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] [-f filename] [-h] [-i] [-m mode] [-O]
12 [-p] [-q] [-s] [-u] [-v] [[--] calc_cmd ...]
13 #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f
15
18 -c Continue reading command lines even after a scan/parse error has
19 caused the abandonment of a line. Note that this option only
20 deals with scanning and parsing of the calc language. It does
21 not deal with execution or run-time errors.
22 For example:
24 calc read many_errors.cal
26 will cause calc to abort on the first syntax error, whereas:
28 calc -c read many_errors.cal
30 will cause calc to try to process each line being read despite
32 the scan/parse errors that it encounters.
33 By default, calc startup resource files are silently ignored if
35 not found. This flag will report missing startup resource files
36 unless -d is also given.
37 -C Permit the execution of custom builtin functions. Without this
40 flag, calling the custom() builtin function will simply generate
41 an error.
42 Use of this flag may cause calc to execute functions that are
44 non-standard and that are not portable. Custom builtin func‐
45 tions are disabled by default for this reason.
46 -d Disable the printing of the opening title. The printing of re‐
49 source file debug and informational messages is also disabled as
50 if config("resource_debug", 0) had been executed.
51 For example:
53 calc "read qtime; qtime(2)"
55 will output something like:
57 qtime(utc_hr_offset) defined
59 It's nearly ten past six.
60 whereas:
62 calc -d "read qtime; qtime(2)"
64 will just print:
66 It's nearly ten past six.
68 This flag disables the reporting of missing calc startup re‐
70 source files.
71 This flag also disables the printing the leading tilde. For ex‐
74 ample:
75 calc 2/3
77 will print:
79 ~0.66666666666666666667
81 whereas:
84 calc -d 2/3
86 will just print:
88 0.66666666666666666667
90 -D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]
94 Force the initial value of config("calc_debug"), config("re‐
95 source_debug") and config("user_debug").
96 The : separated strings are interpreted as signed 32 bit inte‐
98 gers. After an optional leading sign a leading zero indicates
99 octal conversion, and a leading ``0x'' or ``0X'' hexadecimal
100 conversion. Otherwise, decimal conversion is assumed.
101 By default, calc_debug is 0, resource_debug is 3 and user_debug
103 is 0.
104 For more information use the following calc command:
106 help config
108 -e Ignore any environment variables on startup. The getenv()
111 builtin will still return values, however.
112 -f filename
115 This flag is normally only with calc shell scripts.
116 This flag is required when using calc in shell script mode. It
118 must be at the end of the initial #! line of the script, as in:
119 #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f
121 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode.
123 A common flag to use, prior to the -f on the #! line is the -q
126 flag. For example:
127 #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f
129 See SHELL SCRIPT MODE section of this man page below for de‐
132 tails.
133 While the actual form of this flag is:
135 -f filename
137 for systems that treat an executable that begins with #! as a
139 script, the path of the executable is appended by the kernel as
140 the final argument to the exec() system call. This is why the
141 -f flag at the very end of the #! line.
142 It is possible use -f filename on the command line:
144 calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f filename
146 This will cause calc to process lines in filename in shell
148 script mode.
149 NOTE: The use of -f does NOT imply -q and thus one would need to
152 use
153 calc [optional_other_flags ...] -q -f filename
155 to disable the use of calc startup files as well.
157 The use of -f filename implies the -s flag.
160 -h Print a help message. This option implies -q. This is equiva‐
163 lent to the calc command help help. The help facility is dis‐
164 abled unless the mode is 5 or 7. See -m.
165 -i Become interactive if possible. This flag will cause calc to
168 drop into interactive mode after the calc_cmd arguments on the
169 command line are evaluated. Without this flag, calc will exit
170 after they are evaluated.
171 For example:
173 calc 2+5
175 will print the value 7 and exit whereas:
177 calc -i 2+5
179 will print the value 7 and prompt the user for more calc com‐
181 mands.
182 -m mode
185 This flag sets the permission mode of calc. It controls the
186 ability for calc to open files and execute programs. Mode may
187 be a number from 0 to 7.
