The .octaverc File

The .octaverc file is the octave configuration file on Linux that resides in the user's home directory (~). It has basically the same role as startup.m in Matlab - you might want to soft link startup.m and .octaverc to avoid duplication. Many basic settings can be put here. Further information is given in the documentation.

Some handy examples of configuration options are given below, as well and on the Tips and tricks page.

edit mode async # make spawned processes run in background
EDITOR('gvim > /dev/tty 2>&1 < /dev/tty %s') # use gvim as the default editor
more off # scroll screen output automatically
history_control ("ignoredups"); # ignore duplicates in command history
crash_dumps_octave_core(0); # never dump octave-core
sigterm_dumps_octave_core(0);
sighup_dumps_octave_core(0);
set(0,'defaultfigurecolormap',gray(256)); # set colormap to gray(256)
suppress_verbose_help_message(1); # use concise form for help
warning("off","Octave:divide-by-zero"); # disable unwanted warning messages

The behaviour of the command line cursor in Octave is controlled by a separate codebase (readline), which has its own configuration file (.inputrc). Examples of useful entries in this file are given below and in ??need a good reference for readline options??.

set blink-matching-paren off # prevent blinking parenthesis matching