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 ...] -s -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 re‐
51 source file debug and informational messages is also disabled as
52 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 re‐
72 source files.
73 This flag also disables the printing the leading tilde. For ex‐
76 ample:
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"), config("re‐
97 source_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 normally only with calc shell scripts.
117 This flag is required when using calc in shell script mode. It
119 must be at the end of the initial #! line of the script and
120 must be immediately preceded by the -s flag.
121 If the first line of an executable file begins #! followed by
123 the absolute pathname of the calc program and if the first line
124 ends with the two flags -s -f as in:
125 #!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -s -f
127 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode.
129 See SHELL SCRIPT MODE section of this man page below for de‐
130 tails.
131 The actual form of this flag is:
133 -f filename
135 On systems that treat an executable that begins with #! as a
137 script, the path of the executable is appended by the kernel as
138 the final argument to the exec() system call. This is why the
139 -f flag at the very end of the #! line.
140 It is possible use -f filename on the command line:
142 calc [other_flags ...] -s -f filename
144 This will cause calc to process lines in filename in shell
146 script mode.
147 Use of -f implies -s. However in a calc shell script, one must
149 include -f before -s on the initial #! line.
150 In addition, -d and -p are implied if -i is not given.
153 -h Print a help message. This option implies -q. This is equiva‐
156 lent to the calc command help help. The help facility is dis‐
157 abled unless the mode is 5 or 7. See -m.
158 -i Become interactive if possible. This flag will cause calc to
161 drop into interactive mode after the calc_cmd arguments on the
162 command line are evaluated. Without this flag, calc will exit
163 after they are evaluated.
164 For example:
166 calc 2+5
168 will print the value 7 and exit whereas:
170 calc -i 2+5
172 will print the value 7 and prompt the user for more calc com‐
174 mands.
175 -m mode
178 This flag sets the permission mode of calc. It controls the
179 ability for calc to open files and execute programs. Mode may
180 be a number from 0 to 7.
181 The mode value is interpreted in a way similar to that of the
183 chmod(1) octal mode:
184 0 do not open any file, do not execute progs
186 1 do not open any file
187 2 do not open files for reading, do not execute progs
188 3 do not open files for reading
189 4 do not open files for writing, do not execute progs
190 5 do not open files for writing
191 6 do not execute any program
192 7 allow everything (default mode)
193 If one wished to run calc from a privileged user, one might want
195 to use -m 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure.
196 Mode bits for reading and writing apply only on an open. Files
198 already open are not effected. Thus if one wanted to use the -m
199 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure, but still
200 wanted to read and write a specific file, one might want to do
201 in sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells:
202 calc -m 0 3<a.file
204 Files presented to calc in this way are opened in an unknown
206 mode. Calc will attempt to read or write them if directed.
207 If the mode disables opening of files for reading, then the
209 startup resource files are disabled as if -q was given. The
210 reading of key bindings is also disabled when the mode disables
211 opening of files for reading.
212 -O Use the old classic defaults instead of the default configura‐
215 tion. This flag as the same effect as executing config("all",
216 "oldcfg") at startup time.
217 NOTE: Older versions of calc used -n to setup a modified form of
219 the default calc configuration. The -n flag currently does
220 nothing. Use of the -n flag is now deprecated and may be used
221 for something else in the future.
222 -p Pipe processing is enabled by use of -p. For example:
225 calc -p "2^21701-1" | fizzbin
227 In pipe mode, calc does not prompt, does not print leading tabs
229 and does not print the initial header. The -p flag overrides
230 -i.
231 -q Disable the reading of the startup scripts.
234 -s By default, all calc_cmd args are evaluated and executed. This
237 flag will disable their evaluation and instead make them avail‐
238 able as strings for the argv() builtin function.
239 -u Disable buffering of stdin and stdout.
242 -v Print the calc version number and exit.
245 -- The double dash indicates to calc that no more option follow.
248 Thus calc will ignore a later argument on the command line even
249 if it starts with a dash. This is useful when entering negative
250 values on the command line as in:
251 calc -p -- -1 - -7
253 CALC COMMAND LINE
258 With no calc_cmd arguments, calc operates interactively. If one or
260 more arguments are given on the command line and -s is NOT given, then
261 calc will read and execute them and either attempt to go interactive
262 according as the -i flag was present or absent.
