NAME¶
calc - arbitrary precision calculator
SYNOPSIS¶
calc [
-c] [
-C] [
-d]
[
-D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]]
[
-e] [
-h] [
-i] [
-m mode] [
-O]
[
-p] [
-q] [
-s] [
-u] [
-v]
[
[--] calc_cmd ...]
#!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...]
-f
DESCRIPTION¶
CALC OPTIONS
- -c
- Continue reading command lines even after a scan/parse
error has caused the abandonment of a line. Note that this option only
deals with scanning and parsing of the calc language. It does not deal
with execution or run-time errors.
For example:
calc read many_errors.cal
will cause calc to abort on the first syntax error, whereas:
calc -c read many_errors.cal
will cause calc to try to process each line being read despite the
scan/parse errors that it encounters.
By default, calc startup resource files are silently ignored if not found.
This flag will report missing startup resource files unless -d is
also given.
- -C
- Permit the execution of custom builtin functions. Without
this flag, calling the custom() builtin function will simply generate an
error.
Use of this flag may cause calc to execute functions that are
non-standard and that are not portable. Custom builtin functions are
disabled by default for this reason.
- -d
- Disable the printing of the opening title. The printing of
resource file debug and informational messages is also disabled as if
config("resource_debug", 0) had been executed.
For example:
calc "read qtime; qtime(2)"
will output something like:
qtime(utc_hr_offset) defined
It's nearly ten past six.
whereas:
calc -d "read qtime; qtime(2)"
will just say:
It's nearly ten past six.
This flag disables the reporting of missing calc startup resource files.
- -D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]
- Force the initial value of config("calc_debug"),
config("resource_debug") and config("user_debug").
The : separated strings are interpreted as signed 32 bit integers. After an
optional leading sign a leading zero indicates octal conversion, and a
leading ``0x'' or ``0X'' hexadecimal conversion. Otherwise, decimal
conversion is assumed.
By default, calc_debug is 0, resource_debug is 3 and
user_debug is 0.
For more information use the following calc command:
help config
- -e
- Ignore any environment variables on startup. The getenv()
builtin will still return values, however.
- -f
- This flag is required when using calc in shell script
mode. It must be at the end of the initial #! line of the
script.
This flag is normally only at the end of a calc shell script. If the first
line of an executable file begins #! followed by the absolute
pathname of the calc program and the flag -f as in:
#!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -f
the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode. See
SHELL SCRIPT MODE section of this man page below for details.
The actual form of this flag is:
-f filename
On systems that treat an executable that begins with #! as a script,
the path of the executable is appended by the kernel as the final argument
to the exec() system call. This is why the -f flag at the very end
of the #! line.
It is possible use -f filename on the command line:
calc [other_flags ...] -f filename
This will cause calc to process lines in filename in shell script
mode.
Use of -f implies -s. In addition, -d and -p are
implied if -i is not given.
- -h
- Print a help message. This option implies -q. This
is equivalent to the calc command help help. The help facility is
disabled unless the mode is 5 or 7. See -m.
- -i
- Become interactive if possible. This flag will cause
calc to drop into interactive mode after the calc_cmd
arguments on the command line are evaluated. Without this flag,
calc will exit after they are evaluated.
For example:
calc 2+5
will print the value 7 and exit whereas:
calc -i 2+5
will print the value 7 and prompt the user for more calc commands.
- -m mode
- This flag sets the permission mode of calc. It
controls the ability for calc to open files and execute programs.
Mode may be a number from 0 to 7.
The mode value is interpreted in a way similar to that of the
chmod(1) octal mode:
0 do not open any file, do not execute progs
1 do not open any file
2 do not open files for reading, do not execute progs
3 do not open files for reading
4 do not open files for writing, do not execute progs
5 do not open files for writing
6 do not execute any program
7 allow everything (default mode)
If one wished to run calc from a privileged user, one might want to
use -m 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure.
Mode bits for reading and writing apply only on an open. Files already open
are not effected. Thus if one wanted to use the -m 0 in an effort
to make calc somewhat more secure, but still wanted to read and
write a specific file, one might want to do in sh(1),
ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells:
calc -m 0 3<a.file
Files presented to calc in this way are opened in an unknown mode.
