1calc(1) General Commands Manual calc(1)
2
6 calc - arbitrary precision calculator
7
9 calc [-c] [-C] [-d]
10 [-D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]]
11 [-e] [-h] [-i] [-m mode] [-O]
12 [-p] [-q] [-s] [-u] [-v] [[--] calc_cmd ...]
13 #!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -f
15
17 CALC OPTIONS
19 -c Continue reading command lines even after a scan/parse error has
21 caused the abandonment of a line. Note that this option only
22 deals with scanning and parsing of the calc language. It does
23 not deal with execution or run-time errors.
24 For example:
26 calc read many_errors.cal
28 will cause calc to abort on the first syntax error, whereas:
30 calc -c read many_errors.cal
32 will cause calc to try to process each line being read despite
34 the scan/parse errors that it encounters.
35 By default, calc startup resource files are silently ignored if
37 not found. This flag will report missing startup resource files
38 unless -d is also given.
39 -C Permit the execution of custom builtin functions. Without this
42 flag, calling the custom() builtin function will simply generate
43 an error.
44 Use of this flag may cause calc to execute functions that are
46 non-standard and that are not portable. Custom builtin func‐
47 tions are disabled by default for this reason.
48 -d Disable the printing of the opening title. The printing of
51 resource file debug and informational messages is also disabled
52 as if config("resource_debug", 0) had been executed.
53 For example:
55 calc "read qtime; qtime(2)"
57 will output something like:
59 qtime(utc_hr_offset) defined
61 It's nearly ten past six.
62 whereas:
64 calc -d "read qtime; qtime(2)"
66 will just print:
68 It's nearly ten past six.
70 This flag disables the reporting of missing calc startup
72 resource files.
73 This flag also disables the printing the leading tilde. For
76 example:
77 calc 2/3
79 will print:
81 ~0.66666666666666666667
83 whereas:
86 calc -d 2/3
88 will just print:
90 0.66666666666666666667
92 -D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]
96 Force the initial value of config("calc_debug"), con‐
97 fig("resource_debug") and config("user_debug").
98 The : separated strings are interpreted as signed 32 bit inte‐
100 gers. After an optional leading sign a leading zero indicates
101 octal conversion, and a leading ``0x'' or ``0X'' hexadecimal
102 conversion. Otherwise, decimal conversion is assumed.
103 By default, calc_debug is 0, resource_debug is 3 and user_debug
105 is 0.
106 For more information use the following calc command:
108 help config
110 -e Ignore any environment variables on startup. The getenv()
113 builtin will still return values, however.
114 -f This flag is required when using calc in shell script mode. It
117 must be at the end of the initial #! line of the script.
118 This flag is normally only at the end of a calc shell script.
120 If the first line of an executable file begins #! followed by
121 the absolute pathname of the calc program and the flag -f as in:
122 #!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -f
124 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode.
126 See SHELL SCRIPT MODE section of this man page below for
127 details.
128 The actual form of this flag is:
130 -f filename
132 On systems that treat an executable that begins with #! as a
134 script, the path of the executable is appended by the kernel as
135 the final argument to the exec() system call. This is why the
136 -f flag at the very end of the #! line.
137 It is possible use -f filename on the command line:
139 calc [other_flags ...] -f filename
141 This will cause calc to process lines in filename in shell
143 script mode.
144 Use of -f implies -s. In addition, -d and -p are implied if -i
146 is not given.
147 -h Print a help message. This option implies -q. This is equiva‐
150 lent to the calc command help help. The help facility is dis‐
151 abled unless the mode is 5 or 7. See -m.
152 -i Become interactive if possible. This flag will cause calc to
155 drop into interactive mode after the calc_cmd arguments on the
156 command line are evaluated. Without this flag, calc will exit
157 after they are evaluated.
158 For example:
160 calc 2+5
162 will print the value 7 and exit whereas:
164 calc -i 2+5
166 will print the value 7 and prompt the user for more calc com‐
168 mands.
169 -m mode
172 This flag sets the permission mode of calc. It controls the
173 ability for calc to open files and execute programs. Mode may
174 be a number from 0 to 7.
175 The mode value is interpreted in a way similar to that of the
177 chmod(1) octal mode:
178 0 do not open any file, do not execute progs
180 1 do not open any file
181 2 do not open files for reading, do not execute progs
182 3 do not open files for reading
183 4 do not open files for writing, do not execute progs
184 5 do not open files for writing
185 6 do not execute any program
186 7 allow everything (default mode)
187 If one wished to run calc from a privileged user, one might want
189 to use -m 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure.
190 Mode bits for reading and writing apply only on an open. Files
192 already open are not effected. Thus if one wanted to use the -m
193 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure, but still
194 wanted to read and write a specific file, one might want to do
195 in sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells:
196 calc -m 0 3<a.file
198 Files presented to calc in this way are opened in an unknown
200 mode. Calc will attempt to read or write them if directed.
