new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liboctave/cmd-hist.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,406 @@
+// cmd-hist.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 <cstring>
+
+#include <strstream.h>
+
+#include <fcntl.h>
+
+#ifdef HAVE_UNISTD_H
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#endif
+
+extern "C"
+{
+#include <readline/history.h>
+}
+
+#include "file-ops.h"
+#include "lo-error.h"
+#include "cmd-hist.h"
+
+bool command_history::initialized = false;
+
+command_history::command_history (const string& f, int n)
+{
+  if (initialized)
+    error ("only one history object can be active at once");
+  else
+    {
+      ignoring_additions = false;
+
+      lines_in_file = 0;
+      lines_this_session = 0;
+
+      xsize = -1;
+
+      if (! f.empty ())
+	{
+	  xfile = f;
+
+	  read_history (f.c_str ());
+
+	  lines_in_file = where ();
+
+	  using_history ();
+	}
+
+      if (n > 0)
+	xsize = n;
+
+      initialized = true;
+    }
+}
+
+void
+command_history::set_file (const string& f)
+{
+  xfile = f;
+}
+
+string
+command_history::file (void)
+{
+  return xfile;
+}
+
+void
+command_history::set_size (int n)
+{
+  xsize = n;
+}
+
+int
+command_history::size (void)
+{
+  return xsize;
+}
+
+void
+command_history::ignore_entries (bool flag = true)
+{
+  ignoring_additions = flag;
+}
+
+bool
+command_history::ignoring_entries (void)
+{
+  return ignoring_additions;
+}
+
+void
+command_history::add (const string& s)
+{
+  if (! ignoring_entries ())
+    {
+      add_history (s.c_str ());
+      lines_this_session++;
+    }
+}
+
+void
+command_history::remove (int n)
+{
+  HIST_ENTRY *discard = remove_history (n);
+
+  if (discard)
+    {
+      if (discard->line)
+	free (discard->line);
+
+      free (discard);
+    }
+}
+
+int
+command_history::where (void)
+{
+  return where_history ();
+}
+
+int
+command_history::base (void)
+{
+  return history_base;
+}
+
+int
+command_history::current_number (void)
+{
+  return (xsize > 0) ? base () + where () : -1;
+}
+
+void
+command_history::stifle (int n)
+{
+  stifle_history (n);
+}
+
+int
+command_history::unstifle (void)
+{
+  return unstifle_history ();
+}
+
+int
+command_history::is_stifled (void)
+{
+  return history_is_stifled ();
+}
+
+void
+command_history::read (const string& f_arg)
+{
+  string f = f_arg;
+
+  if (f.empty ())
+    f = xfile;
+
+  if (! f.empty ())
+    {
+      int status = read_history (f.c_str ());
+
+      if (status != 0)
+	error (status);
+      else
+	using_history ();
+    }
+  else
+    error ("command_history::read: missing file name");
+}
+
+void
+command_history::read_range (const string& f_arg, int from, int to)
+{
+  if (from < 0)
+    from = lines_in_file;
+
+  string f = f_arg;
+
+  if (f.empty ())
+    f = xfile;
+
+  if (! f.empty ())
+    {
+      int status = read_history_range (f.c_str (), from, to);
+
+      if (status != 0)
+	error (status);
+      else
+	{
+	  using_history ();
+	  lines_in_file = where ();
+	}
+    }
+  else
+    error ("command_history::read_range: missing file name");
+}
+
+void
+command_history::write (const string& f_arg)
+{
+  string f = f_arg;
+
+  if (f.empty ())
+    f = xfile;
+
+  if (! f.empty ())
+    {
+      int status = write_history (f.c_str ());
+
+      if (status != 0)
+	error (status);
+    }
+  else
+    error ("command_history::write: missing file name");
+}
+
+void
+command_history::append (const string& f_arg)
+{
+  if (lines_this_session)
+    {
+      if (lines_this_session < where ())
+	{
+	  // Create file if it doesn't already exist.
+
+	  string f = f_arg;
+
+	  if (f.empty ())
+	    f = xfile;
+
+	  if (! f.empty ())
+	    {
+	      file_stat fs (f);
+
+	      if (! fs)
+		{
+		  int tem;
+
+		  tem = open (f.c_str (), O_CREAT, 0666);
+		  close (tem);
+		}
+
+	      int status = append_history (lines_this_session, f.c_str ());
+
+	      if (status != 0)
+		error (status);
+	      else
+		lines_in_file += lines_this_session;
+
+	      lines_this_session = 0;
+	    }
+	  else
+	    error ("comman_history::append: missing file name");
+	}
+    }
+}
+
+void
+command_history::truncate_file (const string& f_arg, int n)
+{
+  string f = f_arg;
+
+  if (f.empty ())
+    f = xfile;
+
+  if (! f.empty ())
+    history_truncate_file (f.c_str (), n);
+  else
+    error ("command_history::truncate_file: missing file name");
+}
+
+string_vector
+command_history::list (int limit, int number_lines)
+{
+  string_vector retval;
+
+  if (limit)
+    {
+      HIST_ENTRY **hlist = history_list ();
+
+      if (hlist)
+	{
+	  int end = 0;
+	  while (hlist[end])
+	    end++;
+
+	  int beg = (limit < 0 || end < limit) ? 0 : (end - limit);
+
+	  retval.resize (end - beg);
+
+	  int k = 0;
+	  for (int i = beg; i < end; i++)
+	    {
+	      ostrstream output_buf;
+
+	      if (number_lines)
+		output_buf.form ("%5d%c", i + history_base,
+				 hlist[i]->data ? '*' : ' '); 
+
+	      output_buf << hlist[i]->line << ends;
+
+	      const char *tmp = output_buf.str ();
+
+	      retval[k++] = tmp;
+
+	      delete [] tmp;  
+	    }
+	}
+    }
+
+  return retval;
+}
+
+string
+command_history::get_entry (int n)
+{
+  string retval;
+
+  HIST_ENTRY *entry = history_get (history_base + n);
+
+  if (entry && entry->line)
+    retval = entry->line;
+
+  return retval;
+}
+
+void
+command_history::replace_entry (int which, const string& line)
+{
+  HIST_ENTRY *discard = replace_history_entry (which, line.c_str (), 0);
+
+  if (discard)
+    {
+      if (discard->line)
+	free (discard->line);
+
+      free (discard);
+    }
+}
+
+void
+command_history::clean_up_and_save (const string& f_arg, int n)
+{
+  string f = f_arg;
+
+  if (f.empty ())
+    f = xfile;
+
+  if (! f.empty ())
+    {
+      if (n < 0)
+	n = xsize;
+
+      stifle (n);
+
+      write_history (f.c_str ());
+    }
+  else
+    error ("command_history::clean_up_and_save: missing file name");
+}
+
+void
+command_history::error (int errno)
+{
+  (*current_liboctave_error_handler) ("%s", strerror (errno));
+}
+
+void
+command_history::error (const string& s)
+{
+  (*current_liboctave_error_handler) ("%s", s.c_str ());
+}
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; page-delimiter: "^/\\*" ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/