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NAME

       dc - an arbitrary precision calculator

SYNOPSIS

       dc [-V] [--version] [-h] [--help]
          [-e scriptexpression] [--expression=scriptexpression]
          [-f scriptfile] [--file=scriptfile]
          [file ...]

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 standard 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 standard 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 (using upper  case  letters  A
       through  F as "digits" when working with input bases greater than ten),
       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  succession,  separate  them with spaces or
       newlines.  These have no meaning as commands.

OPTIONS

       dc may be invoked with the following command-line options:

       -V

       --version
              Print out the version of dc that is being run  and  a  copyright
              notice, then exit.

       -h

       --help Print  a  usage  message  briefly summarizing these command-line
              options and the bug-reporting address, then exit.

       -e script

       --expression=script
              Add the commands in script to the set  of  commands  to  be  run
              while processing the input.

       -f script-file

       --file=script-file
              Add the commands contained in the file script-file to the set of
              commands to be run while processing the input.

       If any command-line parameters remain after processing the above, these
       parameters are interpreted as the names of input files to be processed.
       A file name of - refers to the standard  input  stream.   The  standard
       input will processed if no script files or expressions are specified.

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 it 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      KSK0k1/_1Ss      [ls*]Sxd0>x
              [256~Ssd0<x]dsxxsx[q]Sq[Lsd0>qaPlxx]  dsxxsx0sqLqsxLxLK+k  could
              also accomplish this function.  (Much of the complexity  of  the
              above  native-dc  code  is due to the ~ computing the characters
              backwards, and the desire to ensure that all registers  wind  up
              back in their original states.)

       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.

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 precision 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 computed 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 number of fraction digits used in the division
              is specified by the precision value.  (The sequence  SdSn  lnld/
              LnLd%   could  also  accomplish  this  function,  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 exponentiation.  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  command
              will work with arbitrarily 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.

       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,  pushing  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.
              (This can also be accomplished with the sequence SaSbLaLb.)

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
       decimal digits, regardless of the current input or output 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  has  a limited ability to 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 characters 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 character 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  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.  The digit count for  a  number  does  not  include  any
              leading  zeros,  even  if those appear to the right of the radix
              point.

       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  precedence,  so  if
              you want to run a command starting with <, =, or > you will need
              to add a 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.

FILES

       ~/.dcrc         The  commands  in this file will be executed when dc is
       first run.

BUGS

       Email bug reports to bug-dc@gnu.org.