Calc will attempt to read or write them if directed.
If the mode disables opening of files for reading, then the startup resource
files are disabled as if -q was given. The reading of key bindings
is also disabled when the mode disables opening of files for reading.
- -O
- Use the old classic defaults instead of the default
configuration. This flag as the same effect as executing
config("all", "oldcfg") at startup time.
NOTE: Older versions of calc used -n to setup a modified form of the
default calc configuration. The -n flag currently does nothing. Use
of the -n flag is now deprecated and may be used for something else
in the future.
- -p
- Pipe processing is enabled by use of -p. For
example:
calc -p "2^21701-1" | fizzbin
In pipe mode, calc does not prompt, does not print leading tabs and
does not print the initial header. The -p flag overrides -i.
- -q
- Disable the reading of the startup scripts.
- -s
- By default, all calc_cmd args are evaluated and
executed. This flag will disable their evaluation and instead make them
available as strings for the argv() builtin function.
- -u
- Disable buffering of stdin and stdout.
- -v
- Print the calc version number and exit.
- --
- The double dash indicates to calc that no more options
follow. Thus calc will ignore a later argument on the command line even if
it starts with a dash. This is useful when entering negative values on the
command line as in:
calc -p -- -1 - -7
CALC COMMAND LINE
With no
calc_cmd arguments,
calc operates interactively. If one or
more arguments are given on the command line and
-s is NOT given, then
calc will read and execute them and either attempt to go interactive
according as the
-i flag was present or absent.
If
-s is given,
calc will not evaluate any
calc_cmd
arguments but instead make them available as strings to the argv() builtin
function.
Sufficiently simple commands with no characters like parentheses, brackets,
semicolons, '*', which have special interpretations in UNIX shells may be
entered, possibly with spaces, until the terminating newline. For example:
calc 23 + 47
will print 70. However, command lines will have problems:
calc 23 * 47
calc -23 + 47
The first example above fails because the shell interprets the '*' as a file
glob. The second example fails because '-23' is viewed as a calc option (which
it is not) and do calc objects to that it thinks of as an unknown option.
These cases can usually be made to work as expected by enclosing the command
between quotes:
calc '23 * 47'
calc "print sqrt(2), exp(1)"
or in parentheses and quotes to avoid leading -'s as in:
calc '(-23 + 47)'
One may also use a double dash to denote that calc options have ended as in:
calc -- -23 + 47
calc -q -- -23 + 47
If '!' is to be used to indicate the factorial function, for shells like
csh(1) for which '!' followed by a non-space character is used
for history substitution, it may be necessary to include a space or use a
backslash to escape the special meaning of '!'. For example, the command:
print 27!^2
may have to be replaced by:
print 27! ^2 or print 27!^2
CALC STARTUP FILES
Normally on startup, if the environment variable
$CALCRC is undefined and
calc is invoked without the
-q flag, or if
$CALCRC is
defined and calc is invoked with
-e,
calc looks for a file
"startup" in the calc resource directory
.calcrc in the
user's home directory, and
.calcinit in the current directory. If one
or more of these are found, they are read in succession as
calc scripts
and their commands executed. When defined,
$CALCRC is to contain a ':'
separated list of names of files, and if calc is then invoked without either
the
-q or
-e flags, these files are read in succession and their
commands executed. No error condition is produced if a listed file is not
found.
If the mode specified by
-m disables opening of files for reading, then
the reading of startup files is also disabled as if
-q was given.
CALC FILE SEARCH PATH
If the environment variable
$CALCPATH is undefined, or if it is defined
and
calc is invoked with the
-e flag, when a file name not
beginning with
/,
~ or
./, is specified as in:
calc read myfile
calc searches in succession:
./myfile
./myfile.cal
/usr/lib/myfile
/usr/lib/myfile.cal
/usr/share/calc/custom/myfile
/usr/share/calc/custom/myfile.cal
If the file is found, the search stops and the commands in the file are
executed. It is an error if no readable file with the specified name is found.
