Annotation of src/usr.bin/bc/bc.1, Revision 1.4
1.4 ! jmc 1: .\" $OpenBSD: bc.1,v 1.3 2003/09/26 07:30:09 otto Exp $
1.1 otto 2: .\"
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35: .\" @(#)bc.1 6.8 (Berkeley) 8/8/91
36: .\"
37: .Dd August 8, 1991
38: .Dt BC 1
39: .Sh NAME
1.4 ! jmc 40: .Nm bc
1.1 otto 41: .Nd arbitrary-precision arithmetic language and calculator
42: .Sh SYNOPSIS
1.4 ! jmc 43: .Nm bc
! 44: .Op Fl cl
1.1 otto 45: .Ar
46: .Sh DESCRIPTION
1.4 ! jmc 47: .Nm
1.1 otto 48: is an interactive processor for a language which resembles
49: C but provides unlimited precision arithmetic.
50: It takes input from any files given, then reads
51: the standard input.
52: .Pp
53: Options available:
1.4 ! jmc 54: .Bl -tag -width Ds
1.1 otto 55: .It Fl c
1.4 ! jmc 56: .Nm
1.1 otto 57: is actually a preprocessor for
1.4 ! jmc 58: .Xr dc 1 ,
1.1 otto 59: which it invokes automatically, unless the
60: .Fl c
1.4 ! jmc 61: .Pq compile only
1.1 otto 62: option is present.
1.4 ! jmc 63: In this case the generated
! 64: .Xr dc 1
! 65: instructions are sent to the standard output,
! 66: instead of being interpreted by a running
! 67: .Xr dc 1
! 68: process.
! 69: .It Fl l
! 70: Allow specification
! 71: of an arbitrary precision math library.
1.2 deraadt 72: .El
1.1 otto 73: .Pp
74: The syntax for
1.4 ! jmc 75: .Nm
! 76: programs is as follows:
! 77: .Sq L
! 78: means letter a-z;
! 79: .Sq E
! 80: means expression;
! 81: .Sq S
! 82: means statement.
1.1 otto 83: .Pp
84: Comments
85: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
1.4 ! jmc 86: are enclosed in /* and */
1.1 otto 87: .Ed
88: .Pp
89: Names
90: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
91: simple variables: L
92: array elements: L [ E ]
93: The words `ibase', `obase', and `scale'
94: .Ed
95: .Pp
96: Other operands
97: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
1.4 ! jmc 98: arbitrarily long numbers with optional sign and decimal point
! 99: ( E )
1.1 otto 100: sqrt ( E )
101: length ( E ) number of significant decimal digits
102: scale ( E ) number of digits right of decimal point
103: L ( E , ... , E )
104: .Ed
105: .Pp
106: Operators
107: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
1.4 ! jmc 108: + \- * / % ^ (`%' is remainder; `^' is power)
! 109: ++ \-\- (prefix and postfix; apply to names)
! 110: == <= >= != < >
! 111: = += \-= *= /= %= ^=
1.1 otto 112: .Ed
113: .Pp
114: Statements
115: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
116: E
117: { S ; ... ; S }
118: if ( E ) S
119: while ( E ) S
120: for ( E ; E ; E ) S
121: null statement
122: break
123: quit
124: .Ed
125: .Pp
126: Function definitions
127: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
128: define L ( L ,..., L ) {
129: auto L, ... , L
130: S; ... S
131: return ( E )
132: }
133: .Ed
134: .Pp
135: Functions in
1.4 ! jmc 136: .Fl lm
1.1 otto 137: math library
138: .Bl -tag -width j(n,x) -offset indent -compact
139: .It s(x)
140: sine
141: .It c(x)
142: cosine
143: .It e(x)
144: exponential
145: .It l(x)
146: log
147: .It a(x)
148: arctangent
149: .It j(n,x)
150: Bessel function
151: .El
152: .Pp
153: All function arguments are passed by value.
154: .Pp
155: The value of a statement that is an expression is printed
156: unless the main operator is an assignment.
157: Either semicolons or newlines may separate statements.
158: Assignment to
159: .Ar scale
160: influences the number of digits to be retained on arithmetic
161: operations in the manner of
1.4 ! jmc 162: .Xr dc 1 .
1.1 otto 163: Assignments to
164: .Ar ibase
165: or
166: .Ar obase
167: set the input and output number radix respectively.
168: .Pp
169: The same letter may be used as an array, a function,
170: and a simple variable simultaneously.
171: All variables are global to the program.
172: `Auto' variables are pushed down during function calls.
173: When using arrays as function arguments
1.4 ! jmc 174: or defining them as automatic variables,
1.1 otto 175: empty square brackets must follow the array name.
176: .Pp
177: For example
178: .Bd -literal -offset indent
179: scale = 20
180: define e(x){
181: auto a, b, c, i, s
182: a = 1
183: b = 1
184: s = 1
185: for(i=1; 1==1; i++){
186: a = a*x
187: b = b*i
188: c = a/b
189: if(c == 0) return(s)
190: s = s+c
191: }
192: }
193: .Ed
194: .Pp
195: defines a function to compute an approximate value of
196: the exponential function and
197: .Pp
198: .Dl for(i=1; i<=10; i++) e(i)
199: .Pp
200: prints approximate values of the exponential function of
201: the first ten integers.
202: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.4 ! jmc 203: .Xr dc 1
1.1 otto 204: .Rs
205: .%A L. L. Cherry
206: .%A R. Morris
207: .%T "BC \- An arbitrary precision desk-calculator language"
208: .Re
1.3 otto 209: .Sh STANDARDS
210: The
211: .Nm
212: utility is expected to conform to the
213: .St -p1003.2
1.4 ! jmc 214: specification.
1.1 otto 215: .Sh HISTORY
216: The
1.4 ! jmc 217: .Nm
1.1 otto 218: command appeared in
219: .At v6 .
220: .Sh BUGS
1.4 ! jmc 221: No
! 222: .Sq && ,
! 223: .Sq \(or\(or ,
! 224: or
! 225: .Sq \&!
! 226: operators.
1.1 otto 227: .Pp
228: .Ql For
1.4 ! jmc 229: statements must have all three E's.
1.1 otto 230: .Pp
231: .Ql Quit
232: is interpreted when read, not when executed.
1.3 otto 233: .Pp
234: Some non-portable extensions, as found in the GNU version of the
235: .Nm
236: utility are not implemented (yet).
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