--- a/src/load-save.cc
+++ b/src/load-save.cc
@@ -1748,9 +1748,14 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} crash_dumps_octave_core ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} crash_dumps_octave_core (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} crash_dumps_octave_core (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that controls whether Octave tries\n\
 to save all current variables to the file \"octave-core\" if it\n\
 crashes or receives a hangup, terminate or similar signal.\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{octave_core_file_limit, octave_core_file_name, octave_core_file_options}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
@@ -1761,10 +1766,15 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} default_save_options ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} default_save_options (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} default_save_options (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that specifies the default options\n\
 for the @code{save} command, and defines the default format.\n\
 Typical values include @code{\"-ascii\"}, @code{\"-text -zip\"}.\n\
 The default value is @option{-text}.\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{save}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
@@ -1775,6 +1785,7 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} octave_core_file_limit ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} octave_core_file_limit (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} octave_core_file_limit (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that specifies the maximum amount\n\
 of memory (in kilobytes) of the top-level workspace that Octave will\n\
 attempt to save when writing data to the crash dump file (the name of\n\
@@ -1783,6 +1794,10 @@
 then @var{octave_core_file_limit} will be approximately the maximum\n\
 size of the file.  If a text file format is used, then the file could\n\
 be much larger than the limit.  The default value is -1 (unlimited)\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{crash_dumps_octave_core, octave_core_file_name, octave_core_file_options}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
@@ -1793,9 +1808,14 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} octave_core_file_name ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} octave_core_file_name (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} octave_core_file_name (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that specifies the name of the file\n\
 used for saving data from the top-level workspace if Octave aborts.\n\
 The default value is @code{\"octave-core\"}\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{crash_dumps_octave_core, octave_core_file_name, octave_core_file_options}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
@@ -1806,11 +1826,16 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} octave_core_file_options ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} octave_core_file_options (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} octave_core_file_options (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that specifies the options used for\n\
 saving the workspace data if Octave aborts.  The value of\n\
 @code{octave_core_file_options} should follow the same format as the\n\
 options for the @code{save} function.  The default value is Octave's binary\n\
 format.\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{crash_dumps_octave_core, octave_core_file_name, octave_core_file_limit}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {
@@ -1821,6 +1846,7 @@
   "-*- texinfo -*-\n\
 @deftypefn  {Built-in Function} {@var{val} =} save_header_format_string ()\n\
 @deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {@var{old_val} =} save_header_format_string (@var{new_val})\n\
+@deftypefnx {Built-in Function} {} save_header_format_string (@var{new_val}, \"local\")\n\
 Query or set the internal variable that specifies the format\n\
 string used for the comment line written at the beginning of\n\
 text-format data files saved by Octave.  The format string is\n\
@@ -1834,6 +1860,10 @@
 @smallexample\n\
 \"# Created by Octave VERSION, %a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Y %Z <USER@@HOST>\"\n\
 @end smallexample\n\
+\n\
+When called from inside a function with the \"local\" option, the variable is\n\
+changed locally for the function and any subroutines it calls.  The original\n\
+variable value is restored when exiting the function.\n\
 @seealso{strftime, save}\n\
 @end deftypefn")
 {