new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/plot/__plt_get_axis_arg__.m
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+## Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 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.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn {Function File} {[@var{h}, @var{remaining_args}} plot (@var{args})
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: jwe
+
+function [h, varargin] = __plt_get_axis_arg__ (caller, varargin)
+
+
+  if (nargin > 1)
+    tmp = varargin{1};
+    if (ishandle (tmp))
+      obj = get (tmp);
+      if (strcmp (obj.type, "axes"))
+	h = tmp;
+	varargin(1) = [];
+	if (isempty (varargin))
+	  varargin = {};
+	endif
+      else
+	error ("%s: expecting first argument to be axes handle", caller);
+      endif
+    else
+      h = gca ();
+    endif
+  endif
+
+endfunction