263 If -s is given, calc will not evaluate any calc_cmd arguments but in‐
265 stead make them available as strings to the argv() builtin function.
266 Sufficiently simple commands with no no characters like parentheses,
268 brackets, semicolons, '*', which have special interpretations in UNIX
269 shells may be entered, possibly with spaces, until the terminating new‐
270 line. For example:
271 calc 23 + 47
273 will print 70. However, command lines will have problems:
275 calc 23 * 47
277 calc -23 + 47
279 The first example above fails because the shell interprets the '*' as a
281 file glob. The second example fails because '-23' is viewed as a calc
282 option (which it is not) and do calc objects to that it thinks of as an
283 unknown option. These cases can usually be made to work as expected by
284 enclosing the command between quotes:
285 calc '23 * 47'
287 calc "print sqrt(2), exp(1)"
289 or in parentheses and quotes to avoid leading -'s as in:
291 calc '(-23 + 47)'
293 One may also use a double dash to denote that calc options have ended
295 as in:
296 calc -- -23 + 47
298 calc -q -- -23 + 47
300 If '!' is to be used to indicate the factorial function, for shells
302 like csh[4m(1) for which '!' followed by a non-space character is used for
303 history substitution, it may be necessary to include a space or use a
304 backslash to escape the special meaning of '!'. For example, the com‐
305 mand:
306 print 27!^2
308 may have to be replaced by:
310 print 27! ^2 or print 27^2
312 Reading from standard input when calc is part of a pipe works as long
314 as the -p flag is given to calc. For example, this will print chongo
315 was here:
316 echo chongo was here | calc -p 'print fgetline(files(0));'
318 while this does not:
321 echo chongo was here | calc 'print fgetline(files(0));'
323 nor will this print chongo was here:
326 echo chongo was here | calc -i 'print fgetline(files(0));'
328 This is because without -p, the interactive parser, in an effort to
331 parse interactive commands, flushes data on standard input.
332 CALC STARTUP FILES
336 Normally on startup, if the environment variable $CALCRC is undefined
338 and calc is invoked without the -q flag, or if $CALCRC is defined and
339 calc is invoked with -e, calc looks for a file "startup" in the calc
340 resource directory .calcrc in the user's home directory, and .calcinit
341 in the current directory. If one or more of these are found, they are
342 read in succession as calc scripts and their commands executed. When
343 defined, $CALCRC is to contain a ':' separated list of names of files,
344 and if calc is then invoked without either the -q or -e flags, these
345 files are read in succession and their commands executed. No error
346 condition is produced if a listed file is not found.
347 If the mode specified by -m disables opening of files for reading, then
349 the reading of startup files is also disabled as if -q was given.
350 CALC FILE SEARCH PATH
353 If the environment variable $CALCPATH is undefined, or if it is defined
355 and calc is invoked with the -e flag, when a file name not beginning
356 with /, ~ or ./, is specified as in:
357 calc read myfile
359 calc searches in succession:
361 ./myfile
363 ./myfile.cal
364 /usr/lib64/myfile
365 /usr/lib64/myfile.cal
366 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile
367 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile.cal
368 If the file is found, the search stops and the commands in the file are
370 executed. It is an error if no readable file with the specified name
371 is found. An alternative search path can be specified by defining
372 $CALCPATH in the same way as PATH is defined, as a ':' separated list
373 of directories, and then invoking calc without the -e flag.
374 Calc treats all open files, other than stdin, stdout and stderr as
376 files available for reading and writing. One may present calc with an
377 already open file using sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells is to:
378 calc 3<open_file 4<open_file2
380 For more information use the following calc commands:
382 help help
384 help overview
385 help usage
386 help environment
387 help config
388 SHELL SCRIPT MODE
392 If the first line of an executable file begins #! followed by the ab‐
394 solute pathname of the calc program and the first line ends with the
395 two flags -s -f as in:
396 #!/usr/bin/calc [other_flags ...] -s -f
398 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode. Note that
400 -s -f must at the end of the initial ``#!'' line. Any other optional
401 other_flags must come before the -s -f.
