new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
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@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2008 Jaroslav Hajek
+
+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/>.
+
+*/
+
+#if !defined (octave_DET_h)
+#define octave_DET_h 1
+
+#include <cmath>
+#include "oct-cmplx.h"
+#include "lo-mappers.h"
+
+template <class T>
+class
+OCTAVE_API
+base_det
+{
+public:
+
+  base_det (T c = 0, int e = 0) 
+    { 
+      c2 = xlog2 (c, e2); 
+      e2 += e; 
+    }
+
+  base_det (T c, double e, double b) 
+    { 
+      e *= xlog2 (b);
+      e2 = e;
+      c *= xexp2 (e - e2);
+      int f;
+      c2 = xlog2 (c, f);
+      e2 += f;
+    }
+
+  base_det (const base_det& a) : c2(a.c2), e2(a.e2) { }
+
+  base_det& operator = (const base_det& a)
+    {
+      c2 = a.c2;
+      e2 = a.e2;
+      return *this;
+    }
+
+  T coef (void) const { return c2; }
+  int exp (void) const { return e2; }
+
+  T value () const { return c2 * static_cast<T> (std::ldexp (1.0, e2)); }
+  operator T () const { return value (); }
+
+  void operator *= (T t)
+    {
+      int e;
+      c2 *= xlog2 (t, e);
+      e2 += e;
+    }
+
+private:
+
+  T c2;
+  int e2;
+};
+
+// Provide the old types by typedefs.
+typedef base_det<double> DET;
+typedef base_det<float> FloatDET;
+typedef base_det<Complex> ComplexDET;
+typedef base_det<FloatComplex> FloatComplexDET;
+
+#endif