An alternative search path can be specified by defining
$CALCPATH in
the same way as PATH is defined, as a ':' separated list of directories, and
then invoking
calc without the
-e flag.
Calc treats all open files, other than stdin, stdout and stderr as files
available for reading and writing. One may present
calc with an already
open file using
sh(1),
ksh(1),
bash(1)-like shells is to:
calc 3<open_file 4<open_file2
For more information use the following
calc commands:
help help
help overview
help usage
help environment
help config
SHELL SCRIPT MODE
If the first line of an executable file begins
#! followed by the
absolute pathname of the
calc program and the flag
-f as in:
#!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -f
the rest of the file will be processed in
shell script mode. Note that
-f must be at the end of the initial ``#!'' line. Any other optional
other_flags must come before the
-f.
In
shell script mode the contents of the file are read and executed as if
they were in a file being processed by a read command, except that a
"command" beginning with '#' followed by whitespace and ending at
the next newline is treated as a comment. Any optional
other_flags will
be parsed first followed by the later lines within the script itself.
In
shell script mode,
-s is always assumed. In addition,
-d
and
-p are automatically set if
-i is not given.
For example, if the file
/tmp/mersenne:
#!/usr/bin/calc -q -f
#
# mersenne - an example of a calc shell script file
/* parse args */
if (argv() != 1) {
fprintf(files(2), "usage: %s exp\n", config("program"));
abort "must give one exponent arg";
}
/* print the mersenne number */
print "2^": argv(0) : "-1 =", 2^eval(argv(0))-1;
is made an executable file by:
chmod +x /tmp/mersenne
then the command line:
/tmp/mersenne 127
will print:
2^127-1 = 170141183460469231731687303715884105727
Note that because
-s is assumed in
shell script mode and
non-dashed args are made available as strings via the
argv() builtin
function. Therefore:
2^eval(argv(0))-1
will print the decimal value of 2^n-1 but
2^argv(0)-1
will not.
DATA TYPES
Fundamental builtin data types include integers, real numbers, rational numbers,
complex numbers and strings.
By use of an object, one may define an arbitrarily complex data types. One may
define how such objects behave a wide range of operations such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, negation, squaring, modulus, rounding,
exponentiation, equality, comparison, printing and so on.
For more information use the following
calc commands:
help types
help obj
show objfuncs
VARIABLES
Variables in
calc are typeless. In other words, the fundamental type of a
variable is determined by its content. Before a variable is assigned a value
it has the value of zero.
The scope of a variable may be global, local to a file, or local to a procedure.
Values may be grouped together in a matrix, or into a list that permits stack
and queue style operations.
For more information use the following
calc commands:
help variable
help mat
help list
show globals
INPUT/OUTPUT
A leading ``0x'' implies a hexadecimal value, a leading ``0b'' implies a binary
value, and a ``0'' followed by a digit implies an octal value. Complex numbers
are indicated by a trailing ``i'' such as in ``3+4i''. Strings may be
delimited by either a pair of single or double quotes. By default,
calc
prints values as if they were floating point numbers. One may change the
default to print values in a number of modes including fractions, integers and
exponentials.
A number of stdio-like file I/O operations are provided. One may open, read,
write, seek and close files. Filenames are subject to `` '' expansion to
home directories in a way similar to that of the Korn or C-Shell.
For example:
~/.calcrc
~chongo/lib/fft_multiply.cal
For more information use the following
calc command:
help file
CALC LANGUAGE
The
calc language is a C-like language. The language includes commands
such as variable declarations, expressions, tests, labels, loops, file
operations, function calls. These commands are very similar to their
counterparts in C.
The language also include a number of commands particular to
calc itself.
These include commands such as function definition, help, reading in resource
files, dump files to a file, error notification, configuration control and
status.