402 In shell script mode the contents of the file are read and executed as
404 if they were in a file being processed by a read command, except that a
405 "command" beginning with '#' followed by whitespace and ending at the
406 next newline is treated as a comment. Any optional other_flags will be
407 parsed first followed by the later lines within the script itself.
408 In shell script mode, -s is always assumed. In addition, -d and -p are
410 automatically set if -i is not given.
411 For example, if the file /tmp/mersenne:
413 #!/usr/bin/calc -q -s -f
415 /* setup */
417 argc = argv();
418 program = argv(0);
419 stderr = files(2);
420 /* parse args */
422 if (argc != 2) {
423 fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s exp0, program);
424 abort "must give one exponent arg";
425 }
426 exp = eval(argv(1));
427 if (!isint(exp) || exp < 0) {
428 fprintf(stderr, "%s: exp must be non-negative integer0, program);
429 abort "must give one exponent arg";
430 }
431 /* print the mersenne number */
433 print "2^": exp : "-1 =", 2^exp-1;
434 is made an executable file by:
436 chmod +x /tmp/mersenne
438 then the command line:
440 /tmp/mersenne 127
442 will print:
444 2^127-1 = 170141183460469231731687303715884105727
446 Note that because -s is required in shell script mode non-dashed args
448 are made available as strings via the argv() builtin function. There‐
449 fore:
450 2^eval(argv(1))-1
452 will print the decimal value of 2^n-1 whereas
454 2^argv(1)-1
456 will not.
458 DATA TYPES
461 Fundamental builtin data types include integers, real numbers, rational
463 numbers, complex numbers and strings.
464 By use of an object, one may define an arbitrarily complex data types.
466 One may define how such objects behave a wide range of operations such
467 as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, negation, squaring,
468 modulus, rounding, exponentiation, equality, comparison, printing and
469 so on.
470 For more information use the following calc commands:
472 help types
474 help obj
475 show objfuncs
476 VARIABLES
479 Variables in calc are typeless. In other words, the fundamental type
481 of a variable is determined by its content. Before a variable is as‐
482 signed a value it has the value of zero.
483 The scope of a variable may be global, local to a file, or local to a
485 procedure. Values may be grouped together in a matrix, or into a a
486 list that permits stack and queue style operations.
487 For more information use the following calc commands:
489 help variable
491 help mat
492 help list
493 show globals
494 INPUT/OUTPUT
497 A leading ``0x'' implies a hexadecimal value, a leading ``0b'' implies
499 a binary value, and a ``0'' followed by a digit implies an octal value.
500 Complex numbers are indicated by a trailing ``i'' such as in ``3+4i''.
501 Strings may be delimited by either a pair of single or double quotes.
502 By default, calc prints values as if they were floating point numbers.
503 One may change the default to print values in a number of modes includ‐
504 ing fractions, integers and exponentials.
505 A number of stdio-like file I/O operations are provided. One may open,
507 read, write, seek and close files. Filenames are subject to `` '' ex‐
508 pansion to home directories in a way similar to that of the Korn or C-
509 Shell.
510 For example:
512 ~/.calcrc
514 ~chongo/lib/fft_multiply.cal
515 For more information use the following calc command:
517 help file
519 CALC LANGUAGE
522 The calc language is a C-like language. The language includes commands
524 such as variable declarations, expressions, tests, labels, loops, file
525 operations, function calls. These commands are very similar to their
526 counterparts in C.
527 The language also include a number of commands particular to calc it‐
529 self. These include commands such as function definition, help, read‐
530 ing in resource files, dump files to a file, error notification, con‐
531 figuration control and status.
