new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ls-ascii-helper.h
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2009 Benjamin Lindner
+
+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_ls_ascii_helper_h)
+#define octave_ls_ascii_helper_h 1
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include <string>
+
+extern OCTINTERP_API void
+skip_until_newline (std::istream& is, bool keep_newline = false);
+
+extern OCTINTERP_API void
+skip_preceeding_newline (std::istream& is);
+
+extern OCTINTERP_API std::string
+read_until_newline (std::istream& is, bool keep_newline = false);
+
+#endif
+
+/*
+;;; Local Variables: ***
+;;; mode: C++ ***
+;;; End: ***
+*/