function issmscpout(host,path,login,port,packages)
%SCPOUT send packages to a host, using scp on unix, and pscp on windows
%
%   usage: scpout(host,path,packages)
%
%

%get hostname
hostname=oshostname();

%if hostname and host are the same, do a simple copy

if strcmpi(host,hostname),
	for i=1:numel(packages),
		here=pwd;
		eval(['cd ' path])
		system(['rm -rf ' packages{i} ]);
		system(['ln -s ' here '/' packages{i} ' .']);
		eval(['cd ' here]);
	end
else 
	if ispc,
		%use the putty project pscp.exe: it should be in the path.
		
		%get ISSM_TIER variable
		[status,ISSM_TIER]=system('echo [%ISSM_TIER_WIN%]');
		if status, 
			error('scpout error message: could not find ISSM_TIER_WIN envirnoment variable');
		end
		ISSM_TIER=ISSM_TIER(2:end-2);

		username=input('Username: (quoted string) ');
		key=input('Key: (quoted string) ');

		for i=1:numel(packages),
			[status,result]=system([ISSM_TIER '/externalpackages/ssh/pscp.exe -l "' username '" -pw "' key '" ' packages{i} ' ' host ':' path]);
			if status, 
				error('scpout error message: could not call putty pscp');
			end
		end

	else
		%just use standard unix scp
		%create string of packages being sent
		string='';
		for i=1:numel(packages),
			string=[string ' ' packages{i}];
		end
		string=[string ' '];
		
		if port,
			eval(['!scp -P ' num2str(port) ' ' string ' ' login '@localhost:' path]);
		else
			eval(['!scp ' string ' ' login '@' host ':' path]);
		end
	end
end
