new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liboctave/mach-info.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+// float-fmt.cc                                           -*- C++ -*-
+/*
+
+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 "f77-fcn.h"
+#include "float-fmt.h"
+
+extern "C"
+{
+  double F77_FCN (d1mach, D1MACH) (const int&);
+}
+
+// The floating point format on this system.
+floating_point_format native_float_format = OCTAVE_UNKNOWN_FLT_FMT;
+
+union equiv
+{
+  double d;
+  int i[2];
+};
+
+struct
+float_params
+{
+  floating_point_format fp_fmt;
+  equiv fp_par[4];
+};
+
+#define INIT_FLT_PAR(fp, fmt, sm1, sm2, lrg1, lrg2, rt1, rt2, dv1, dv2) \
+  do \
+    { \
+      fp.fp_fmt = (fmt); \
+      fp.fp_par[0].i[0] = (sm1);  fp.fp_par[0].i[1] = (sm2); \
+      fp.fp_par[1].i[0] = (lrg1); fp.fp_par[1].i[1] = (lrg2); \
+      fp.fp_par[2].i[0] = (rt1);  fp.fp_par[2].i[1] = (rt2); \
+      fp.fp_par[3].i[0] = (dv1);  fp.fp_par[3].i[1] = (dv2); \
+    } \
+  while (0)
+
+static int
+equiv_compare (const equiv *std, const equiv *v, int len)
+{
+  int i;
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+    if (v[i].i[0] != std[i].i[0] || v[i].i[1] != std[i].i[1])
+      return 0;
+  return 1;
+}
+
+int
+float_format_init (void)
+{
+  float_params fp[5];
+
+  INIT_FLT_PAR (fp[0], OCTAVE_IEEE_BIG,
+		   1048576,  0,
+		2146435071, -1,
+		1017118720,  0,
+		1018167296,  0);
+
+  INIT_FLT_PAR (fp[1], OCTAVE_IEEE_LITTLE,
+		 0,    1048576,
+		-1, 2146435071,
+		 0, 1017118720,
+		 0, 1018167296);
+
+  INIT_FLT_PAR (fp[2], OCTAVE_VAX_D,
+		   128,  0,
+		-32769, -1,
+		  9344,  0,
+		  9344,  0);
+
+  INIT_FLT_PAR (fp[3], OCTAVE_VAX_G,
+		    16,  0,
+		-32769, -1,
+		 15552,  0,
+		 15552,  0);
+
+  INIT_FLT_PAR (fp[4], OCTAVE_UNKNOWN_FLT_FMT,
+		0, 0,
+		0, 0,
+		0, 0,
+		0, 0);
+
+  equiv mach_fp_par[4];
+
+  mach_fp_par[0].d = F77_FCN (d1mach, D1MACH) (1);
+  mach_fp_par[1].d = F77_FCN (d1mach, D1MACH) (2);
+  mach_fp_par[2].d = F77_FCN (d1mach, D1MACH) (3);
+  mach_fp_par[3].d = F77_FCN (d1mach, D1MACH) (4);
+
+  int i = 0;
+  do
+    {
+      if (equiv_compare (fp[i].fp_par, mach_fp_par, 4))
+	{
+	  native_float_format = fp[i].fp_fmt;
+	  break;
+	}
+    }
+  while (fp[++i].fp_fmt != OCTAVE_UNKNOWN_FLT_FMT);
+
+  return (native_float_format != OCTAVE_UNKNOWN_FLT_FMT);
+}
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; page-delimiter: "^/\\*" ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/