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+++ b/scripts/control/system/sysgettype.m
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+## Copyright (C) 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.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn {Function File} {@var{systype} =} sysgettype (@var{sys})
+## return the initial system type of the system
+##
+## @strong{Inputs}
+## @var{sys}: system data structure
+##
+## @strong{Outputs}
+## @var{systype}: string indicating how the structure was initially
+## constructed:
+## values: @code{"ss"}, @code{"zp"}, or @code{"tf"}
+##
+## @strong{Note} FIR initialized systems return @code{systype="tf"}.
+## @end deftypefn
+
+function systype = sysgettype (sys)
+
+  if(!is_struct(sys))
+    error("sysgettype: input sys is not a structure");
+  endif
+
+  typestr = list("tf","zp","ss");
+  systype = nth(typestr,sys.sys(1) + 1);
+endfunction