"computer" command not compatible with Matlab

[Jaroslav Hajek]

On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 9:12 PM,
<Frederick_Umminger at playstation.sony.com> wrote:
>
> Bug: The  "computer" command behaves differently in Octave compared to
> Matlab. This breaks .m files that rely on it.
>
> Version: 3.0.3, Windows 32-bit
>
> Steps to reproduce:
>> computer()
> ans = i686-pc-msdosmsvc
>
> Should return:
> ans = PCWIN
>
>> help computer
>  -- Function File: [C, MAXSIZE, ENDIAN] = computer ()
>      Print or return a string of the form CPU-VENDOR-OS that
>      identifies the kind of computer Octave is running on.  If invoked
>      with an output argument, the value is returned instead of
>      printed.  For example,
>
>           computer ()
>           -| i586-pc-linux-gnu
>
>           x = computer ()
>           => x = "i586-pc-linux-gnu"
>
>      If two output arguments are requested, also return the maximum
>      number of elements for an array.
>
>      If three output arguments are requested, also return the byte
>      order of the current system as a character (`"B"' for big-endian
>      or `"L"' for little-endian).
>
> Additional help for built-in functions and operators is
> available in the on-line version of the manual.  Use the command
> `doc <topic>' to search the manual index.
>
> Help and information about Octave is also available on the WWW
> at http://www.octave.org and via the help at octave.org
> mailing list.
>
> Compare this to the Matlab documentation at
> http://www.mathworks.com/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/index.html?/access/helpdesk/help/techdoc/ref/computer.html
>
>
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> Bug-octave at octave.org
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>
>

I would also like to point out to the sometimes overlooked fact that
Octave aims to be not only compatible with Matlab, but also the rest
of the GNU software (and maybe other free software). The canonical
host ID you get is so commonly used on GNU systems that it beats
Matlab compatibility easily, IMHO.

cheers

-- 
RNDr. Jaroslav Hajek
computing expert
Aeronautical Research and Test Institute (VZLU)
Prague, Czech Republic
url: www.highegg.matfyz.cz