new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liboctave/chNDArray.h
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2003 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.
+
+*/
+
+#if !defined (octave_charNDArray_h)
+#define octave_charNDArray_h 1
+
+#if defined (__GNUG__) && defined (USE_PRAGMA_INTERFACE_IMPLEMENTATION)
+#pragma interface
+#endif
+
+#include "MArrayN.h"
+#include "chMatrix.h"
+
+#include "mx-defs.h"
+#include "mx-op-defs.h"
+
+#include "data-conv.h"
+#include "mach-info.h"
+
+class
+charNDArray : public MArrayN<char>
+{
+public:
+  
+  charNDArray (void) : MArrayN<char> () { }
+
+  charNDArray (dim_vector& dims) : MArrayN<char> (dims) { }
+
+  charNDArray (dim_vector& dims, char val) : MArrayN<char> (dims, val) { }
+  
+  charNDArray (const charNDArray& a) : MArrayN<char> (a) { }
+
+  charNDArray (const charMatrix& a) : MArrayN<char> (a) { }
+
+  charNDArray (char c) : MArrayN<char> (charMatrix (c)) { }
+
+  charNDArray (const char *s) : MArrayN<char> (charMatrix (s)) { }
+
+  charNDArray (const std::string& s) : MArrayN<char> (charMatrix (s)) { }
+
+  charNDArray (const string_vector& s) : MArrayN<char> (charMatrix (s)) { }
+
+  charNDArray (const ArrayN<char>& a) : MArrayN<char> (a) { }
+
+  charNDArray& operator = (const charNDArray& a)
+    {
+      MArrayN<char>::operator = (a);
+      return *this;
+    }
+
+  // XXX FIXME XXX -- this is not quite the right thing.
+
+  boolMatrix all (int dim = -1) const;
+  boolMatrix any (int dim = -1) const;
+
+  charMatrix matrix_value (void) const;
+
+  // i/o
+
+  // friend std::ostream& operator << (std::ostream& os, const charNDArray& a);
+  // friend std::istream& operator >> (std::istream& is, charNDArray& a);
+
+  static char resize_fill_value (void) { return '\0'; }
+
+private:
+
+  charNDArray (char *d, dim_vector& dims) : MArrayN<char> (d, dims) { }
+};
+
+MARRAY_FORWARD_DEFS (MArrayN, charNDArray, char)
+
+#endif
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/