles by using
-different values of @code{output_precision} and
-@code{output_max_field_width}.  Reasonable combinations can be set using
-the @code{format} function.  @xref{Basic Input and Output}.
+different values of @code{output_precision}.  Reasonable combinations can be
+set using the @code{format} function.  @xref{Basic Input and Output}.
 
 @DOCSTRING(split_long_rows)
 

--- a/libinterp/corefcn/pr-flt-fmt.cc	Tue Dec 25 12:41:52 2018 +0100
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/pr-flt-fmt.cc	Mon Dec 24 18:09:58 2018 +0100
@@ -45,16 +45,6 @@
   Voutput_precision = prec;
 }
 
-DEFUN (output_max_field_width, , ,
-       doc: /* -*- texinfo -*-
-@deftypefn {} {} output_max_field_width
-This function is obsolete and will be removed from a future version
-of Octave.
-@end deftypefn */)
-{
-  return octave_value (20);
-}
-
 DEFUN (output_precision, args, nargout,
        doc: /* -*- texinfo -*-
 @deftypefn  {} {@var{val} =} output_precision ()

--- a/scripts/deprecated/module.mk	Tue Dec 25 12:41:52 2018 +0100
+++ b/scripts/deprecated/module.mk	Mon Dec 24 18:09:58 2018 +0100
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   %reldir%/comma.m \
   %reldir%/desktop.m \
   %reldir%/java2mat.m \
+  %reldir%/output_max_field_width.m \
   %reldir%/paren.m \
   %reldir%/semicolon.m \
   %reldir%/tmpnam.m \

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/scripts/deprecated/output_max_field_width.m	Mon Dec 24 18:09:58 2018 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2018 John W. Eaton
+##
+## 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
+## <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn  {} {@var{val} =} output_max_field_width ()
+## @deftypefnx {} {@var{old_val} =} output_max_field_width (@var{new_val})
+## @deftypefnx {} {} output_max_field_width (@var{new_val}, "local")
+##
+## @code{output_max_field_width} is deprecated and will be removed in Octave
+## version 7.  Use @code{output_precision} instead.
+##
+## Query or set the internal variable that specifies the maximum width
+## of a numeric output field.
+##
+## When called from inside a function with the @qcode{"local"} option, the
+## variable is changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.
+## The original variable value is restored when exiting the function.
+## @seealso{format, fixed_point_format, output_precision}
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## FIXME: DEPRECATED: Remove in version 7.
+
+function retval = output_max_field_width (varargin)
+
+  persistent warned = false;
+  if (! warned)
+    warned = true;
+    warning ("Octave:deprecated-function",
+             "output_max_field_width is obsolete and will be removed from a future version of Octave, please use output_precision instead");
+  endif
+
+  retval = 20;
+
+endfunction