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→‎Common problems: add common error about script overriding built-in function
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Run <code>citation</code> at the Octave prompt for details on how to best cite the Octave version you are running.  Certain Octave packages also have recommended citations in which case use <code>citation package_name</code>.
Run {{manual|citation}} at the Octave prompt for details on how to best cite the Octave version you are running.  Certain Octave packages also have recommended citations in which case use <code>citation package_name</code>.


Note that there are two reasons for citing the software used.  One is giving recognition to the work done by others which we already addressed.  The other is giving details on the system used so that experiments can be replicated.  For this, you should cite the version of Octave and all packages used (you can get this information using the <code>ver</code> command), as well as any details of your setup as part of your Methods.  In addition, you should make your source available.  See [http://software.ac.uk/so-exactly-what-software-did-you-use How to cite and describe software] for more details and an in depth discussion.
Note that there are two reasons for citing the software used.  One is giving recognition to the work done by others which we already addressed.  The other is giving details on the system used so that experiments can be replicated.  For this, you should cite the version of Octave and all packages used (you can get this information using the <code>ver</code> command), as well as any details of your setup as part of your Methods.  In addition, you should make your source available.  See [http://software.ac.uk/so-exactly-what-software-did-you-use How to cite and describe software] for more details and an in depth discussion.
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==What documentation exists for Octave?==
==What documentation exists for Octave?==


Besides this wiki, the GNU Octave distribution includes a [http://www.octave.org/doc/interpreter 1000+ page Texinfo manual] ([http://www.octave.org/octave.pdf PDF]).  Access to the complete text of the manual is available via the <code>doc</code> command at the GNU Octave prompt.  If you have problems using this manual, or find that some topic is not adequately explained, indexed, or cross-referenced, please report it on http://bugs.octave.org.
Besides this wiki, the GNU Octave distribution includes a [http://www.octave.org/doc/interpreter 1000+ page Texinfo manual] ([http://www.octave.org/octave.pdf PDF]).  Access to the complete text of the manual is available via the {{manual|doc}} command at the GNU Octave prompt.  If you have problems using this manual, or find that some topic is not adequately explained, indexed, or cross-referenced, please report it on http://bugs.octave.org.


==How can I report a bug in Octave?==
==How can I report a bug in Octave?==
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For general use, it is recommended to use the latest stable version of Octave (currently {{Release}}), available from http://www.octave.org/download.html.  For development and bleeding-edge features one can obtain the development source code from the Mercurial repository https://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/graph/.
For general use, it is recommended to use the latest stable version of Octave (currently {{Release}}), available from http://www.octave.org/download.html.  For development and bleeding-edge features one can obtain the development source code from the Mercurial repository https://hg.savannah.gnu.org/hgweb/octave/graph/.


The used version of Octave is available via the <code>ver</code> command and a list of user-visible changes since the last release is available via the <code>news</code> command at the GNU Octave prompt.
The used version of Octave is available via the {{manual|ver}} command and a list of user-visible changes since the last release is available via the {{manual|news}} command at the GNU Octave prompt.


==On what platforms does Octave run?==
==On what platforms does Octave run?==
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   spearman            Compute Spearman's rank correlation coefficient RHO.
   spearman            Compute Spearman's rank correlation coefficient RHO.


Also, there's a high chance that the function name has a suggestive name, and so you can try auto-completion to get some hints.  For the previous example, typing <code>corr</code> at the octave prompt followed by pressing the "Tab"-Key twice would suggest the following:
Also, there's a high chance that the function name has a suggestive name, and so you can try auto-completion to get some hints.  For the previous example, typing <code>corr</code> at the octave prompt followed by pressing the {{key press|Tab}}-Key twice would suggest the following:


   >> corr
   >> corr
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If the Qt graphics toolkit is used and "plot" is used for the first time, the fontconfig scanner searches the font directory to build a font cache. This can take up to 3min on slow CPUs. See {{bug|45458}}
If the Qt graphics toolkit is used and "plot" is used for the first time, the fontconfig scanner searches the font directory to build a font cache. This can take up to 3min on slow CPUs. See {{bug|45458}}
==Error message about invalid call to script or invalid use of script in index expression==
If Octave shows an error message about {{Codeline|invalid call to script .../close.m}} or {{Codeline|invalid use of of script .../close.m in index expression}}, it means that you have created a script called close.m that is overriding the built-in Octave function {{Codeline|close}}. Octave functions and scripts share the samem global namespace. It is best to avoid creating your own scripts or functions that have the same name as an Octave function.


=Differences between Octave and Matlab=
=Differences between Octave and Matlab=
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