188 The mode value is interpreted in a way similar to that of the
190 chmod(1) octal mode:
191 0 do not open any file, do not execute progs
193 1 do not open any file
194 2 do not open files for reading, do not execute progs
195 3 do not open files for reading
196 4 do not open files for writing, do not execute progs
197 5 do not open files for writing
198 6 do not execute any program
199 7 allow everything (default mode)
200 If one wished to run calc from a privileged user, one might want
202 to use -m 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure.
203 Mode bits for reading and writing apply only on an open. Files
205 already open are not effected. Thus if one wanted to use the -m
206 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more secure, but still
207 wanted to read and write a specific file, one might want to do
208 in sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells:
209 calc -m 0 3<a.file
211 Files presented to calc in this way are opened in an unknown
213 mode. Calc will attempt to read or write them if directed.
214 If the mode disables opening of files for reading, then the
216 startup resource files are disabled as if -q was given. The
217 reading of key bindings is also disabled when the mode disables
218 opening of files for reading.
219 -O Use the old classic defaults instead of the default configura‐
222 tion. This flag as the same effect as executing config("all",
223 "oldcfg") at startup time.
224 NOTE: Older versions of calc used -n to setup a modified form of
226 the default calc configuration. The -n flag currently does
227 nothing. Use of the -n flag is now deprecated and may be used
228 for something else in the future.
229 -p Pipe processing is enabled by use of -p. For example:
232 calc -p "2^21701-1" | fizzbin
234 In pipe mode, calc does not prompt, does not print leading tabs
236 and does not print the initial header. The -p flag overrides
237 -i.
238 -q Disable the reading of the startup scripts.
241 This allows the script to run independently of startup scripts
243 such those managed by the $CALCRC environment variable. For ex‐
244 ample, this will disable the use of the common calcrc file (usu‐
245 ally ~/.calcrc).
246 -s By default, all calc_cmd args are evaluated and executed. This
249 flag will disable their evaluation and instead make them avail‐
250 able as strings for the argv() builtin function.
251 -u Disable buffering of stdin and stdout.
254 -v Print the calc version number and exit.
257 -- The double dash indicates to calc that no more option follow.
260 Thus calc will ignore a later argument on the command line even
261 if it starts with a dash. This is useful when entering negative
262 values on the command line as in:
263 calc -p -- -1 - -7
265
269 With no calc_cmd arguments, calc operates interactively. If one or
270 more arguments are given on the command line and -s is NOT given, then
271 calc will read and execute them and either attempt to go interactive
272 according as the -i flag was present or absent.
273 If -s is given, calc will not evaluate any calc_cmd arguments but in‐
275 stead make them available as strings to the argv() builtin function.
276 Sufficiently simple commands with no no characters like parentheses,
278 brackets, semicolons, '*', which have special interpretations in UNIX
279 shells may be entered, possibly with spaces, until the terminating new‐
280 line. For example:
281 calc 23 + 47
283 will print 70. However, command lines will have problems:
285 calc 23 * 47
287 calc -23 + 47
289 The first example above fails because the shell interprets the '*' as a
291 file glob. The second example fails because '-23' is viewed as a calc
292 option (which it is not) and do calc objects to that it thinks of as an
293 unknown option. These cases can usually be made to work as expected by
294 enclosing the command between quotes:
295 calc '23 * 47'
297 calc "print sqrt(2), exp(1)"
299 or in parentheses and quotes to avoid leading -'s as in:
301 calc '(-23 + 47)'
303 One may also use a double dash to denote that calc options have ended
305 as in:
306 calc -- -23 + 47
308 calc -q -- -23 + 47
310 If '!' is to be used to indicate the factorial function, for shells
312 like csh[4m(1) for which '!' followed by a non-space character is used for
313 history substitution, it may be necessary to include a space or use a
314 backslash to escape the special meaning of '!'. For example, the com‐
315 mand:
316 print 27!^2
318 may have to be replaced by:
320 print 27! ^2 or print 27\!^2
322 Reading from standard input when calc is part of a pipe works as long
324 as the -p flag is given to calc. For example, this will print chongo
325 was here:
326 echo chongo was here | calc -p 'print fgetline(files(0));'
328 while this does not:
331 echo chongo was here | calc 'print fgetline(files(0));'
333 nor will this print chongo was here:
336 echo chongo was here | calc -i 'print fgetline(files(0));'
338 This is because without -p, the interactive parser, in an effort to
341 parse interactive commands, flushes data on standard input.
