new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/control/system/sysgettsam.m
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+## Copyright (C) 1996, 1998 Auburn University.  All rights reserved.
+##
+## 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 USA.
+
+## T = sysgettsam(sys)
+## return the sampling time of the system
+
+function T = sysgettsam (sys)
+
+  if(!is_struct(sys))
+    usage("T = sysgettsam(sys)");
+  endif
+
+  T = sys.tsam;
+
+endfunction