--- a/src/oct-fstrm.cc
+++ b/src/oct-fstrm.cc
@@ -30,6 +30,13 @@
 #include "error.h"
 #include "oct-fstrm.h"
 
+octave_stream
+octave_fstream::create (const string& nm_arg, ios::openmode md,
+			oct_mach_info::float_format flt_fmt)
+{
+  return octave_stream (new octave_fstream (nm_arg, md, flt_fmt));
+}
+
 octave_fstream::octave_fstream (const string& nm_arg,
 				ios::openmode md = ios::in|ios::out,
 				oct_mach_info::float_format flt_fmt)
@@ -91,14 +98,6 @@
   return fs.eof ();
 }
 
-// The name of the file.
-
-string
-octave_fstream::name (void)
-{
-  return nm;
-}
-
 istream *
 octave_fstream::input_stream (void)
 {