532 For more information use the following calc command:
534 help command
536 help statement
537 help expression
538 help operator
539 help config
540
542 /usr/bin/calc
544 calc binary
545 /usr/share/calc/cscript/*
547 calc shell scripts
548 /usr/lib64/*.cal
550 calc standard resource files
551 /usr/lib64/help/*
553 help files
554 /usr/lib64/bindings
556 non-GNU-readline command line editor bindings
557 /usr/include/calc/*.h
559 include files for C interface use
560 /usr/lib64/libcalc.a
562 calc binary link library
563 /usr/lib64/libcustcalc.a
565 custom binary link library
566 /usr/share/calc/custom/*.cal
568 custom resource files
569 /usr/share/calc/custhelp/*
571 custom help files
572
574 CALCPATH
576 A :-separated list of directories used to search for calc resource
577 filenames that do not begin with /, ./ or ~.
578 Default value: .:./cal:~/.cal:/usr/share/calc
580 CALCRC
582 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line), calc
583 searches for files along this :-separated environment variable.
584 Default value: /usr/share/calc/startup:~/.calcrc:./.calcinit
586 CALCBINDINGS
588 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line, or -m
589 disallows opening files for reading), calc reads key bindings from
590 the filename specified by this environment variable. The key
591 binding file is searched for along the $CALCPATH list of directo‐
592 ries.
593 Default value: binding
595 This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline
597 support. In that case, the standard readline mechanisms (see
598 readline(3)) are used.
599 CALCHISTFILE
601 Location of the calc history file.
602 Default value: ~/.calc_history
604 This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline
606 support.
607 CALCHELP
609 Location of the calc help directory.
610 Default value: /usr/share/calc/help
612 CALCCUSTOMHELP
614 Location of the calc custom help directory.
615 Default value: /usr/share/calc/custhelp
617
619 The main chunk of calc was written by David I. Bell.
621 The calc primary mirror, and calc bug report processing is performed by
623 Landon Curt Noll.
624 Landon Curt Noll maintains the master reference source, performs re‐
626 lease control functions as well as other calc maintenance functions.
627 Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Jus‐
629 tusson, and Landon Noll.
630 Thanks to Stephen Rothwell for writing the original version of hist.c
632 which is used to do the command line editing.
633 Thanks to Ernest W. Bowen for supplying many improvements in accuracy
635 and generality for some numeric functions. Much of this was in terms
636 of actual code which I gratefully accepted. Ernest also supplied the
637 original text for many of the help files.
638 Portions of this program are derived from an earlier set of public do‐
640 main arbitrarily precision routines which was posted to the net around
641 1984. By now, there is almost no recognizable code left from that
642 original source.
643
645 Calc is open software, and is covered under version 2 of the GNU Gen‐
648 eral Public License. You are welcome to change it and/or distribute
649 copies of it under certain conditions. The calc commands:
650 help copyright
652 help copying
653 help copying-gpl
654 should display the contents of the COPYING and COPYING-GPL files.
656 Those files contain information about the calc's GNU General Public Li‐
657 cense, and in particular the conditions under which you are allowed to
658 change it and/or distribute copies of it.
659 You should have received a copy of the version 2 of the GNU General
661 Public License. If you do not have these files, write to:
662 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
664 51 Franklin Street
665 Fifth Floor
666 Boston, MA 02110-1301
667 USA
668 Calc is copyrighted in several different ways. These ways include:
670 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell
672 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Landon Curt Noll
673 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Ernest Bowen
674 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell, Landon Curt Noll and Ernest Bowen
675 Copyright (C) year Landon Curt Noll
676 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen and Landon Curt Noll
677 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen
678 This man page is:
680 Copyright (C) 1999-2021 Landon Curt Noll
682 and is covered under version 2 GNU General Public License.
684
686 If you have a simple general question about calc, send Email to:
688 calc-quest-mail at asthe dot com
690 NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, and 'dot' with .
692 NOTE: Yes, the Email address uses 'asthe', while the web site uses
694 'isthe'.
695 PLEASE put following the SPECIAL PHRASE somewhere in your Email Subject
697 line:
698 calc question
700 You may add additional words to your subject line.
702 IMPORTANT: If your Email doesn't contain the above phrase, then we WILL
704 NOT SEE your Email.
705 PLEASE BE SURE you have that SPECIAL PHRASE somewhere in the subject
707 line!
