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  lan-
            guage.  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 cus-
            tom() 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 functions are disabled by default for this reason.

     -d     Disable  the printing of the opening title.  The printing of resource file debug and in-
            formational messages is also disabled as if config("resource_debug", 0)  had  been  exe-
            cuted.

            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 resource files.

            This flag also disables the printing the leading tilde. For example:

                 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("resource_debug") and con-
            fig("user_debug").

            The : separated strings are interpreted as signed 32 bit integers.   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 details.

            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 equivalent to the  calc  command
            help help.  The help facility is disabled 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 commands.

     -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  ef-
            fort to make calc somewhat more secure.

            Mode bits for reading and writing apply only on an open.  Files already open are not ef-
            fected.   Thus if one wanted to use the -m 0 in an effort to make calc somewhat more se-
            cure, 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 configuration.  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  con-
            figuration.   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 example, this will disable the use of the common cal-
            crc file (usually ~/.calcrc).

     -s     By default, all calc_cmd args are evaluated and executed.  This flag will disable  their
            evaluation and instead make them available 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 instead 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 newline.  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 in-
     clude 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 with-
     out 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 er-
     ror 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 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 optional 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.  Therefore:

          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  always  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 interac-
     tive, 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  num-
     bers 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, divi-
     sion, 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  deter-
     mined 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 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 including  fractions,  integers  and  exponen-
     tials.

     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 decla-
     rations,  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  com-
     mands 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/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/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: ./.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 directories.

          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

     In versions prior to v3, you may adhere to the XDG Base Directory specification by  setting  up
     your environment variables as such:

          export CALCRC="${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/calc/calcrc"
          export CALCPATH=".:${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/calc:${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}/calc:/usr/share/calc:/usr/share/calc/custom"
          export CALCHISTFILE="${XDG_STATE_HOME:-$HOME/.local/state}/calc/history"

     Note that calc won't create the directory tree to $CALCHISTFILE, you'll need to run:

          mkdir -p $(dirname $CALCHISTFILE)

     in order to have the history mechanism if you choose a path to a file that doesn't exist.

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 release control functions as
     well as other calc maintenance functions.

     Thanks for suggestions and encouragement from Peter Miller, Neil Justusson, 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 Li-
     cense.  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 infor-
     mation about the calc's GNU Lesser General Public License, and in particular the conditions un-
     der 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 information on this license,
     see:

          https://unlicense.org

CALC QUESTIONS
     To ask the calc maintainers a general question about calc, see the output 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  fol-
     lowing 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 source 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 recommended stable release.

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