new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libinterp/interpfcn/workspace-element.h
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2013 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/>.
+
+*/
+
+#if !defined (octave_workspace_element_h)
+#define octave_workspace_element_h 1
+
+#include <string>
+
+class workspace_element
+{
+public:
+
+  workspace_element (char scope_arg = 'l',
+                     const std::string& symbol_arg = "<name>",
+                     const std::string& class_name_arg = "<class>",
+                     const std::string& value_arg = "<value>",
+                     const std::string& dimension_arg = "<dimension>")
+    : xscope (scope_arg), xsymbol (symbol_arg),
+      xclass_name (class_name_arg), xvalue (value_arg),
+      xdimension (dimension_arg)
+  { }
+
+  workspace_element (const workspace_element& ws_elt)
+    : xscope (ws_elt.xscope), xsymbol (ws_elt.xsymbol),
+      xclass_name (ws_elt.xclass_name), xvalue (ws_elt.xvalue),
+      xdimension (ws_elt.xdimension)
+  { }
+
+  workspace_element operator = (const workspace_element& ws_elt)
+  {
+    if (this != &ws_elt)
+      {
+        xscope = ws_elt.xscope;
+        xsymbol = ws_elt.xsymbol;
+        xclass_name = ws_elt.xclass_name;
+        xvalue = ws_elt.xvalue;
+        xdimension = ws_elt.xdimension;
+      }
+
+    return *this;
+  }
+
+  ~workspace_element (void) { }
+
+  char scope (void) const { return xscope; }
+
+  std::string symbol (void) const { return xsymbol; }
+
+  std::string class_name (void) const { return xclass_name; }
+
+  std::string value (void) const { return xvalue; }
+
+  std::string dimension (void) const { return xdimension; }
+
+private:
+
+  // [g]lobal, [p]ersistent, [l]ocal
+  char xscope;
+  std::string xsymbol;
+  std::string xclass_name;
+  std::string xvalue;
+  std::string xdimension;
+};
+
+#endif