RE: Getting started with Octave in MS Windows

[Allen.Windhorn]

Ian,

From: address@hidden On Behalf Of The Grumps
        
> I have the same problem.  Did you make any progress Allen? 
> I installed with octave-forge-windows (version 2.1.73-1).

Same one I have.  Some kind person showed me where to put a startup
file.  If you put a file called .octaverc in the octave_files directory
under the directory you installed the program in (probably "c:\Program
Files\Octave-2.1.73" or something), any code in that file will be
executed on startup.  Mine just has:

-----
addpath("/cygdrive/h/work/matlab")
disp("Installed .octaverc from $HOME")
Path
-----

You have to do the "cygdrive" thing because it uses Cygwin, which
doesn't understand Windows drive letters.  Notice they are forward
slashes too.  I really don't care for Cygwin -- it wants to take over
your computer, and it's really hard to keep updated properly -- but it
appears to be confined in this version of Octave.

> This is a very alien environment for those from planet
> Windows...

Yeah, well, Planet Windows is a pretty alien environment sometimes :-)

> I can't: 
> - use standard things like copy and paste.

You can copy and paste -- just select what you want to copy, hit Ctrl-C
as usual (has the side effect of adding a prompt at the bottom), then
paste into whatever in the usual way.  You can't right-mouse copy
though.

> - directly go to edit-history for the script I'm working on.

Dunno about that.  Anyone?

>   Should I not be using Notepad instead?
         
I use Emacs myself; it colorizes the script according to Octave
conventions.  Not for everyone though.  You can use any text or
programming editor.  I haven't bothered to try to learn the one that
comes with Octave.

When you feel discouraged, just chant the mantra:

"Octave is cheaper than Matlab...Octave is cheaper than Matlab..."

If you have some budget, you could try Harmonic Software O-Matrix
<www.omatrix.com> for $345 US.  They are pretty Matlab-compatible and
have good support by email anyway.  You can get a free trial download.

Regards,
Allen