xref: /freebsd/contrib/bc/gen/bc_help.txt (revision 8036e7876d23145ca4bce797608e2ffb3c06a870)
1/*
2 * *****************************************************************************
3 *
4 * Copyright (c) 2018-2020 Gavin D. Howard and contributors.
5 *
6 * All rights reserved.
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
61Options:
62
63  -e  expr  --expression=expr
64
65      Run "expr" and quit. If multiple expressions or files (see below) are
66      given, they are all run before executing from stdin.
67
68  -f  file  --file=file
69
70      Run the bc code in "file" and exit. See above as well.
71
72  -g  --global-stacks
73
74      Turn scale, ibase, and obase into stacks. This makes the value of each be
75      be restored on returning from functions. See the man page for more
76      details.
77
78  -h  --help
79
80      Print this usage message and exit.
81
82  -i  --interactive
83
84      Force interactive mode.
85
86  -l  --mathlib
87
88      Use predefined math routines:
89
90          s(expr)  =  sine of expr in radians
91          c(expr)  =  cosine of expr in radians
92          a(expr)  =  arctangent of expr, returning radians
93          l(expr)  =  natural log of expr
94          e(expr)  =  raises e to the power of expr
95          j(n, x)  =  Bessel function of integer order n of x
96
97  -P  --no-prompt
98
99      Disable the prompt in interactive mode.
100
101  -q  --quiet
102
103      Don't print version and copyright.
104
105  -s  --standard
106
107      Error if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
108
109  -w  --warn
110
111      Warn if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
112
113  -v  --version
114
115      Print version information and copyright and exit.
116