Annotation of src/usr.bin/bc/bc.1, Revision 1.9
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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
1.9 ! otto 119: if ( E ) S else S
1.1 otto 120: while ( E ) S
121: for ( E ; E ; E ) S
122: null statement
123: break
1.6 otto 124: continue
1.1 otto 125: quit
1.6 otto 126: a string of characters, enclosed in double quotes
1.1 otto 127: .Ed
128: .Pp
1.9 ! otto 129: The if statement with an else branch is a non-portable extension.
1.8 jmc 130: All three E's in a for statement may be empty.
1.7 otto 131: This is a non-portable extension.
1.8 jmc 132: The continue statement is also a non-portable extension.
1.7 otto 133: .Pp
1.1 otto 134: Function definitions
135: .Bd -unfilled -offset indent -compact
136: define L ( L ,..., L ) {
137: auto L, ... , L
138: S; ... S
139: return ( E )
140: }
141: .Ed
1.5 otto 142: .Pp
143: The sequence
144: .Sq \e\<newline><whitespace>
145: is ignored within numbers.
1.6 otto 146: A string may contain any character, except double quote.
1.1 otto 147: .Pp
148: Functions in
1.4 jmc 149: .Fl lm
1.1 otto 150: math library
151: .Bl -tag -width j(n,x) -offset indent -compact
152: .It s(x)
153: sine
154: .It c(x)
155: cosine
156: .It e(x)
157: exponential
158: .It l(x)
159: log
160: .It a(x)
161: arctangent
162: .It j(n,x)
163: Bessel function
164: .El
165: .Pp
166: All function arguments are passed by value.
167: .Pp
168: The value of a statement that is an expression is printed
169: unless the main operator is an assignment.
170: Either semicolons or newlines may separate statements.
171: Assignment to
172: .Ar scale
173: influences the number of digits to be retained on arithmetic
174: operations in the manner of
1.4 jmc 175: .Xr dc 1 .
1.1 otto 176: Assignments to
177: .Ar ibase
178: or
179: .Ar obase
180: set the input and output number radix respectively.
181: .Pp
182: The same letter may be used as an array, a function,
183: and a simple variable simultaneously.
184: All variables are global to the program.
185: `Auto' variables are pushed down during function calls.
186: When using arrays as function arguments
1.4 jmc 187: or defining them as automatic variables,
1.1 otto 188: empty square brackets must follow the array name.
189: .Pp
190: For example
191: .Bd -literal -offset indent
192: scale = 20
193: define e(x){
194: auto a, b, c, i, s
195: a = 1
196: b = 1
197: s = 1
198: for(i=1; 1==1; i++){
199: a = a*x
200: b = b*i
201: c = a/b
202: if(c == 0) return(s)
203: s = s+c
204: }
205: }
206: .Ed
207: .Pp
208: defines a function to compute an approximate value of
209: the exponential function and
210: .Pp
211: .Dl for(i=1; i<=10; i++) e(i)
212: .Pp
213: prints approximate values of the exponential function of
214: the first ten integers.
215: .Sh SEE ALSO
1.4 jmc 216: .Xr dc 1
1.1 otto 217: .Rs
218: .%A L. L. Cherry
219: .%A R. Morris
220: .%T "BC \- An arbitrary precision desk-calculator language"
221: .Re
1.3 otto 222: .Sh STANDARDS
223: The
224: .Nm
225: utility is expected to conform to the
226: .St -p1003.2
1.4 jmc 227: specification.
1.1 otto 228: .Sh HISTORY
229: The
1.4 jmc 230: .Nm
1.1 otto 231: command appeared in
232: .At v6 .
233: .Sh BUGS
1.4 jmc 234: No
235: .Sq && ,
236: .Sq \(or\(or ,
237: or
238: .Sq \&!
239: operators.
1.1 otto 240: .Pp
241: .Ql Quit
242: is interpreted when read, not when executed.
1.3 otto 243: .Pp
244: Some non-portable extensions, as found in the GNU version of the
245: .Nm
246: utility are not implemented (yet).
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