


DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


NAME
       dc - an arbitrary precision calculator

SYNOPSIS
       dc

DESCRIPTION
       Dc  is  a  reverse-polish  desk  calculator which supports
       unlimited precision arithmetic.  It  also  allows  you  to
       define  and call macros.  Normally dc reads from the stan-
       dard input; if any command arguments are given to it, they
       are  filenames,  and dc reads and executes the contents of
       the files before reading from standard input.  All  normal
       output is to standard output; all error output is to stan-
       dard error.

       A reverse-polish calculator stores  numbers  on  a  stack.
       Entering  a  number  pushes  it  on the stack.  Arithmetic
       operations pop  arguments  off  the  stack  and  push  the
       results.

       To  enter a number in dc, type the digits with an optional
       decimal point.  Exponential notation is not supported.  To
       enter  a  negative  number,  begin  the number with ``_''.
       ``-'' cannot be used for this, as it is a binary  operator
       for  subtraction instead.  To enter two numbers in succes-
       sion, separate them with spaces or newlines.   These  have
       no meaning as commands.

Printing Commands
       p      Prints  the  value on the top of the stack, without
              altering the stack.  A newline is printed after the
              value.

       n      Prints  the  value on the top of the stack, popping
              it off, and does not print a newline after.

       P      Pops off the value on top of the stack.  If it is a
              string,  it  is  simply  printed without a trailing
              newline.  Otherwise it is a number, and the integer
              portion  of  its absolute value is printed out as a
              "base (UCHAR_MAX+1)" byte  stream.   Assuming  that
              (UCHAR_MAX+1)  is  256  (as  it is on most machines
              with 8-bit bytes), the sequence  KSK  0k1/  [_1*]sx
              d0>x  [256~aPd0<x]dsxx  sxLKk could also accomplish
              this function, except for the side-effect of  clob-
              bering the x register.

       f      Prints  the  entire  contents  of the stack without
              altering anything.  This is a good command  to  use
              if  you  are  lost  or  want to figure out what the
              effect of some command has been.





GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          1





DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


Arithmetic
       +      Pops two values  off  the  stack,  adds  them,  and
              pushes  the result.  The precision of the result is
              determined only by the values of the arguments, and
              is enough to be exact.

       -      Pops  two  values,  subtracts  the first one popped
              from the second one popped, and pushes the  result.

       *      Pops  two  values,  multiplies them, and pushes the
              result.  The  number  of  fraction  digits  in  the
              result  depends  on the current precision value and
              the number of fraction digits in the two arguments.

       /      Pops two values, divides the second one popped from
              the first one popped, and pushes the  result.   The
              number  of fraction digits is specified by the pre-
              cision value.

       %      Pops two values,  computes  the  remainder  of  the
              division  that  the  / command would do, and pushes
              that.  The value computed is the same as that  com-
              puted by the sequence Sd dld/ Ld*- .

       ~      Pops two values, divides the second one popped from
              the first  one  popped.   The  quotient  is  pushed
              first,  and the remainder is pushed next.  The num-
              ber of fraction digits  used  in  the  division  is
              specified  by  the  precision value.  (The sequence
              SdSn lnld/ LnLd% could also accomplish  this  func-
              tion, with slightly different error checking.)

       ^      Pops  two values and exponentiates, using the first
              value popped as the exponent and the second  popped
              as  the base.  The fraction part of the exponent is
              ignored.  The precision value specifies the  number
              of fraction digits in the result.

       |      Pops three values and computes a modular exponenti-
              ation.  The first  value  popped  is  used  as  the
              reduction  modulus;  this  value must be a non-zero
              number, and  should  be  an  integer.   The  second
              popped  is used as the exponent; this value must be
              a non-negative number, and any fractional  part  of
              this  exponent  will  be  ignored.  The third value
              popped is the base which gets exponentiated,  which
              should  be  an integer.  For small integers this is
              like the sequence Sm^Lm%, but, unlike ^, this  com-
              mand will work with arbritrarily large exponents.

       v      Pops  one  value,  computes  its  square  root, and
              pushes that.  The  precision  value  specifies  the
              number of fraction digits in the result.




GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          2





DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


       Most arithmetic operations are affected by the ``precision
       value'', which you  can  set  with  the  k  command.   The
       default  precision  value  is  zero,  which means that all
       arithmetic except for addition  and  subtraction  produces
       integer results.

Stack Control
       c      Clears the stack, rendering it empty.

       d      Duplicates the value on the top of the stack, push-
              ing another copy of it.  Thus, ``4d*p'' computes  4
              squared and prints it.

       r      Reverses the order of (swaps) the top two values on
              the stack.

Registers
       Dc provides at least 256 memory registers, each named by a
       single character.  You can store a number or a string in a
       register and retrieve it later.

       sr     Pop the value off the top of the stack and store it
              into register r.

       lr     Copy  the  value in register r and push it onto the
              stack.  This does not alter the contents of r.

       Each register also contains its own  stack.   The  current
       register value is the top of the register's stack.

       Sr     Pop  the  value off the top of the (main) stack and
              push it onto the stack of register r.  The previous
              value of the register becomes inaccessible.

