image() opens gnuplot despite image_viewer("xloadimage %s")

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Debian squeeze, Linux version 2.6.32-5-amd64 (Debian 2.6.32-20) (address@hidden) (gcc version 4.3.5 (Debian 4.3.5-2) ) #1 SMP Thu Aug 12 13:01:50 UTC 2010

fresh build today from the mercurial version http://www.octave.org/hg/octave

GNU Octave, version 3.3.52+

HowTo reproduce:
octave -q
image_viewer("xloadimage %s")
image(rand(100)*100)

this opens a gnuplot windows with title "Figure 1" and the axes scaled from 1..100 (not expected)
and the expected xloadimage windows

Looking deeper into /usr/local/share/octave/3.3.52+/m/image/image.m
I see that
  [ax, varargin, nargin] = __plt_get_axis_arg__ ("image", varargin{:});
opens the gnuplot window. I set a "keyboard" before and after the line. After the first "return" the gnuplot windows pops up.

by the way:
function __img_via_file__ in image_viewer.m
calls "status = system (sprintf ("( %s && %s) > /dev/null 2>&1 &", command, rm));"
but because the command is run in background (the last &), status always equals to 0
so the error message "image_viewer: the image viewing command failed" is never shown.

 

HowTo reproduce:
octave -q
octave:1> image_viewer("this_is_no_valid_command %s")
octave:2> image(rand(200)*100)
octave:3>

 

Opens a empty (only axes) gnuplot windows but I think it is intended,

that the error message above should be shown instead.

best regards, Andy