man(1) Manual page archive


     DC(1)                                                       DC(1)

     NAME
          dc - desk calculator

     SYNOPSIS
          dc [ file ]

     DESCRIPTION
          Dc is an arbitrary precision desk calculator.  Ordinarily it
          operates on decimal integers, but one may specify an input
          base, output base, and a number of fractional digits to be
          maintained.  The overall structure of dc is a stacking
          (reverse Polish) calculator.  If an argument is given, input
          is taken from that file until its end, then from the stan-
          dard input.  The following constructions are recognized:

          number
               The value of the number is pushed on the stack.  A num-
               ber is an unbroken string of the digits 0-9A-F or
               0-9a-f.  A hexadecimal number beginning with a lower
               case letter must be preceded by a zero to distinguish
               it from the command associated with the letter.  It may
               be preceded by an underscore _ to input a negative num-
               ber.  Numbers may contain decimal points.

          +  - /  *  %  ^
               Add `+', subtract `-', multiply `*', divide `/',
               remainder `%', or exponentiate `^' the top two values
               on the stack.  The two entries are popped off the
               stack; the result is pushed on the stack in their
               place.  Any fractional part of an exponent is ignored.

          sx
          Sx   Pop the top of the stack and store into a register
               named x, where x may be any character.  Under operation
               S register x is treated as a stack and the value is
               pushed on it.

          lx
          Lx   Push the value in register x onto the stack.  The reg-
               ister x is not altered.  All registers start with zero
               value.  Under operation L register x is treated as a
               stack and its top value is popped onto the main stack.

          d    Duplicate the top value on the stack.

          p    Print the top value on the stack.  The top value
               remains unchanged.  P interprets the top of the stack
               as an text string, removes it, and prints it.

          f    Print the values on the stack.

     DC(1)                                                       DC(1)

          q
          Q    Exit the program.  If executing a string, the recursion
               level is popped by two.  Under operation Q the top
               value on the stack is popped and the string execution
               level is popped by that value.

          x    Treat the top element of the stack as a character
               string and execute it as a string of dc commands.

          X    Replace the number on the top of the stack with its
               scale factor.

          [ ... ]
               Put the bracketed text string on the top of the stack.

          <x
          >x
          =x   Pop and compare the top two elements of the stack.
               Register x is executed if they obey the stated rela-
               tion.

          v    Replace the top element on the stack by its square
               root.  Any existing fractional part of the argument is
               taken into account, but otherwise the scale factor is
               ignored.

          !    Interpret the rest of the line as a shell command.

          c    Clear the stack.

          i    The top value on the stack is popped and used as the
               number base for further input.

          I    Push the input base on the top of the stack.

          o    The top value on the stack is popped and used as the
               number base for further output.  In bases larger than
               10, each `digit' prints as a group of decimal digits.

          O    Push the output base on the top of the stack.

          k    Pop the top of the stack, and use that value as a non-
               negative scale factor: the appropriate number of places
               are printed on output, and maintained during multipli-
               cation, division, and exponentiation.  The interaction
               of scale factor, input base, and output base will be
               reasonable if all are changed together.

          z    Push the stack level onto the stack.

          Z    Replace the number on the top of the stack with its
               length.

     DC(1)                                                       DC(1)

          ?    A line of input is taken from the input source (usually
               the terminal) and executed.

          ; :  Used by bc for array operations.

          The scale factor set by k determines how many digits are
          kept to the right of the decimal point.  If s is the current
          scale factor, sa is the scale of the first operand, sb is
          the scale of the second, and b is the (integer) second
          operand, results are truncated to the following scales.

               +,-  max(sa,sb)
               *    min(sa+sb , max(s,sa,sb))
               /    s
               %    so that dividend = divisor*quotient + remainder; remainder has sign of dividend
               ^    min(sa×|b|, max(s,sa))
               v    max(s,sa)

     EXAMPLES
          Print the first ten values of n!

               [la1+dsa*pla10>y]sy
               0sa1
               lyx

     SOURCE
          /src/cmd/dc.c

     SEE ALSO
          bc(1), hoc(1)

     DIAGNOSTICS
          x `is unimplemented', where x is an octal number: an inter-
          nal error.
          `Out of headers' for too many numbers being kept around.
          `Nesting depth' for too many levels of nested execution.

     BUGS
          When the input base exceeds 16, there is no notation for
          digits greater than F.

          Past its time.