new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/display-available.c
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2012-2015 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/>.
+
+*/
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#if defined (OCTAVE_USE_WINDOWS_API)
+#include <windows.h>
+#elif defined (HAVE_FRAMEWORK_CARBON)
+#include <Carbon/Carbon.h>
+#elif defined (HAVE_X_WINDOWS)
+#include <X11/Xlib.h>
+#endif
+
+#include "display-available.h"
+
+const char *
+display_available (int *dpy_avail)
+{
+  *dpy_avail = 0;
+
+  const char *err_msg = "";
+
+#if defined (OCTAVE_USE_WINDOWS_API)
+
+  HDC hdc = GetDC (0);
+
+  if (hdc)
+    *dpy_avail = 1;
+  else
+    err_msg = "no graphical display found";
+
+#elif defined (HAVE_FRAMEWORK_CARBON)
+
+  CGDirectDisplayID display = CGMainDisplayID ();
+
+  if (display)
+    *dpy_avail = 1;
+  else
+    err_msg = "no graphical display found";
+
+#elif defined (HAVE_X_WINDOWS)
+
+  const char *display_name = getenv ("DISPLAY");
+
+  if (display_name && *display_name)
+    {
+      Display *display = XOpenDisplay (display_name);
+
+      if (display)
+        {
+          Screen *screen = DefaultScreenOfDisplay (display);
+
+          if (! screen)
+            err_msg = "X11 display has no default screen";
+
+          XCloseDisplay (display);
+
+          *dpy_avail = 1;
+        }
+      else
+        err_msg = "unable to open X11 DISPLAY";
+    }
+  else
+    err_msg = "X11 DISPLAY environment variable not set";
+
+#else
+
+  err_msg = "no graphical display found";
+
+#endif
+
+  return err_msg;
+}