1GP(1) General Commands Manual GP(1)
2
3
4
6 gp - PARI calculator
7
9 gp [--stacksize|-s stacksize] [--primelimit|-p primelimit] [--emacs]
10 [-f|--fast] [-q|--quiet] [--help] [--test] [--texmacs] [--version]
11 [--version-short] [ file1 file2 ...]
12
13
15 Invokes the PARI-GP calculator, loading the file1, file2, ... (written
16 in the GP language) on startup. gp is an advanced programmable calcula‐
17 tor, which computes symbolically as long as possible, numerically where
18 needed, and contains a wealth of number-theoretic functions (elliptic
19 curves, class field theory...). It can be programmed with the GP
20 scripting language. Its basic data types are
21
22 numbers
23 integers, real numbers, exact rational numbers, algebraic num‐
24 bers, p-adic numbers, modular integers (integers modulo n), com‐
25 plex numbers,
26
27 polynomials, rational functions,
28 and power series,
29
30 integral binary quadratic forms,
31
32 matrices, vectors,
33 and lists,
34
35 character strings,
36
37 and recursive combinations of these.
38
39
41 Command line options are availaible in both short form (-f) and POSIX-
42 like (--fast). Numeric arguments can be followed by a modifier k , M or
43 G at the user's convenience; in that case the argument is multiplied by
44 10^3, 10^6, or 10^9 respectively.
45
46
47 -f, --fast
48 Fast start (or factory settings). Do not read .gprc (see below)
49 upon startup.
50
51 -p, --primelimit limit
52 Upon startup, gp computes a table of small primes used in num‐
53 ber-theoretic applications. If primelimit is set, the table
54 include primes up to that bound instead of the default. Unrea‐
55 sonably high values will considerably increase startup time.
56 Exceedingly small values will cause some number-theoretic func‐
57 tions to fail with the message "not enough precomputed primes".
58
59 -q, --quiet
60 Quiet mode. Don't print headers or history numbers, don't say
61 goodbye.
62
63
64 -s, --stacksize limit
65 Size of gp internal stack allocated on startup. When gp runs out
66 of space, it interrupts the current computation and raises a
67 stack overflow exception. If this occurs frequently, start with
68 a bigger stack. The stack size can also be increased from within
69 gp, using default(parisize,...); it may be convenient to set
70 stacksize from your .gprc. Note that computations with a
71 smaller stack may be more efficient due to better data locality.
72 Most computations should need less than 20MB.
73
74
75 --emacs
76 gp can be run in an Emacs shell (see GP User's manual for
77 details). This flag is then required for smooth interaction with
78 the relevant Emacs package (pari.el). It is set automatically by
79 the pari.el package, and will produce nice display oddities if
80 you set it outside of an Emacs session.
81
82 --help print a summary of available command-line options.
83
84 --test run gp in test mode: suppress printing of history numbers and
85 wrap long output lines (to get readable diff output). For
86 benches only.
87
88 --texmacs
89 gp can be run from a TeXmacs frontend. This flag is set by TeX‐
90 macs, to enable special purpose communication channels. Do not
91 set it yourself.
92
93
94 --version
95 output version info (banner) then exit.
96
97
98 --version-short
99 output version number then exit.
100
101
103 ? to get online help.
104
105 ?? to get extended online help (more precisely, to call the exter‐
106 nal help program, gphelp by default)
107
108 quit (or \q), or EOF (Ctrl-D) to quit gp.
109
110 The following works only when gp was linked with GNU readline library:
111
112 arrow keys
113 for editing and viewing the input history.
114
115 TAB
116 for automatic completion
117
118
120 The following material is included in the standard distribution (origi‐
121 nally in TeX format):
122
123 The User's Guide to PARI/GP
124 (users.dvi)
125
126 The User's Guide to the PARI library
127 (library.dvi)
128
129 PARI/GP, a tutorial
130 (tutorial.dvi)
131
132 PARI/GP reference card
133 (refcard.ps): 4 pages, based on an earlier version by Joseph H.
