--- a/doc/ChangeLog
+++ b/doc/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+2010-04-07  John W. Eaton  <jwe@octave.org>
+
+	* interpreter/testfun.txi: Document runtests.
+
 2010-03-24  John W. Eaton  <jwe@octave.org>
 
 	* interpreter/bugs.txi: Update for bug tracker.

--- a/doc/interpreter/testfun.txi
+++ b/doc/interpreter/testfun.txi
@@ -305,6 +305,8 @@
 
 @DOCSTRING(rundemos)
 
+@DOCSTRING(runtests)
+
 @DOCSTRING(example)
 
 @DOCSTRING(speed)

--- a/scripts/ChangeLog
+++ b/scripts/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+2010-04-07  John W. Eaton  <jwe@octave.org>
+
+	* testfun/runtests.m: New function.
+	* testfun/module.mk (testfun_FCN_FILES): Add it to the list.
+
 2010-02-19  Rik <octave@nomad.inbox5.com>
 
 	* statistics/cut.m: Modify cut to use the same decision criteria as histc

--- a/scripts/testfun/module.mk
+++ b/scripts/testfun/module.mk
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   testfun/example.m \
   testfun/fail.m \
   testfun/rundemos.m \
+  testfun/runtests.m \
   testfun/speed.m \
   testfun/test.m
 

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/testfun/runtests.m
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+## Copyright (C) 2010 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 3 of the License, 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, see
+## <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+## -*- texinfo -*-
+## @deftypefn {Function File} {} rundtests (@var{directory})
+## @end deftypefn
+
+## Author: jwe
+
+function runtests (directory)
+
+  if (nargin == 0)
+    dirs = strsplit (path (), pathsep ());
+  elseif (nargin == 1)
+    if (is_absolute_filename (directory))
+      dirs = {directory};
+    else
+      fullname = find_dir_in_path (directory);
+      if (! isempty (fullname))
+	dirs = {fullname};
+      else
+	error ("runtests: expecting argument to be a directory name");
+      endif
+    endif
+  else
+    print_usage ();
+  endif
+
+  for i = 1:numel (dirs)
+    d = dirs{i};
+    run_all_tests (d);
+  endfor
+
+endfunction
+
+function run_all_tests (directory)
+  dirinfo = dir (directory);
+  flist = {dirinfo.name};
+  no_tests = {};
+  printf ("Processing files in %s:\n\n", directory);
+  fflush (stdout);
+  for i = 1:numel (flist)
+    f = flist{i};
+    if (length (f) > 2 && strcmp (f((end-1):end), ".m"))
+      ff = fullfile (directory, f);
+      if (has_tests (ff))
+        print_test_file_name (f);
+        [p, n, xf, sk] = test (ff, "quiet");
+        print_pass_fail (n, p)
+        fflush (stdout);
+      else
+        no_tests{end+1} = f;
+      endif
+    endif
+  endfor
+  if (! isempty (no_tests))
+    printf ("\nThe following files in have no tests:\n\n", directory);
+    printf ("%s", list_in_columns (no_tests));
+  endif
+endfunction
+
+function retval = has_tests (f)
+  retval = false;
+  fid = fopen (f);
+  if (fid >= 0)
+    while (! feof (fid))
+      ln = fgetl (fid);
+      if (! isempty (regexp (ln, "%!(assert|error|test)", "lineanchors")))
+        retval = true;
+        break;
+      endif
+    endwhile
+    fclose (fid);
+  else
+    error ("fopen failed: %s", f);
+  endif
+endfunction
+
+function print_pass_fail (n, p)
+  if (n > 0)
+    printf (" PASS %4d/%-4d", p, n);
+    nfail = n - p;
+    if (nfail > 0)
+      printf (" FAIL %d", nfail);
+    endif
+  endif
+  puts ("\n");
+endfunction
+
+function print_test_file_name (nm)
+  filler = repmat (".", 1, 55-length (nm));
+  printf ("  %s %s", nm, filler);
+endfunction