.TH "yacas" "1" .SH "NAME" yacas, yacas_client \(em small and flexible general-purpose computer algebra system .SH "SYNOPSIS" .PP \fByacas\fR [\fBoptions\fP] [\fB{filename}\fP] .SH "DESCRIPTION" .PP This manual page documents briefly the \fByacas\fR and \fByacas_client\fR commands. .PP \fBYacas\fR (Yet Another Computer Algebra System) is a small and highly flexible general-purpose computer algebra language. The syntax uses a infix-operator grammar parser. The distribution contains a small library of mathematical functions, but its real strength is in the language in which you can easily write your own symbolic manipulation algorithms. The core engine supports arbitrary precision arithmetic, and is linked with the GNU arbitrary precision math library, and is able to execute symbolic manipulations on various mathematical objects by following user-defined rules. .PP This manual page was written for the \fBDebian GNU/Linux\fP distribution because the original program does not have a manual page. .SH "OPTIONS" .PP A summary of options is given below .IP "\fB-c\fP " 10 Inhibit printing of prompts "In>" and "Out>". Useful for non-interactive sessions. .IP "\fB-f\fP " 10 Reads standard input as one file, but executes only the first statement in it. (You may want to use a statement block to have several statements executed.) .IP "\fB-p\fP" 10 Does not use terminal capabilities, no fancy editing on the command line and no escape sequences printed. Useful for non-interactive sessions. .IP "\fB-t\fP" 10 Enable some extra history recall functionality in console mode: after executing a command from the history list, the next unmodified command from the history list will be automatically entered on the command line. .IP "\fB{filename}\fP" 10 Reads and executes commands in the filename and exits. Equivalent to "Load()". .IP "\fB-v\fP" 10 Prints version information and exits. .IP "\fB-d\fP" 10 Prints the path to the Yacas library directory and exits .PP The default operation of \fB Yacas\fR is to run in the interactive console mode. \fBYacas\fR accepts several options that modify its operation. Options can be combined. .PP In addition to the console mode, an experimental persistent session facility is provided through the script \fByacas_client\fR. By means of this script, the user can configure third-party applications to pass commands to a constantly running "Yacas server" and get output. The "Yacas server" is automatically started by \fByacas_client\fR. It may run on a remote computer; in that case the user should have a user account on the remote computer and privileges to execute \fByacas_client\fR there, as well as rsh or ssh access. The purpose of \fByacas_client\fR is to enable users to pass commands to \fBYacas\fR within a persistent session while running another application such as a text editor. The script \fByacas_client\fR reads \fByacas\fR commands from the standard input and passes them to the running "Yacas server"; it then waits 2 seconds and prints whatever output \fByacas\fR produced up to this time. Usage may looks like this: .PP .nf 8:20pm Unix>echo "x:=3" | yacas_client Starting server. [editvi] [gnuplot] True; To exit Yacas, enter Exit(); or quit or Ctrl-c. Type ?? for help. Or type ?function for help on a function. Type 'restart' to restart Yacas. To see example commands, keep typing Example(); In> x:=3 Out> 3; In> 8:21pm Unix>echo "x:=3+x" | yacas_client In> x:=3+x Out> 6; In> 8:23pm Unix>yacas_client \-stop In> quit Quitting... Server stopped. 8:23pm Unix> .fi .PP .PP Persistence of the session means that \fByacas\fR remembered the value of "x" between invocations of \fByacas_client\fR. If there is not enough time for Yacas to produce output within 2 seconds, the output will be displayed the next time you call \fByacas_client\fR. .PP The "Yacas server" is started automatically when first used and can be stopped either by quitting \fByacas\fR or by an explicit option \fByacas_client\fR \-stop, in which case \fByacas_client\fR does not read standard input. .PP The script \fByacas_client\fR reads standard input and writes to standard output, so it can be used via remote shell execution. For instance, if an account "user" on a remote computer "remote.host" is accessible through ssh, then \fByacas_client\fR can be used remotely like this: .PP .nf echo "x:=2;" | ssh user@remote.host yacas_client .fi .PP .PP On a given host computer running the "Yacas server", each user currently may have only one persistent Yacas session. .SH "SEE ALSO" .PP \fI/usr/share/yacas/documentation/books.html (link to URL file:/usr/share/yacas/documentation/books.html) \fR or \fIhttp://www.xs4all.nl/~apinkus/manindex.html (link to URL http://www.xs4all.nl/~apinkus/manindex.html) \fR for more information. .SH "AUTHOR" .PP \fByacas\fR was written by Ayal Pinkus (apinkus@xs4all.nl). \fByacas\fR is available at \fIhttp://www.xs4all.nl/~apinkus/yacas.html (link to URL http://www.xs4all.nl/~apinkus/yacas.html) \fR. .PP This manual page was written by Gopal Narayanan (gopal@debian.org) for the \fBDebian GNU/Linux\fP system (but may be used by others). .\" created by instant / docbook-to-man, Tue 07 May 2013, 19:32