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+# Copyright (C) 1994 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 2, 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, write to the Free
+# Software Foundation, 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+
+function retval = nargchk (nargin_min, nargin_max, n)
+
+# usage: nargchk (nargin_min, nargin_max, n)
+#
+# If N is in the range NARGIN_MIN to NARGIN_MAX, return the empty
+# matrix.  Otherwise, return a message indicating whether N is too
+# large or too small.
+
+  if (nargin != 3)
+    error  ("usage: nargchk (nargin_min, nargin_max, n)");
+  endif
+
+  if (nargin_min > nargin_max)
+    error  ("nargchk: nargin_min > nargin_max");
+  endif
+
+  if (n < nargin_min)
+    retval = "nargchk: N is less than nargin_min";
+  elseif (n > nargin_max)
+    retval = "nargchk: N is greater than nargin_max";
+  else
+    retval = [];
+  endif
+
+endfunction