For more information use the following
calc command:
help command
help statement
help expression
help operator
help config
FILES¶
- /usr/bin/calc
- calc binary
- /usr/share/doc/apcalc/examples/*
- calc shell scripts
- /usr/lib/*.cal
- calc standard resource files
- /usr/lib/help/*
- help files
- /usr/lib/bindings
- non-GNU-readline command line editor bindings
- /usr/include/calc/*.h
- include files for C interface use
- /usr/lib/libcalc.a
- calc binary link library
- /usr/lib/libcustcalc.a
- custom binary link library
- /usr/share/calc/custom/*.cal
- custom resource files
- /usr/share/calc/custhelp/*
- custom help files
ENVIRONMENT¶
- CALCPATH
- A :-separated list of directories used to search for calc
resource filenames that do not begin with /, ./ or ~.
Default value:
.:./cal:~/.cal:/usr/local/share/calc:/usr/share/calc:/usr/share/calc/custom
- CALCRC
- On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line),
calc searches for files along this :-separated environment
variable.
Default value:
/usr/share/calc/startup:/usr/local/share/calc/startup:~/.calcrc:./.calcinit
- CALCBINDINGS
- On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the
command line, or -m disallows opening files for reading),
calc reads key bindings from the filename specified by this
environment variable. The key binding file is searched for along the
$CALCPATH list of directories.
Default value: binding
This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline support. In
that case, the standard readline mechanisms (see readline(3)) are used.
CREDIT¶
The main chunk of
calc was written by David I. Bell.
The
calc primary mirror, calc mailing list and calc bug report processing
is performed by Landon Curt Noll.
Landon Curt Noll maintains the master reference source, performs release control
functions as well as other calc maintenance functions.
Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Justusson, and
Landon Noll.
Thanks to Stephen Rothwell for writing the original version of hist.c which is
used to do the command line editing.
Thanks to Ernest W. Bowen for supplying many improvements in accuracy and
generality for some numeric functions. Much of this was in terms of actual
code which I gratefully accepted. Ernest also supplied the original text for
many of the help files.
Portions of this program are derived from an earlier set of public domain
arbitrarily precision routines which was posted to the net around 1984. By
now, there is almost no recognizable code left from that original source.
COPYING / CALC GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE¶
Calc is open software, and is covered under version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser
General Public License. You are welcome to change it and/or distribute copies
of it under certain conditions. The calc commands:
help copyright
help copying
help copying-lgpl
should display the contents of the COPYING and COPYING-LGPL files. Those files
contain information about the calc's GNU Lesser General Public License, and in
particular the conditions under which you are allowed to change it and/or
distribute copies of it.
You should have received a copy of the version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser General
Public License. If you do not have these files, write to:
Free Software Foundation, Inc.
51 Franklin Street
Fifth Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1301
USA
Calc is copyrighted in several different ways. These ways include:
Copyright (C) year David I. Bell
Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Landon Curt Noll
Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Ernest Bowen
Copyright (C) year David I. Bell, Landon Curt Noll and Ernest Bowen
Copyright (C) year Landon Curt Noll
Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen and Landon Curt Noll
Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen
This man page is:
Copyright (C) 1999 Landon Curt Noll
and is covered under version 2.1 GNU Lesser General Public License.
CALC MAILING LIST / CALC UPDATES / ENHANCEMENTS¶
To contribute comments, suggestions, enhancements and interesting
calc
resource files, and shell scripts please join the low volume calc mailing
list.
To join the low volume calc mailing list, send EMail to:
calc-tester-request at asthe dot com
Your subject must contain the words:
calc mailing list subscription
You may have additional words in your subject line.
Your message body must contain:
subscribe calc-tester address
end
name your_full_name
where
address s your EMail address and
your_full_name is your full
name. Feel free to follow the
name line with additional EMail text as
desired.
BUG REPORTS / BUG FIXES¶
Send bug reports and bug fixes to:
calc-bugs at asthe dot com
[[ NOTE: Replace 'at' with @, 'dot' is with . and remove the spaces ]]
[[ NOTE: The EMail address uses 'asthe' and the web site URL uses 'isthe' ]]
Your subject must contain the words:
calc bug report
You may have additional words in your subject line.
See the
BUGS source file or use the
calc command:
help bugs
for more information about bug reporting.
CALC WEB SITE¶
Landon Noll maintains the
calc web site is located at:
www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/
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