       Lr     Pop the value off the top of register r's stack and
              push it onto the main stack.  The previous value in
              register  r's  stack, if any, is now accessible via
              the lr command.

Parameters
       Dc has three parameters that control  its  operation:  the
       precision,  the  input  radix,  and the output radix.  The
       precision specifies the number of fraction digits to  keep
       in  the  result  of most arithmetic operations.  The input
       radix controls the interpretation of numbers typed in; all
       numbers typed in use this radix.  The output radix is used
       for printing numbers.

       The input and output radices are separate parameters;  you
       can  make  them unequal, which can be useful or confusing.
       The input radix must be between 2 and 16  inclusive.   The
       output  radix  must  be at least 2.  The precision must be
       zero or greater.  The precision is always measured in dec-
       imal  digits,  regardless  of  the current input or output



GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          3





DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


       radix.

       i      Pops the value off the top of the stack and uses it
              to set the input radix.

       o      Pops the value off the top of the stack and uses it
              to set the output radix.

       k      Pops the value off the top of the stack and uses it
              to set the precision.

       I      Pushes the current input radix on the stack.

       O      Pushes the current output radix on the stack.

       K      Pushes the current precision on the stack.

Strings
       Dc can operate on strings as well as on numbers.  The only
       things you can do with strings are print them and  execute
       them  as  macros  (which  means  that  the contents of the
       string are processed as dc commands).  All  registers  and
       the  stack  can  hold strings, and dc always knows whether
       any given object is a string or a number.   Some  commands
       such  as arithmetic operations demand numbers as arguments
       and print errors if given  strings.   Other  commands  can
       accept  either  a  number  or a string; for example, the p
       command can accept either and prints the object  according
       to its type.

       [characters]
              Makes  a  string  containing  characters (contained
              between balanced [ and ] characters), and pushes it
              on the stack.  For example, [foo]P prints the char-
              acters foo (with no newline).

       a      The top-of-stack is popped.  If it  was  a  number,
              then the low-order byte of this number is converted
              into a string and pushed onto the stack.  Otherwise
              the  top-of-stack was a string, and the first char-
              acter of that string is pushed back.

       x      Pops a value off the stack and  executes  it  as  a
              macro.   Normally it should be a string; if it is a
              number, it is simply pushed back  onto  the  stack.
              For  example,  [1p]x  executes  the  macro 1p which
              pushes 1 on the stack and prints 1  on  a  separate
              line.

       Macros are most often stored in registers; [1p]sa stores a
       macro to print 1 into register a,  and  lax  invokes  this
       macro.

       >r     Pops  two  values  off  the stack and compares them



GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          4





DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


              assuming they are numbers, executing  the  contents
              of  register  r  as a macro if the original top-of-
              stack is greater.  Thus, 1 2>a will invoke register
              a's contents and 2 1>a will not.

       !>r    Similar  but invokes the macro if the original top-
              of-stack is not greater than (less  than  or  equal
              to) what was the second-to-top.

       <r     Similar  but invokes the macro if the original top-
              of-stack is less.

       !<r    Similar but invokes the macro if the original  top-
              of-stack  is  not  less than (greater than or equal
              to) what was the second-to-top.

       =r     Similar but invokes the macro if  the  two  numbers
              popped are equal.

       !=r    Similar  but  invokes  the macro if the two numbers
              popped are not equal.

       ?      Reads a line from the  terminal  and  executes  it.
              This  command  allows a macro to request input from
              the user.

       q      exits from a macro and also from  the  macro  which
              invoked  it.  If called from the top level, or from
              a macro which was  called  directly  from  the  top
              level, the q command will cause dc to exit.

       Q      Pops  a  value off the stack and uses it as a count
              of levels of macro execution to be  exited.   Thus,
              3Q  exits  three  levels.  The Q command will never
              cause dc to exit.

Status Inquiry
       Z      Pops a value off the stack, calculates  the  number
              of digits it has (or number of characters, if it is
              a string) and pushes that number.

       X      Pops a value off the stack, calculates  the  number
              of  fraction digits it has, and pushes that number.
              For a string, the value pushed is 0.

       z      Pushes the  current  stack  depth:  the  number  of
              objects  on the stack before the execution of the z
              command.

Miscellaneous
       !      Will run the rest of the line as a system  command.
              Note  that  parsing  of the !<, !=, and !> commands
              take precidence, so if you want to  run  a  command
              starting  with  <,  =,  or > you will need to add a



GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          5





DC(1)                                                       DC(1)


              space after the !.

       #      Will interpret the rest of the line as a comment.

       :r     Will pop the top two values off of the stack.   The
              old second-to-top value will be stored in the array
              r, indexed by the old top-of-stack value.

       ;r     Pops the top-of-stack and uses it as an index  into
              the  array  r.   The  selected value is then pushed
              onto the stack.

       Note that each stacked instance of a register has its  own
       array  associated  with  it.  Thus 1 0:a 0Sa 2 0:a La 0;ap
       will print 1, because the 2 was stored in an  instance  of
       0:a that was later popped.

BUGS
       Email  bug  reports  to bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu.  Be
       sure to include the word ``dc'' somewhere  in  the  ``Sub-
       ject:'' field.




































GNU Project                 1997-03-25                          6