342
345 Normally on startup, if the environment variable $CALCRC is undefined
346 and calc is invoked without the -q flag, or if $CALCRC is defined and
347 calc is invoked with -e, calc looks for a file "startup" in the calc
348 resource directory .calcrc in the user's home directory, and .calcinit
349 in the current directory. If one or more of these are found, they are
350 read in succession as calc scripts and their commands executed. When
351 defined, $CALCRC is to contain a ':' separated list of names of files,
352 and if calc is then invoked without either the -q or -e flags, these
353 files are read in succession and their commands executed. No error
354 condition is produced if a listed file is not found.
355 If the mode specified by -m disables opening of files for reading, then
357 the reading of startup files is also disabled as if -q was given.
358
361 If the environment variable $CALCPATH is undefined, or if it is defined
362 and calc is invoked with the -e flag, when a file name not beginning
363 with /, ~ or ./, is specified as in:
364 calc read myfile
366 calc searches in succession:
368 ./myfile
370 ./myfile.cal
371 /usr/lib64/myfile
372 /usr/lib64/myfile.cal
373 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile
374 /usr/share/calc/custom/myfile.cal
375 If the file is found, the search stops and the commands in the file are
377 executed. It is an error if no readable file with the specified name
378 is found. An alternative search path can be specified by defining
379 $CALCPATH in the same way as PATH is defined, as a ':' separated list
380 of directories, and then invoking calc without the -e flag.
381 Calc treats all open files, other than stdin, stdout and stderr as
383 files available for reading and writing. One may present calc with an
384 already open file using sh(1), ksh(1), bash(1)-like shells is to:
385 calc 3<open_file 4<open_file2
387 For more information use the following calc commands:
389 help help
391 help overview
392 help usage
393 help environment
394 help config
395
399 If the first line of an executable file begins #! followed by the ab‐
400 solute pathname of the calc program and the first line ends with the
401 flag -f as in:
402 #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f
404 the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode. Note that
406 -s -f must at the end of the initial ``#!'' line. Any other optional
407 optional_other_flags must come before the -f flag.
408 In shell script mode the contents of the file are read and executed as
410 if they were in a file being processed by a read command, except that a
411 "command" beginning with '#' followed by whitespace and ending at the
412 next newline is treated as a comment. Any optional op‐
413 tional_other_flags will be parsed first followed by the later lines
414 within the script itself.
415 In shell script mode, -s is always assumed. In addition, -d and -p are
417 automatically set if -i is not given.
418 NOTE: The use of -f does NOT imply -q and thus one would need to use
420 calc [optional_other_flags ...] -q -f filename
422 to disable the use of calc startup files as well.
424 For example, if the file /tmp/mersenne:
426 #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f
428 /* setup */
430 argc = argv();
431 program = argv(0);
432 stderr = files(2);
433 /* parse args */
435 if (argc != 2) {
436 fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s exp0, program);
437 abort "must give one exponent arg";
438 }
439 exp = eval(argv(1));
440 if (!isint(exp) || exp < 0) {
441 fprintf(stderr, "%s: exp must be non-negative integer0, program);
442 abort "must give one exponent arg";
443 }
444 /* print the mersenne number */
446 print "2^": exp : "-1 =", 2^exp-1;
447 is made an executable file by:
449 chmod +x /tmp/mersenne
451 then the command line:
453 /tmp/mersenne 127
455 will print:
457 2^127-1 = 170141183460469231731687303715884105727
459 Note that because -s is required in shell script mode non-dashed args
461 are made available as strings via the argv() builtin function. There‐
462 fore:
463 2^eval(argv(1))-1
465 will print the decimal value of 2^n-1 whereas
467 2^argv(1)-1
469 will not.
