new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/oct-procbuf.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 1996 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.
+
+*/
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <cerrno>
+
+#include <iostream.h>
+
+#ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+
+#include "oct-procbuf.h"
+#include "syswait.h"
+
+// This class is based on the procbuf class from libg++, written by
+// Per Bothner, Copyright (C) 1993 Free Software Foundation.
+//
+// It should work with the filebuf class from libg++, but it might not
+// work with others since it depends on being able to get at the
+// underlying file descriptor with filebuf::fd(), which is not
+// standard.
+
+static octave_procbuf *octave_procbuf_list = 0;
+
+octave_procbuf *
+octave_procbuf::open (const char *command, int mode)
+{
+#if defined (HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H)
+
+  int pipe_fds[2];
+
+  int parent_end, child_end;
+
+  if (is_open ())
+    return 0;
+
+  if (pipe (pipe_fds) < 0)
+    return 0;
+
+  if (mode & ios::in)
+    {
+      parent_end = pipe_fds[0];
+      child_end = pipe_fds[1];
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      parent_end = pipe_fds[1];
+      child_end = pipe_fds[0];
+    }
+
+  proc_pid = fork ();
+
+  if (proc_pid == 0)
+    {
+      int child_std_end = (mode & ios::in) ? 1 : 0;
+
+      ::close (parent_end);
+
+      if (child_end != child_std_end)
+	{
+	  dup2 (child_end, child_std_end);
+	  ::close (child_end);
+	}
+
+      while (octave_procbuf_list)
+	{
+	  ::close (octave_procbuf_list->fd ());
+	  octave_procbuf_list = octave_procbuf_list->next;
+	}
+
+      execl ("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", command, NULL);
+
+      exit (127);
+    }
+
+  ::close (child_end);
+
+  if (proc_pid < 0)
+    {
+      ::close (parent_end);
+      return 0;
+    }
+
+  attach (parent_end);
+
+  next = octave_procbuf_list;
+  octave_procbuf_list = this;
+
+  return this;
+
+#else
+
+  return 0;
+
+#endif
+}
+
+int
+octave_procbuf::sys_close (void)
+{
+#if defined (HAVE_SYS_WAIT_H)
+
+  int wstatus;
+
+  pid_t wait_pid;
+
+  int status = -1;
+
+  for (octave_procbuf **ptr = &octave_procbuf_list;
+       *ptr != 0;
+       ptr = &(*ptr)->next)
+    {
+      if (*ptr == this)
+	{
+	  *ptr = (*ptr)->next;
+	  status = 0;
+	  break;
+	}
+    }
+
+  if (status < 0 || ::close (fd ()) < 0)
+    return -1;
+
+  do
+    {
+      wait_pid = waitpid (proc_pid, &wstatus, 0);
+    }
+  while (wait_pid == -1 && errno == EINTR);
+
+  if (wait_pid == -1)
+    return -1;
+
+  return wstatus;
+
+#else
+
+  return -1;
+
+#endif
+}
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/

new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/oct-procbuf.h
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 1996 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.
+
+*/
+
+// This class is based on the procbuf class from libg++, written by
+// Per Bothner, Copyright (C) 1993 Free Software Foundation.
+
+#if !defined (octave_octave_procbuf_h)
+#define octave_octave_procbuf_h 1
+
+#include <streambuf.h>
+
+#ifdef HAVE_SYS_TYPES_H
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#endif
+
+class
+octave_procbuf : public filebuf
+{
+public:
+
+  octave_procbuf (void)
+    : filebuf (), proc_pid (-1), next (0) { }
+
+  octave_procbuf (const char *command, int mode)
+    : filebuf (), proc_pid (-1), next (0) { open (command, mode); }
+
+  ~octave_procbuf (void) { close (); }
+
+  octave_procbuf *open (const char *command, int mode);
+
+  octave_procbuf *close (void)
+    { return (octave_procbuf *) filebuf::close (); }
+
+  virtual int sys_close (void);
+
+  pid_t pid (void) { return proc_pid; }
+
+protected:
+
+  pid_t proc_pid;
+
+  octave_procbuf *next;
+};
+
+#endif
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/