Annotation of src/usr.bin/bc/bc.1, Revision 1.8
1.8 ! jmc 1: .\" $OpenBSD: bc.1,v 1.7 2003/10/19 19:21:48 otto Exp $
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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
1.5 otto 45: .Op Ar file ...
1.1 otto 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
1.6 otto 123: continue
1.1 otto 124: quit
1.6 otto 125: a string of characters, enclosed in double quotes
1.1 otto 126: .Ed
127: .Pp
1.8 ! jmc 128: All three E's in a for statement may be empty.
1.7 otto 129: This is a non-portable extension.
1.8 ! jmc 130: The continue statement is also a non-portable extension.
1.7 otto 131: .Pp
1.1 otto 132: Function definitions
133: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
134: define L ( L ,..., L ) {
135: auto L, ... , L
136: S; ... S
137: return ( E )
138: }
139: .Ed
1.5 otto 140: .Pp
141: The sequence
142: .Sq \e\<newline><whitespace>
143: is ignored within numbers.
1.6 otto 144: A string may contain any character, except double quote.
1.1 otto 145: .Pp
146: Functions in
1.4 jmc 147: .Fl lm
1.1 otto 148: math library
149: .Bl -tag -width j(n,x) -offset indent -compact
150: .It s(x)
151: sine
152: .It c(x)
153: cosine
154: .It e(x)
155: exponential
156: .It l(x)
157: log
158: .It a(x)
159: arctangent
160: .It j(n,x)
161: Bessel function
162: .El
163: .Pp
164: All function arguments are passed by value.
165: .Pp
166: The value of a statement that is an expression is printed
167: unless the main operator is an assignment.
168: Either semicolons or newlines may separate statements.
169: Assignment to
170: .Ar scale
171: influences the number of digits to be retained on arithmetic
172: operations in the manner of
1.4 jmc 173: .Xr dc 1 .
1.1 otto 174: Assignments to
175: .Ar ibase
176: or
177: .Ar obase
178: set the input and output number radix respectively.
179: .Pp
180: The same letter may be used as an array, a function,
181: and a simple variable simultaneously.
182: All variables are global to the program.
183: `Auto' variables are pushed down during function calls.
184: When using arrays as function arguments
1.4 jmc 185: or defining them as automatic variables,
1.1 otto 186: empty square brackets must follow the array name.
187: .Pp
188: For example
189: .Bd -literal -offset indent
190: scale = 20
191: define e(x){
192: auto a, b, c, i, s
193: a = 1
194: b = 1
195: s = 1
196: for(i=1; 1==1; i++){
197: a = a*x
198: b = b*i
199: c = a/b
200: if(c == 0) return(s)
201: s = s+c
202: }
203: }
204: .Ed
205: .Pp
206: defines a function to compute an approximate value of
207: the exponential function and
208: .Pp
209: .Dl for(i=1; i<=10; i++) e(i)
210: .Pp
211: prints approximate values of the exponential function of
212: the first ten integers.
213: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.4 jmc 214: .Xr dc 1
1.1 otto 215: .Rs
216: .%A L. L. Cherry
217: .%A R. Morris
218: .%T "BC \- An arbitrary precision desk-calculator language"
219: .Re
1.3 otto 220: .Sh STANDARDS
221: The
222: .Nm
223: utility is expected to conform to the
224: .St -p1003.2
1.4 jmc 225: specification.
1.1 otto 226: .Sh HISTORY
227: The
1.4 jmc 228: .Nm
1.1 otto 229: command appeared in
230: .At v6 .
231: .Sh BUGS
1.4 jmc 232: No
233: .Sq && ,
234: .Sq \(or\(or ,
235: or
236: .Sq \&!
237: operators.
1.1 otto 238: .Pp
239: .Ql Quit
240: is interpreted when read, not when executed.
1.3 otto 241: .Pp
242: Some non-portable extensions, as found in the GNU version of the
243: .Nm
244: utility are not implemented (yet).
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