201 If the mode disables opening of files for reading, then the
203 startup resource files are disabled as if -q was given. The
204 reading of key bindings is also disabled when the mode disables
205 opening of files for reading.
206 -O Use the old classic defaults instead of the default configura‐
209 tion. This flag as the same effect as executing config("all",
210 "oldcfg") at startup time.
211 NOTE: Older versions of calc used -n to setup a modified form of
213 the default calc configuration. The -n flag currently does
214 nothing. Use of the -n flag is now deprecated and may be used
215 for something else in the future.
216 -p Pipe processing is enabled by use of -p. For example:
219 calc -p "2^21701-1" | fizzbin
221 In pipe mode, calc does not prompt, does not print leading tabs
223 and does not print the initial header. The -p flag overrides
224 -i.
225 -q Disable the reading of the startup scripts.
228 -s By default, all calc_cmd args are evaluated and executed. This
231 flag will disable their evaluation and instead make them avail‐
232 able as strings for the argv() builtin function.
233 -u Disable buffering of stdin and stdout.
236 -v Print the calc version number and exit.
239 -- The double dash indicates to calc that no more option follow.
242 Thus calc will ignore a later argument on the command line even
243 if it starts with a dash. This is useful when entering negative
244 values on the command line as in:
245 calc -p -- -1 - -7
247 CALC COMMAND LINE
252 With no calc_cmd arguments, calc operates interactively. If one or
254 more arguments are given on the command line and -s is NOT given, then
255 calc will read and execute them and either attempt to go interactive
256 according as the -i flag was present or absent.
257 If -s is given, calc will not evaluate any calc_cmd arguments but
259 instead make them available as strings to the argv() builtin function.
260 Sufficiently simple commands with no no characters like parentheses,
262 brackets, semicolons, '*', which have special interpretations in UNIX
263 shells may be entered, possibly with spaces, until the terminating new‐
264 line. For example:
265 calc 23 + 47
267 will print 70. However, command lines will have problems:
269 calc 23 * 47
271 calc -23 + 47
273 The first example above fails because the shell interprets the '*' as a
275 file glob. The second example fails because '-23' is viewed as a calc
276 option (which it is not) and do calc objects to that it thinks of as an
277 unknown option. These cases can usually be made to work as expected by
278 enclosing the command between quotes:
279 calc '23 * 47'
281 calc "print sqrt(2), exp(1)"
283 or in parentheses and quotes to avoid leading -'s as in:
285 calc '(-23 + 47)'
287 One may also use a double dash to denote that calc options have ended
289 as in:
290 calc -- -23 + 47
292 calc -q -- -23 + 47
294 If '!' is to be used to indicate the factorial function, for shells
296 like csh[4m(1) for which '!' followed by a non-space character is used for
297 history substitution, it may be necessary to include a space or use a
298 backslash to escape the special meaning of '!'. For example, the com‐
299 mand:
300 print 27!^2
302 may have to be replaced by:
304 print 27! ^2 or print 27^2
306 Reading from standard input when calc is part of a pipe works as long
308 as the -p flag is given to calc. For example, this will print chongo
309 was here:
310 echo chongo was here | calc -p 'print fgetline(files(0));'
312 while this does not:
315 echo chongo was here | calc 'print fgetline(files(0));'
317 nor will this print chongo was here:
320 echo chongo was here | calc -i 'print fgetline(files(0));'
322 This is because without -p, the interactive parser, in an effort to
325 parse interactive commands, flushes data on standard input.
326 CALC STARTUP FILES
330 Normally on startup, if the environment variable $CALCRC is undefined
332 and calc is invoked without the -q flag, or if $CALCRC is defined and
333 calc is invoked with -e, calc looks for a file "startup" in the calc
334 resource directory .calcrc in the user's home directory, and .calcinit
335 in the current directory. If one or more of these are found, they are
336 read in succession as calc scripts and their commands executed. When
337 defined, $CALCRC is to contain a ':' separated list of names of files,
338 and if calc is then invoked without either the -q or -e flags, these
339 files are read in succession and their commands executed. No error
340 condition is produced if a listed file is not found.
341 If the mode specified by -m disables opening of files for reading, then
343 the reading of startup files is also disabled as if -q was given.
344 CALC FILE SEARCH PATH
347 If the environment variable $CALCPATH is undefined, or if it is defined
349 and calc is invoked with the -e flag, when a file name not beginning
350 with /, ~ or ./, is specified as in:
351 calc read myfile
353 calc searches in succession:
355 ./myfile
357 ./myfile.cal
358 /usr/lib64/myfile
359 /usr/lib64/myfile.cal
360 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile
361 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile.cal
362 If the file is found, the search stops and the commands in the file are
364 executed. It is an error if no readable file with the specified name
365 is found. An alternative search path can be specified by defining
366 $CALCPATH in the same way as PATH is defined, as a ':' separated list
367 of directories, and then invoking calc without the -e flag.
