calc(1) General Commands Manual calc(1)
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 func-
tions are disabled by default for this reason.
-d Disable the printing of the opening title. The printing of re-
source 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 print:
It's nearly ten past six.
This flag disables the reporting of missing calc startup re-
source files.
This flag also disables the printing the leading tilde. For ex-
ample:
calc 2/3
will print:
~0.66666666666666666667
whereas:
calc -d 2/3
will just print:
0.66666666666666666667
-D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]
Force the initial value of config("calc_debug"), config("re-
source_debug") and config("user_debug").
The : separated strings are interpreted as signed 32 bit inte-
gers. 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 de-
tails.
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 equiva-
lent to the calc command help help. The help facility is dis-
abled 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 com-
mands.
-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 configura-
tion. 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 avail-
able 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 in-
stead 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 new-
line. 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 com-
mand:
print 27!^2
may have to be replaced by:
print 27! ^2 or print 27^2
Reading from standard input when calc is part of a pipe works as long
as the -p flag is given to calc. For example, this will print chongo
was here:
echo chongo was here | calc -p 'print fgetline(files(0));'
while this does not:
echo chongo was here | calc 'print fgetline(files(0));'
nor will this print chongo was here:
echo chongo was here | calc -i 'print fgetline(files(0));'
This is because without -p, the interactive parser, in an effort to
parse interactive commands, flushes data on standard input.
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 ab-
solute 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 as-
signed 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 includ-
ing 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 `` '' ex-
pansion 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 it-
self. These include commands such as function definition, help, read-
ing in resource files, dump files to a file, error notification, con-
figuration 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/calc/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/lo-
cal/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 directo-
ries.
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 process-
ing is performed by Landon Curt Noll.
Landon Curt Noll maintains the master reference source, performs re-
lease control functions as well as other calc maintenance functions.
Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Jus-
tusson, 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 do-
main 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 calc-tester low vol-
ume moderated calc mailing list.
To the calc-tester mailing list, visit the following URL:
https://www.listbox.com/subscribe/?list_id=239342
To help determine you are a human and not just a spam bot, you will be
required to provide the following additional information:
Your Name
Calc Version
For example, the current version is: 2.12.7.2
Operating System
If you don't know your operating system, enter: unknown
The date 7 days ago
Consult a calendar :-)
If you need a human to help you with your mailing list subscription, or
if you have problems with the above procedure, please send EMail to our
special address:
calc-tester-maillist-help at asthe dot com
NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
NOTE: Yes, the EMail address uses 'asthe',
while the web site uses 'isthe'.
To be sure we see your EMail asking for help with your mailing list
subscription, please use the following phase in your EMail Subject line
your subject must contain the words:
calc tester mailing list help
You may have additional words in your subject line.
BUG REPORTS / BUG FIXES
Send bug reports and bug fixes to:
calc-bug-report at asthe dot com
NOTE: Remove spaces and replace 'at' with @, 'dot' with .
NOTE: Yes, the EMail address uses 'asthe',
while the web site uses 'isthe'.
Your subject must contain the words:
calc bug report
You may have additional words in your subject line.
However, you may find it more helpful to simply subscribe to the
calc-tester mailing list (see above) and then to send your report
to that mailing list as a wider set calc testers may be able to
help you.
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/
Share and Enjoy! :-)
2007-02-06 ^..^ calc(1)
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