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
	      resource 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 say:

		   It's nearly ten past six.

	      This  flag  disables  the	 reporting  of	missing	 calc  startup
	      resource files.


       -D calc_debug[:resource_debug[:user_debug]]
	      Force  the   initial   value   of	  config("calc_debug"),	  con-
	      fig("resource_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
	      details.

	      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 option 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
       instead make them available as strings to the argv() builtin function.

       Sufficiently simple commands with no 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


       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:

	    /usr/lib64/myfile
	    /usr/lib64/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
       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.  Note that
       -f must 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
       assigned 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  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	``  ''
       expansion  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
       itself.	These include commands	such  as  function  definition,	 help,
       reading	in  resource  files, dump files to a file, error notification,
       configuration 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/libexec/calc/*
	    calc shell scripts

       /usr/lib64/*.cal
	    calc standard resource files

       /usr/lib64/help/*
	    help files

       /usr/lib64/bindings
	    non-GNU-readline command line editor bindings

       /usr/include/calc/*.h
	    include files for C interface use

       /usr/lib64/libcalc.a
	    calc binary link library

       /usr/lib64/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/share/calc:/usr/share/calc/cus-
	    tom

       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:~/.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
       release 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
       domain  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: 2.12.5.0

	    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)
