
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] [-f filename] [-h] [-i] [-m mode] [-O]
            [-p] [-q] [-s] [-u] [-v] [[--] calc_cmd ...]

       #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f

DESCRIPTION
       -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 filename
              This flag is normally only with calc shell scripts.

              This  flag is required when using calc in shell script mode.  It
              must be at the end of the initial #!  line of the script, as in:

                   #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f

              the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode.

              A common flag to use, prior to the -f on the #! line is  the  -q
              flag.  For example:

                   #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f

              See  SHELL  SCRIPT  MODE  section of this man page below for de-
              tails.

              While the actual form of this flag is:

                   -f filename

              for 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 [optional_other_flags ...] -f filename

              This  will  cause  calc  to  process  lines in filename in shell
              script mode.

              NOTE: The use of -f does NOT imply -q and thus one would need to
              use

                   calc [optional_other_flags ...] -q -f filename

              to disable the use of calc startup files as well.

              The use of -f filename implies the -s flag.

       -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.

              When running calc as a shell script (see SHELL SCRIPT  MODE  for
              details),  calc will close standard input (stdin) during startup
              UNLESS the -p flag is given on the command line.  When  calc  is
              running  in  shell  script  mode,  shell  scripts  that call the
              prompt(str) builtin will not work properly (the  prompt  builtin
              will  always  fail)  unless  the -p flag is given on the command
              line.

       -q     Disable the reading of the startup scripts.

              This allows the script to run independently of  startup  scripts
              such those managed by the $CALCRC environment variable.  For ex-
              ample, this will disable the use of the common calcrc file (usu-
              ally ~/.calcrc).

       -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 first line ends with the
       flag -f as in:

            #!/usr/bin/calc [optional_other_flags ...] -f

       the rest of the file will be processed in shell script mode.  Note that
       -s -f must be at the end of the initial ``#!''  line.   Any  other  op-
       tional optional_other_flags must come before the -f flag.

       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  op-
       tional_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.

       NOTE: The use of -f does NOT imply -q and thus one would need to use

            calc [optional_other_flags ...] -q -f filename

       to disable the use of calc startup files as well.

       For example, if the file /tmp/mersenne:

            #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f

            /* setup */
            argc = argv();
            program = argv(0);
            stderr = files(2);

            /* parse args */
            if (argc != 2) {
                fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s exp0, program);
                abort "must give one exponent arg";
            }
            exp = eval(argv(1));
            if (!isint(exp) || exp < 0) {
                fprintf(stderr, "%s: exp must be non-negative integer0, program);
                abort "must give one exponent arg";
            }

            /* print the mersenne number */
            print "2^": exp : "-1 =", 2^exp-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 required in shell script mode non-dashed args
       are made available as strings via the argv() builtin function.   There-
       fore:

            2^eval(argv(1))-1

       will print the decimal value of 2^n-1 whereas

            2^argv(1)-1

       will not.

       By  default,  using  calc startup in shell script mode, calc will close
       standard input (stdin).  Thus builtin  functions  such  as  prompt(str)
       will  fail  (return  a  null  value).  Calc shell scripts that call the
       prompt(str) builtin will not work properly (the prompt builtin will al-
       ways fail and return a null value) unless the -p flag is given  on  the
       command line.

       The  following  shell script will always print "got null" because stdin
       will be closed by calc during startup:

            #!/usr/bin/calc -q -f

            # The prompt will ALWAYS FAIL and return a null value
            n = prompt("Test> ");
            if (isnull(n)) {
              print("got null");
            } else {
              print("got " + n);
            }

       However the following shell script (note the -p before the  -f  in  the
       1st line) will be interactive, prompt with "Test> " and print the "got"
       result as expected:

            #!/usr/bin/calc -q -p -f

            n = prompt("Test> ");
            if (isnull(n)) {
              print("got null");
            } else {
              print("got " + n);
            }

       Note  in  the example above, the -p flag must be given before the final
       -f command line flag.

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/bin/cscript/*
            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/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: ./.calcinit:~/.calcrc:/usr/share/calc/startup

       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.

       CALCHISTFILE
            Location of the calc history file.

            Default value: ~/.calc_history

            This variable is not used if calc was compiled  with  GNU-readline
            support.

       CALCHELP
            Location of the calc help directory.

            Default value: /usr/share/calc/help

       CALCCUSTOMHELP
            Location of the calc custom help directory.

            Default value: /usr/share/calc/custhelp

CREDIT
       The main chunk of calc was written by David I. Bell.

       The calc primary mirror, and calc bug report processing 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
            help credit

       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
            Copyright (C) year  Petteri Kettunen and Landon Curt Noll
            Copyright (C) year  Christoph Zurnieden
            Copyright (C) year  Landon Curt Noll and Thomas Jones-Low
            Copyright (C) year  Klaus Alexander Seistrup and Landon Curt Noll

       This man page is:

            Copyright (C) 1999-2023  Landon Curt Noll

       and is covered under version 2.1 GNU Lesser General Public License.

       A few files in calc are covered under "The Unlicense".  For more infor-
       mation on this license, see:

            https://unlicense.org

CALC QUESTIONS
       To ask the calc maintainers a general question about calc, see the out-
       put of the following calc command:

            ; help question

       or read the source file:

            QUESTIONS

       or visit the following URL:

            https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/QUESTIONS

BUG REPORTS / BUG FIXES
       To inform the calc maintainers about a bug, or to submit a bug fix, see
       the output of the following calc command:

            ; help bugs

       or read the source file:

            BUGS

       or visit the following URL:

            https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/BUGS

CONTRIBUTING CODE TO CALC
       Calc is open source.  You are welcome to contribute code  to  calc,  or
       submit bug fixes to to calc.

       To  contribute code to calc, please see see the output of the following
       calc command:

            ; help contrib

       or read the source file:

            CONTRIB-CODE

       or visit the following URL:

            https://github.com/lcn2/calc/blob/master/CONTRIB-CODE

CALC WEB SITE
       Landon Noll maintains the calc web site is located at:

            www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/

CALC SOURCE CODE
       The latest version of calc source code may be obtained at the following
       GitHub repo:

            https://github.com/lcn2/calc

       The very latest calc souece is found at the top master branch.

       You may download the calc releases from:

            https://github.com/lcn2/calc/releases

       The releases marked ((Pre-release)) are beta releases.

       The most recent release that is NOT  marked ((Pre-release)) is the rec-
       ommended stable release.

Share and enjoy!  :-)                ^..^                              calc(1)