368 Calc treats all open files, other than stdin, stdout and stderr as
370 files available for reading and writing. One may present calc with an
371 already open file using sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells is to:
372 calc 3<open_file 4<open_file2
374 For more information use the following calc commands:
376 help help
378 help overview
379 help usage
380 help environment
381 help config
382 SHELL SCRIPT MODE
386 If the first line of an executable file begins #! followed by the
388 absolute pathname of the calc program and the flag -f as in:
389 #!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -f
391 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode. Note that
393 -f must at the end of the initial ``#!'' line. Any other optional
394 other_flags must come before the -f.
395 In shell script mode the contents of the file are read and executed as
397 if they were in a file being processed by a read command, except that a
398 "command" beginning with '#' followed by whitespace and ending at the
399 next newline is treated as a comment. Any optional other_flags will be
400 parsed first followed by the later lines within the script itself.
401 In shell script mode, -s is always assumed. In addition, -d and -p are
403 automatically set if -i is not given.
404 For example, if the file /tmp/mersenne:
406 #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f
408 #
409 # mersenne - an example of a calc shell script file
410 /* parse args */
412 if (argv() != 1) {
413 fprintf(files(2), "usage: %s exp\n", config("program"));
414 abort "must give one exponent arg";
415 }
416 /* print the mersenne number */
418 print "2^": argv(0) : "-1 =", 2^eval(argv(0))-1;
419 is made an executable file by:
421 chmod +x /tmp/mersenne
423 then the command line:
425 /tmp/mersenne 127
427 will print:
429 2^127-1 = 170141183460469231731687303715884105727
431 Note that because -s is assumed in shell script mode and non-dashed
433 args are made available as strings via the argv() builtin function.
434 Therefore:
435 2^eval(argv(0))-1
437 will print the decimal value of 2^n-1 but
439 2^argv(0)-1
441 will not.
443 DATA TYPES
446 Fundamental builtin data types include integers, real numbers, rational
448 numbers, complex numbers and strings.
449 By use of an object, one may define an arbitrarily complex data types.
451 One may define how such objects behave a wide range of operations such
452 as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, negation, squaring,
453 modulus, rounding, exponentiation, equality, comparison, printing and
454 so on.
455 For more information use the following calc commands:
457 help types
459 help obj
460 show objfuncs
461 VARIABLES
464 Variables in calc are typeless. In other words, the fundamental type
466 of a variable is determined by its content. Before a variable is
467 assigned a value it has the value of zero.
468 The scope of a variable may be global, local to a file, or local to a
470 procedure. Values may be grouped together in a matrix, or into a a
471 list that permits stack and queue style operations.
472 For more information use the following calc commands:
474 help variable
476 help mat
477 help list
478 show globals
479 INPUT/OUTPUT
482 A leading ``0x'' implies a hexadecimal value, a leading ``0b'' implies
484 a binary value, and a ``0'' followed by a digit implies an octal value.
485 Complex numbers are indicated by a trailing ``i'' such as in ``3+4i''.
486 Strings may be delimited by either a pair of single or double quotes.
487 By default, calc prints values as if they were floating point numbers.
488 One may change the default to print values in a number of modes includ‐
489 ing fractions, integers and exponentials.
490 A number of stdio-like file I/O operations are provided. One may open,
492 read, write, seek and close files. Filenames are subject to `` ''
493 expansion to home directories in a way similar to that of the Korn or
494 C-Shell.
495 For example:
497 ~/.calcrc
499 ~chongo/lib/fft_multiply.cal
500 For more information use the following calc command:
502 help file
504 CALC LANGUAGE
507 The calc language is a C-like language. The language includes commands
509 such as variable declarations, expressions, tests, labels, loops, file
510 operations, function calls. These commands are very similar to their
511 counterparts in C.
512 The language also include a number of commands particular to calc
514 itself. These include commands such as function definition, help,
515 reading in resource files, dump files to a file, error notification,
516 configuration control and status.
517 For more information use the following calc command:
519 help command
521 help statement
522 help expression
523 help operator
524 help config
525
527 /usr/bin/calc
529 calc binary
530 /usr/share/calc/cscript/*
532 calc shell scripts
533 /usr/lib64/*.cal
535 calc standard resource files
536 /usr/lib64/help/*
538 help files
539 /usr/lib64/bindings
541 non-GNU-readline command line editor bindings
542 /usr/include/calc/*.h
544 include files for C interface use
545 /usr/lib64/libcalc.a
547 calc binary link library
548 /usr/lib64/libcustcalc.a
550 custom binary link library
551 /usr/share/calc/custom/*.cal
553 custom resource files
554 /usr/share/calc/custhelp/*
556 custom help files
557
559 CALCPATH
561 A :-separated list of directories used to search for calc resource
562 filenames that do not begin with /, ./ or ~.
