xref: /freebsd/contrib/bc/gen/dc_help.txt (revision e8d8bef961a50d4dc22501cde4fb9fb0be1b2532)
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 dc help text.
33 *
34 */
35
36usage: %s [options] [file...]
37
38dc is a reverse-polish notation command-line calculator which supports unlimited
39precision arithmetic. For details, use `man %s` or see the online documentation
40at https://git.yzena.com/gavin/bc/src/tag/%s/manuals/bc/%s.1.md.
41
42This dc is (mostly) compatible with the OpenBSD dc and the GNU dc. See the
43OpenBSD man page (http://man.openbsd.org/OpenBSD-current/man1/dc.1) and the GNU
44dc manual (https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/dc-1.05/html_mono/dc.html)
45for details.
46
47This dc has a few differences from the two above:
48
49  1) When printing a byte stream (command "P"), this bc follows what the FreeBSD
50     dc does.
51  2) This dc implements the GNU extensions for divmod ("~") and modular
52     exponentiation ("|").
53  3) This dc implements all FreeBSD extensions, except for "J" and "M".
54  4) This dc does not implement the run command ("!"), for security reasons.
55  5) Like the FreeBSD dc, this dc supports extended registers. However, they are
56     implemented differently. When it encounters whitespace where a register
57     should be, it skips the whitespace. If the character following is not
58     a lowercase letter, an error is issued. Otherwise, the register name is
59     parsed by the following regex:
60
61       [a-z][a-z0-9_]*
62
63     This generally means that register names will be surrounded by whitespace.
64
65     Examples:
66
67       l idx s temp L index S temp2 < do_thing
68
69     Also note that, unlike the FreeBSD dc, extended registers are not even
70     parsed unless the "-x" option is given. Instead, the space after a command
71     that requires a register name is taken as the register name.
72
73Options:
74
75  -e  expr  --expression=expr
76
77      Run "expr" and quit. If multiple expressions or files (see below) are
78      given, they are all run. After running, dc will exit.
79
80  -f  file  --file=file
81
82      Run the dc code in "file" and exit. See above.
83
84  -h  --help
85
86      Print this usage message and exit.
87
88  -i  --interactive
89
90      Put dc into interactive mode. See the man page for more details.
91
92  -P  --no-prompt
93
94      Disable the prompts in interactive mode.
95
96  -R  --no-read-prompt
97
98      Disable the read prompt in interactive mode.
99
100  -V  --version
101
102      Print version and copyright and exit.
103
104  -x  --extended-register
105
106      Enable extended register mode.
107