xref: /freebsd/contrib/bc/gen/bc_help.txt (revision dd41de95a84d979615a2ef11df6850622bf6184e)
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` or see the online documentation at
40https://git.yzena.com/gavin/bc/src/tag/%s/manuals/bc/%s.1.md.
41
42This bc is compatible with both the GNU bc and the POSIX bc spec. See the GNU bc
43manual (https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/bc.html) and bc spec
44(http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/bc.html)
45for details.
46
47This bc has three differences to the GNU bc:
48
49  1) Arrays can be passed to the builtin "length" function to get the number of
50     elements currently in the array. The following example prints "1":
51
52       a[0] = 0
53       length(a[])
54
55  2) The precedence of the boolean "not" operator (!) is equal to that of the
56     unary minus (-), or negation, operator. This still allows POSIX-compliant
57     scripts to work while somewhat preserving expected behavior (versus C) and
58     making parsing easier.
59  3) This bc has many more extensions than the GNU bc does. For details, see the
60     man page or online documentation.
61
62This bc also implements the dot (.) extension of the BSD bc.
63
64Options:
65
66  -e  expr  --expression=expr
67
68      Run "expr" and quit. If multiple expressions or files (see below) are
69      given, they are all run before executing from stdin.
70
71  -f  file  --file=file
72
73      Run the bc code in "file" and exit. See above as well.
74
75  -g  --global-stacks
76
77      Turn scale, ibase, and obase into stacks. This makes the value of each be
78      be restored on returning from functions. See the man page or online
79      documentation for more details.
80
81  -h  --help
82
83      Print this usage message and exit.
84
85  -i  --interactive
86
87      Force interactive mode.
88
89  -l  --mathlib
90
91      Use predefined math routines:
92
93          s(expr)  =  sine of expr in radians
94          c(expr)  =  cosine of expr in radians
95          a(expr)  =  arctangent of expr, returning radians
96          l(expr)  =  natural log of expr
97          e(expr)  =  raises e to the power of expr
98          j(n, x)  =  Bessel function of integer order n of x
99
100      This bc may load more functions with these options. See the manpage or
101      online documentation for details.
102
103  -P  --no-prompt
104
105      Disable the prompts in interactive mode.
106
107  -R  --no-read-prompt
108
109      Disable the read prompt in interactive mode.
110
111  -q  --quiet
112
113      Don't print version and copyright.
114
115  -s  --standard
116
117      Error if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
118
119  -w  --warn
120
121      Warn if any non-POSIX extensions are used.
122
123  -v  --version
124
125      Print version information and copyright and exit.
126