[Gretl-users] why cmod?

Hi, I'm wondering why the cmod() function is needed. It computes the modulus of a complex number (or many of them in a matrix), OK fine. But so does abs(). And abs() also works on plain real numbers, where cmod cannot be used. Could it be a path-dependent thing: first abs() didn't cover complex numbers but then rendered cmod() obsolete by also working on those? Or is there anything else which I'm missing? Otherwise, maybe a case for deprecating or hiding cmod? thanks sven