708 Suggestion:
710 From time to time, the Email address and Subject SPECIAL PHRASE
712 may change so verify you have the current info by visiting:
713 http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/calc-question.html
715 Please limit your questions to general questions about calc. We cannot
717 go into great detail in our answers, nor can we do your homework, nor
718 can we do much more than answer short general questions about calc.
719 Please be patient as we cannot always respond to Email messages
721 quickly.
722
724 Send bug reports and bug fixes to:
727 calc-bugrept at asthe dot com
729 NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
731 NOTE: Yes, the Email address uses 'asthe', while the web site uses
733 'isthe'.
734 You MUST use following SPECIAL PHRASE in your Email Subject line:
736 calc bug report
738 You may add additional words to your subject line.
740 Suggestion:
742 From time to time, the Email address and Subject SPECIAL PHRASE
744 may change so verify you have the current info by visiting:
745 http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/calc-bugrept.html
747 IMPORTANT: If your Email doesn't contain the above phrase, then we WILL
749 NOT SEE your Email.
750 PLEASE BE SURE you have that SPECIAL PHRASE somewhere in the subject
752 line!
753 See the BUGS source file or use the calc command:
755 help bugs
757 for more information about bug reporting.
759 Please be patient as we cannot always respond to Email messages
761 quickly.
762
764 Calc is open source. Contributions of code are welcome.
767 We welcome and encourage you to send us:
769 * calc resource files (cal/*.cal)
772 * calc shell scripts (cscript/*.calc)
773 * builtin functions that you have modified or written, i.e.:
774 assocfunc.c comfunc.c func.c func.h
775 listfunc.c matfunc.c qfunc.c zfunc.c
776 * custom functions that you have modified or written (custom/*)
777 * help files modified or written (help/*)
778 * brief description of you added, fixed, improved in CHANGES
779 * regression test cases (cal/regress.cal)
780 * Makefile improvements (Makefile, */Makefile)
781 * other source code modifications (*.c, *.h)
782 * etc. (* */* :) )
783 If you add functionality to calc, please be sure to modify/patch/add
785 Makefiles, help files, cal/regress.cal test code as well. Regression
786 test cases are vital to maintaining calc's level of correctness and
787 helps us avoid code bug regression.
788 In order to consider integrating your code, we need:
790 * calc version you are working with (please try use the latest version)
792 * new help files or help file patches, if applicable (documentation)
793 * proposed text for the CHANGES file (brief description of what it does)
794 * regress.cal test patch as needed
795 * your source code and/or source code changes (:-))
796 The best way to send us new code, if your changes are small, is via a
798 patch (diff -c from the latest alpha code to your code). If your
799 change is large, you should send entire files (either as a diff -c
800 /dev/null your-file patch, or as a uuencoded and gziped (or compressed)
801 tar file).
802 Please try to generate a patch against the most recent version of calc,
804 and if you use GitHub, the top of the master branch:
805 https://github.com/lcn2/calc
807 The best way contribute to calc bug is to generate calc GitHub pull re‐
810 quest:
811 https://github.com/lcn2/calc/pulls
813 Your code needs to be contributed under either the 2.1 of the GNU Gen‐
815 eral Public License (LGPL 2.1) or be in the public domain.
816 If you do not want to use calc GitHub, then send EMail to:
818 calc-contrib at asthe dot com
820 NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
822 NOTE: Yes, the Email address uses 'asthe', while the web site uses
824 'isthe'.
825 You MUST use following SPECIAL PHRASE in your Email Subject line:
827 calc contribution
829 You may add additional words to your subject line.
831 Suggestion:
833 From time to time, the Email address and Subject SPECIAL PHRASE
835 may change so verify you have the current info by visiting:
836 http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/calc-contrib.html
838 IMPORTANT: If your Email doesn't contain the above phrase, then we WILL
840 NOT SEE your Email.
841 PLEASE BE SURE you have that SPECIAL PHRASE somewhere in the subject
843 line!
844 Please be patient as we cannot always respond to Email messages
846 quickly.
847
849 Landon Noll maintains the calc web site is located at:
851 www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/
853 Share and Enjoy! :-)
855Share and enjoy! :-) ^..^ calc(1)