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 functions are disabled by default for this reason.

       -d     Disable the printing of the opening title.  The printing of resource file debug and infor-
              mational 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 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 val-
              ues, 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 ex-
              ecutable  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  effort
              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 configu-
              ration.  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 calcrc
              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 en-
              tering 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 command:

            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 speci-
       fied by defining $CALCPATH in the same way as PATH is defined, as a ':' separated list of  direc-
       tories, 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 be-
       ing processed by a read command, except that a "command" beginning with '#'  followed  by  white-
       space  and ending at the next newline is treated as a comment.  Any optional 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.

       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 dur-
       ing 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 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, 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 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 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  de-
       fault to print values in a number of modes including 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 declara-
       tions,  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 notifi-
       cation, 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 be-
            gin 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

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 nu-
       meric 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
            help credit

       should display the contents of the COPYING and COPYING-LGPL files.  Those files contain  informa-
       tion  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 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 follow-
       ing 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)
