new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ov-type-conv.h
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2004 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, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+
+*/
+
+#define OCTAVE_TYPE_CONV_BODY3(NAME, MATRIX_RESULT_T, SCALAR_RESULT_T) \
+ \
+  octave_value retval; \
+ \
+  int nargin = args.length (); \
+ \
+  if (nargin == 1) \
+    { \
+      const octave_value arg = args(0); \
+ \
+      int t_arg = arg.type_id (); \
+ \
+      int t_result = MATRIX_RESULT_T::static_type_id (); \
+ \
+      if (t_arg != t_result) \
+        { \
+          type_conv_fcn cf \
+	    = octave_value_typeinfo::lookup_type_conv_op (t_arg, t_result); \
+ \
+          if (cf) \
+	    { \
+	      octave_value *tmp (cf (*(arg.internal_rep ()))); \
+ \
+	      if (tmp) \
+		{ \
+		  retval = octave_value (tmp); \
+ \
+		  retval.maybe_mutate (); \
+		} \
+	    } \
+	  else \
+	    { \
+	      std::string arg_tname = arg.type_name (); \
+ \
+	      std::string result_tname = arg.numel () == 1 \
+		? SCALAR_RESULT_T::static_type_name () \
+		: MATRIX_RESULT_T::static_type_name (); \
+ \
+	      gripe_invalid_conversion (arg_tname, result_tname); \
+	    } \
+	} \
+    } \
+  else \
+    print_usage (#NAME); \
+ \
+  return retval
+
+#define OCTAVE_TYPE_CONV_BODY(NAME) \
+  OCTAVE_TYPE_CONV_BODY3 (NAME, octave_ ## NAME ## _matrix, \
+			  octave_ ## NAME ## _scalar)
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/