563 Default value: .:./cal:~/.cal:/usr/share/calc
565 CALCRC
567 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line), calc
568 searches for files along this :-separated environment variable.
569 Default value: /usr/share/calc/startup:~/.calcrc:./.calcinit
571 CALCBINDINGS
573 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line, or -m
574 disallows opening files for reading), calc reads key bindings from
575 the filename specified by this environment variable. The key
576 binding file is searched for along the $CALCPATH list of directo‐
577 ries.
578 Default value: binding
580 This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline
582 support. In that case, the standard readline mechanisms (see
583 readline(3)) are used.
584
586 The main chunk of calc was written by David I. Bell.
588 The calc primary mirror, calc mailing list and calc bug report process‐
590 ing is performed by Landon Curt Noll.
591 Landon Curt Noll maintains the master reference source, performs
593 release control functions as well as other calc maintenance functions.
594 Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Jus‐
596 tusson, and Landon Noll.
597 Thanks to Stephen Rothwell for writing the original version of hist.c
599 which is used to do the command line editing.
600 Thanks to Ernest W. Bowen for supplying many improvements in accuracy
602 and generality for some numeric functions. Much of this was in terms
603 of actual code which I gratefully accepted. Ernest also supplied the
604 original text for many of the help files.
605 Portions of this program are derived from an earlier set of public
607 domain arbitrarily precision routines which was posted to the net
608 around 1984. By now, there is almost no recognizable code left from
609 that original source.
610
612 Calc is open software, and is covered under version 2 of the GNU Gen‐
615 eral Public License. You are welcome to change it and/or distribute
616 copies of it under certain conditions. The calc commands:
617 help copyright
619 help copying
620 help copying-gpl
621 should display the contents of the COPYING and COPYING-GPL files.
623 Those files contain information about the calc's GNU General Public
624 License, and in particular the conditions under which you are allowed
625 to change it and/or distribute copies of it.
626 You should have received a copy of the version 2 of the GNU General
628 Public License. If you do not have these files, write to:
629 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
631 51 Franklin Street
632 Fifth Floor
633 Boston, MA 02110-1301
634 USA
635 Calc is copyrighted in several different ways. These ways include:
637 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell
639 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Landon Curt Noll
640 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Ernest Bowen
641 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell, Landon Curt Noll and Ernest Bowen
642 Copyright (C) year Landon Curt Noll
643 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen and Landon Curt Noll
644 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen
645 This man page is:
647 Copyright (C) 1999 Landon Curt Noll
649 and is covered under version 2 GNU General Public License.
651
653 To contribute comments, suggestions, enhancements and interesting calc
656 resource files, and shell scripts please join the calc-tester low vol‐
657 ume moderated calc mailing list.
658 To the calc-tester mailing list, visit the following URL:
660 https://www.listbox.com/subscribe/?list_id=239342
662 To help determine you are a human and not just a spam bot, you will be
664 required to provide the following additional information:
665 Your Name
667 Calc Version
669 For example, the current version is: 2.12.7.2
670 Operating System
672 If you don't know your operating system, enter: unknown
673 The date 7 days ago
675 Consult a calendar :-)
676 If you need a human to help you with your mailing list subscription, or
678 if you have problems with the above procedure, please send EMail to our
679 special address:
680 calc-tester-maillist-help at asthe dot com
682 NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
684 NOTE: Yes, the EMail address uses 'asthe',
686 while the web site uses 'isthe'.
687 To be sure we see your EMail asking for help with your mailing list
689 subscription, please use the following phase in your EMail Subject line
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691 calc tester mailing list help
693 You may have additional words in your subject line.
695
697 Send bug reports and bug fixes to:
700 calc-bug-report at asthe dot com
702 NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
704 NOTE: Yes, the EMail address uses 'asthe',
706 while the web site uses 'isthe'.
707 Your subject must contain the words:
709 calc bug report
711 You may have additional words in your subject line.
713 However, you may find it more helpful to simply subscribe to the
714 calc-tester mailing list (see above) and then to send your report
715 to that mailing list as a wider set calc testers may be able to
716 help you.
717 See the BUGS source file or use the calc command:
719 help bugs
721 for more information about bug reporting.
723
725 Landon Noll maintains the calc web site is located at:
727 www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/
729 Share and Enjoy! :-)
7312007-02-06 ^..^ calc(1)