xref: /freebsd/contrib/bc/gen/bc_help.txt (revision 410556f1f10fd35b350102725fd8504c3cb0afc8)
1/*
2 * *****************************************************************************
3 *
4 * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
5 *
6 * Copyright (c) 2018-2021 Gavin D. Howard and contributors.
7 *
8 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
9 * modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
10 *
11 * * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this
12 *   list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
13 *
14 * * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
15 *   this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
16 *   and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17 *
18 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS"
19 * AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
20 * IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
21 * ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
22 * LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR
23 * CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF
24 * SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS
25 * INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN
26 * CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE)
27 * ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
28 * POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
29 *
30 * *****************************************************************************
31 *
32 * The bc help text.
33 *
34 */
35
36usage: %s [options] [file...]
37
38bc is a command-line, arbitrary-precision calculator with a Turing-complete
39language. For details, use `man %s`.
40
41This bc is compatible with both the GNU bc and the POSIX bc spec. See the GNU bc
42manual (https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/bc.html) and bc spec
43(http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/bc.html)
44for details.
45
46This bc has three differences to the GNU bc:
47
48  1) Arrays can be passed to the builtin "length" function to get the number of
49     elements currently in the array. The following example prints "1":
50
51       a[0] = 0
52       length(a[])
53
54  2) The precedence of the boolean "not" operator (!) is equal to that of the
55     unary minus (-), or negation, operator. This still allows POSIX-compliant
56     scripts to work while somewhat preserving expected behavior (versus C) and
57     making parsing easier.
58  3) This bc has many more extensions than the GNU bc does. For details, see the
59     man page.
60
61This bc also implements the dot (.) extension of the BSD bc.
62
63Options:
64
65  -e  expr  --expression=expr
66
67      Run "expr" and quit. If multiple expressions or files (see below) are
68      given, they are all run before executing from stdin.
69
70  -f  file  --file=file
71
72      Run the bc code in "file" and exit. See above as well.
73
74  -g  --global-stacks
75
76      Turn scale, ibase, and obase into stacks. This makes the value of each be
77      be restored on returning from functions. See the man page for more
78      details.
79
80  -h  --help
81
82      Print this usage message and exit.
83
84  -i  --interactive
85
86      Force interactive mode.
87
88  -l  --mathlib
89
90      Use predefined math routines:
91
92          s(expr)  =  sine of expr in radians
93          c(expr)  =  cosine of expr in radians
94          a(expr)  =  arctangent of expr, returning radians
95          l(expr)  =  natural log of expr
96          e(expr)  =  raises e to the power of expr
97          j(n, x)  =  Bessel function of integer order n of x
98
99      This bc may load more functions with these options. See the manpage for
100      details.
101
102  -P  --no-prompt
103
104      Disable the prompt in interactive mode.
105
106  -q  --quiet
107
108      Don't print version and copyright.
109
110  -s  --standard
111
112      Error if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
113
114  -w  --warn
115
116      Warn if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
117
118  -v  --version
119
120      Print version information and copyright and exit.
121