471
474 Fundamental builtin data types include integers, real numbers, rational
475 numbers, complex numbers and strings.
476 By use of an object, one may define an arbitrarily complex data types.
478 One may define how such objects behave a wide range of operations such
479 as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, negation, squaring,
480 modulus, rounding, exponentiation, equality, comparison, printing and
481 so on.
482 For more information use the following calc commands:
484 help types
486 help obj
487 show objfuncs
488
491 Variables in calc are typeless. In other words, the fundamental type
492 of a variable is determined by its content. Before a variable is as‐
493 signed a value it has the value of zero.
494 The scope of a variable may be global, local to a file, or local to a
496 procedure. Values may be grouped together in a matrix, or into a a
497 list that permits stack and queue style operations.
498 For more information use the following calc commands:
500 help variable
502 help mat
503 help list
504 show globals
505
508 A leading ``0x'' implies a hexadecimal value, a leading ``0b'' implies
509 a binary value, and a ``0'' followed by a digit implies an octal value.
510 Complex numbers are indicated by a trailing ``i'' such as in ``3+4i''.
511 Strings may be delimited by either a pair of single or double quotes.
512 By default, calc prints values as if they were floating point numbers.
513 One may change the default to print values in a number of modes includ‐
514 ing fractions, integers and exponentials.
515 A number of stdio-like file I/O operations are provided. One may open,
517 read, write, seek and close files. Filenames are subject to `` '' ex‐
518 pansion to home directories in a way similar to that of the Korn or C-
519 Shell.
520 For example:
522 ~/.calcrc
524 ~chongo/lib/fft_multiply.cal
525 For more information use the following calc command:
527 help file
529
532 The calc language is a C-like language. The language includes commands
533 such as variable declarations, expressions, tests, labels, loops, file
534 operations, function calls. These commands are very similar to their
535 counterparts in C.
536 The language also include a number of commands particular to calc it‐
538 self. These include commands such as function definition, help, read‐
539 ing in resource files, dump files to a file, error notification, con‐
540 figuration control and status.
541 For more information use the following calc command:
543 help command
545 help statement
546 help expression
547 help operator
548 help config
549
552 /usr/bin/calc
553 calc binary
554 /usr/bin/cscript/*
556 calc shell scripts
557 /usr/lib64/*.cal
559 calc standard resource files
560 /usr/lib64/help/*
562 help files
563 /usr/lib64/bindings
565 non-GNU-readline command line editor bindings
566 /usr/include/calc/*.h
568 include files for C interface use
569 /usr/lib64/libcalc.a
571 calc binary link library
572 /usr/lib64/libcustcalc.a
574 custom binary link library
575 /usr/share/calc/custom/*.cal
577 custom resource files
578 /usr/share/calc/custhelp/*
580 custom help files
581
584 CALCPATH
585 A :-separated list of directories used to search for calc resource
586 filenames that do not begin with /, ./ or ~.
587 Default value: .:./cal:~/.cal:/usr/share/calc
589 CALCRC
591 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line), calc
592 searches for files along this :-separated environment variable.
593 Default value: ./.calcinit:~/.calcrc:/usr/share/calc/startup
595 CALCBINDINGS
597 On startup (unless -h or -q was given on the command line, or -m
598 disallows opening files for reading), calc reads key bindings from
599 the filename specified by this environment variable. The key
600 binding file is searched for along the $CALCPATH list of directo‐
601 ries.
602 Default value: binding
604 This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline
606 support. In that case, the standard readline mechanisms (see
607 readline(3)) are used.
608 CALCHISTFILE
610 Location of the calc history file.
611 Default value: ~/.calc_history
613 This variable is not used if calc was compiled with GNU-readline
615 support.
