octaverc and version in path?

[Ben Abbott]

There has been a discussion on the help list regarding ".octaverc" and  
the version specific path structure.

        
http://www.nabble.com/path-3A-octave-3.0.0-can-27t-find-itself-to14506843.html

Below is an example of the contents of .octaverc taken from an install  
of Octave 3.0.0 on Mac OS X.

Begin forwarded message:

> ## Begin savepath auto-created section, do not edit
>  path ('.:
>         /Users/dushanm/Octave:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> site/m:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> site/m/startup:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/libexec/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/oct/i386-apple-darwin8.9.1:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/audio:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control/base:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control/hinf:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control/obsolete:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control/system:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/control/util:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/deprecated:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/elfun:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/finance:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/general:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/geometry:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/image:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/io:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/linear-algebra:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/miscellaneous:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/optimization:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/path:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/pkg:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/plot:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/polynomial:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/quaternion:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/set:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/signal:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/sparse:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/specfun:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/special-matrix:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/startup:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/statistics:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/statistics/base:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/statistics/distributions:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/statistics/models:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/statistics/tests:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/strings:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/testfun:
>         /Applications/Octave.app/Contents/Resources/share/octave/ 
> 3.0.0/m/time');
> ## End savepath auto-created section

This inclusion of the path presents some problems. For example,  
the .octaverc is not upgraded when octave is, and produces a conflict  
in the event a user wants to install different versions of octave.

I assume the version information is there for a reason, what is that  
reason?

Might something be done regarding how the path is handled to  
facilitate the upgrade process, and perhaps allow for installations of  
multiple versions?

Ben