Re: hos command does not show graphics handles

[Michael D. Godfrey]

On 09/21/2009 12:49 AM, Carlo de Falco wrote:
> So I see no need to fix anything here... 

Using the Matlab compatibility argument in this case
does not seem to me appropriate.  It is hard, but not
impossible, to imagine a case where a difference in the
whos display would cause a serious incompatibility.
I know of no Matlab code whose correct function depends
on the content of the whos output.

Consistently applying your argument to all of Octave
would be a lot of work.  Who plans to do this?

So, I would still like to see a change to the whos output,
and an additional function which returns the graphics handle
type.  The result would be to make Octave easier to use.
There does not appear to be a Matlab function to do this, so
another incompatibility in the cause of ease of use.

Other Matlab compatibility issues should be considered:

1. Implement the use of property "renderer" to determine
    fltk (OpenGL) or gnuplot.
    This point causes me to realize that I do not know how to
    find out which backend a handle is set to.  Since backend
    is not used by Matlab, maybe it would be good to switch to
    using renderer and renderermode.  It appears that backend()
    may need to be retained to do the global selection.  It does not
    appear that Matlab provides this.
2. Implement hgsave/hgload
3. Implement the command opengl (maybe just 'info' initially).