616 CALCHELP
618 Location of the calc help directory.
619 Default value: /usr/share/calc/help
621 CALCCUSTOMHELP
623 Location of the calc custom help directory.
624 Default value: /usr/share/calc/custhelp
626
629 The main chunk of calc was written by David I. Bell.
630 The calc primary mirror, and calc bug report processing is performed by
632 Landon Curt Noll.
633 Landon Curt Noll maintains the master reference source, performs re‐
635 lease control functions as well as other calc maintenance functions.
636 Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Jus‐
638 tusson, and Landon Noll.
639 Thanks to Stephen Rothwell for writing the original version of hist.c
641 which is used to do the command line editing.
642 Thanks to Ernest W. Bowen for supplying many improvements in accuracy
644 and generality for some numeric functions. Much of this was in terms
645 of actual code which I gratefully accepted. Ernest also supplied the
646 original text for many of the help files.
647 Portions of this program are derived from an earlier set of public do‐
649 main arbitrarily precision routines which was posted to the net around
650 1984. By now, there is almost no recognizable code left from that
651 original source.
652
654 Calc is open software, and is covered under version 2.1 of the GNU
655 Lesser General Public License. You are welcome to change it and/or
656 distribute copies of it under certain conditions. The calc commands:
657 help copyright
659 help copying
660 help copying-lgpl
661 help credit
662 should display the contents of the COPYING and COPYING-LGPL files.
664 Those files contain information about the calc's GNU Lesser General
665 Public License, and in particular the conditions under which you are
666 allowed to change it and/or distribute copies of it.
667 You should have received a copy of the version 2.1 of the GNU Lesser
669 General Public License. If you do not have these files, write to:
670 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
672 51 Franklin Street
673 Fifth Floor
674 Boston, MA 02110-1301
675 USA
676 Calc is copyrighted in several different ways. These ways include:
678 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell
680 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Landon Curt Noll
681 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell and Ernest Bowen
682 Copyright (C) year David I. Bell, Landon Curt Noll and Ernest Bowen
683 Copyright (C) year Landon Curt Noll
684 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen and Landon Curt Noll
685 Copyright (C) year Ernest Bowen
686 Copyright (C) year Petteri Kettunen and Landon Curt Noll
687 Copyright (C) year Christoph Zurnieden
688 Copyright (C) year Landon Curt Noll and Thomas Jones-Low
689 Copyright (C) year Klaus Alexander Seistrup and Landon Curt Noll
690 This man page is:
692 Copyright (C) 1999-2023 Landon Curt Noll
694 and is covered under version 2.1 GNU Lesser General Public License.
696 A few files in calc are covered under "The Unlicense". For more infor‐
698 mation on this license, see:
699 https://unlicense.org
701
704 To ask the calc maintainers a general question about calc, see the out‐
705 put of the following calc command:
706 ; help question
709 or read the source file:
711 QUESTIONS
714 or visit the following URL:
717 https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/QUESTIONS
719
722 To inform the calc maintainers about a bug, or to submit a bug fix, see
723 the output of the following calc command:
724 ; help bugs
727 or read the source file:
729 BUGS
732 or visit the following URL:
734 https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/BUGS
736
739 Calc is open source. You are welcome to contribute code to calc, or
740 submit bug fixes to to calc.
741 To contribute code to calc, please see see the output of the following
743 calc command:
744 ; help contrib
747 or read the source file:
750 CONTRIB-CODE
753 or visit the following URL:
755 https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/CONTRIB-CODE
757
760 Landon Noll maintains the calc web site is located at:
761 www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/
763
765 The latest version of calc source code may be obtained at the following
766 GitHub repo:
767 https://github.com/lcn2/calc
769 The very latest calc souece is found at the top master branch.
771 You may download the calc releases from:
773 https://github.com/lcn2/calc/releases
775 The releases marked ((Pre-release)) are beta releases.
777 The most recent release that is NOT marked ((Pre-release)) is the rec‐
779 ommended stable release.
780Share and enjoy! :-) ^..^ calc(1)