134 Silverman.
135
136 pariemacs.txt
137 explains the use of the pari.el package, and how to customize it
138 (prompt, colors).
139
140
142 gp main executable
143
144 $HOME/.gprc
145 (or $GPRC if set) read at beginning of execution by each gp
146 shell. A default gprc gprc.dft is provided with the distribu‐
147 tion. If this file cannot be found, /etc/gprc is checked
148 instead.
149
150 pari.log
151 default logfile (can be changed in .gprc or interactively using
152 default() )
153
154 pari.ps
155 default psfile used for postscript output (as above)
156
157 gphelp default external help program (as above)
158
159 pari.el
160 elisp package to run pari in an Emacs shell. Must be loaded from
161 your .emacs file.
162
163 *.gp GP programs
164
165
167 $GPRC place to look for the user's gprc file (before $HOME/.gprc,
168 ./gprc, and /etc/gprc in this order).
169
170
171 $GP_DATA_DIR
172 directory containing precomputed data. For now, the Galois
173 resolvents files in directory galdata/, needed by the polgalois
174 function, in degrees 8 to 11.
175
176
177 $GPHELP
178 name of the external help program invoked by ?? and ??? short‐
179 cuts.
180
181
182 $GPTMPDIR
183 name of the directory where temporary files will be generated.
184
185
187 PARI's home page resides at
188 http://pari.math.u-bordeaux.fr/
189
190
192 There are three mailing lists devoted to the PARI/GP package (run cour‐
193 tesy of Dan Bernstein), and most feedback should be directed to those.
194 They are:
195
196
197 - pari-announce (moderated): for us to announce major version changes.
198
199 - pari-dev: for everything related to the development of PARI, includ‐
200 ing suggestions, technical questions, bug reports or patch submissions.
201
202
203 - pari-users: for everything else.
204
205 To subscribe, send empty messages respectively to
206
207
208 pari-announce-subscribe@list.cr.yp.to
209
210 pari-users-subscribe@list.cr.yp.to
211
212 pari-dev-subscribe@list.cr.yp.to
213
214
216 Bugs should be submitted online to our Bug Tracking System, available
217 from PARI's home page, or directly from the URL
218 http://pari.math.u-bordeaux.fr/Bugs/
219 Further instructions can be found on that page.
220
221
223 Despite the leading G, GP has nothing to do with GNU. The first version
224 was originally called GPC, for Great Programmable Calculator. For some
225 reason, the trailing C was eventually dropped.
226
227 PARI has nothing to do with the French capital. The name is a pun about
228 the project's early stages when the authors started to implement a
229 library for "Pascal ARIthmetic" in the PASCAL programming language
230 (they quickly switched to C).
231
232 For the benefit of non-native French speakers, here's a slightly
233 expanded explanation: Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) was a famous French
234 mathematician and philosopher who was one of the founders of probabil‐
235 ity and devised one of the first "arithmetic machines". He once pro‐
236 posed the following "proof" of the existence of God for the unbeliev‐
237 ers: whether He exists or not I lose nothing by believing in Him,
238 whereas if He does and I misbehave... This is the so-called "pari de
239 Pascal" (Pascal's Wager).
240
241 Note that PARI also means "fairy" in Persian.
242
243
245 PARI was originally written by Christian Batut, Dominique Bernardi,
246 Henri Cohen, and Michel Olivier in Laboratoire A2X (Universite Bordeaux
247 I, France), and was maintained by Henri Cohen up to version 1.39.15
248 (1995), and by Karim Belabas since then.
249
250 A great number of people have contributed to the successive improve‐
251 ments which eventually resulted in the present version. See the AUTHORS
252 file in the distribution.
253
254
256 dvips(1), emacs(1), gap(1), ghostview(1), gphelp(1), maple(1), perl(1),
257 readline(3), tex(1), texmacs(1), xdvi(1)
258
259
261 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
262 under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
263 Free Software Foundation.
264
265 This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
266 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MER‐
267 CHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General
268 Public License for more details.
269
270 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
271 with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
272 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
273
274
275
276 10 August 2004 GP(1)