new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/plot/__init_plot_vars__.m
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2006 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 2, 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, write to the Free
+## Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+## 02110-1301, USA.
+
+function __init_plot_vars__ (cmd, sep, clear_data)
+
+  __plot_globals__
+
+  if (nargin < 3)
+    clear_data = true;
+    if (nargin < 2)
+      sep = "";
+      if (nargin < 1)
+	cmd = "";
+      endif
+    endif
+  endif
+
+  __plot_command__{__current_figure__}{__multiplot_xi__,__multiplot_yi__} = cmd;
+  __plot_command_sep__ = sep;
+
+  if (clear_data)
+    __plot_data__{__current_figure__}{__multiplot_xi__,__multiplot_yi__} = [];
+    __plot_data_offset__{__current_figure__}(__multiplot_xi__,__multiplot_yi__) = 1;
+  endif
+
+endfunction