starbase

`calc` - a command line calcutator

SYNOPSYS

        calc    'expression'

DESCRIPTION

calc is a command line calculator. It evaluates its arguments as a single awk language expression and prints the result on the standard output.

The results of the last few expressions evaluated by calc are kept in a file by default named ~/.calc. The file is used as a stack. The top value may be accessed in a calc expression as “@@”. Other values on the stack may be accessed with an index on “@@”. for example “@@[2]” is the second value on the stack. The name of the stack file may be set with the -s option.

In csh it is convenient to alias calc to “=” to mimic the behavior of the IRAF cl compute mode. File name substitution can be turned off within the alias so that “*” need not be escaped within an expression and parentheses are escaped.

        alias = 'set noglob;calc `echo "\!*" | sed -e s/\(/\\\(/ -e s/\)/\\\)/`;unset noglob'
        = 6*5
        30
        = (4+10)*2
        28

OPTIONS

* -s *filename* Set the calc stack file name (default ~/.calc).
* -D Print out the awk program to be executed before forking.

EXAMPLES

` Add a couple of number on the command line:

        johnpanic : calc 4 + 6
        10

Add a couple of number in hh:mm:ss format:

        johnpanic : calc 4:00:00 + 0:30:00
        4:30:00

Add a number to the previous answer:

        johnpanic : calc @ + 2:00:00
        6:30:00

’

ENVIRONMENT

TABLEAWK the name of the awk interpreter to execute. The default interpreter is tawk.
TABLEFUNCTIONS a path specifying directories to find the source for undefined functions.

Undefined user written function may be automatically included in the text of programs. The environment variable TABLEFUNCTIONS names a path which is searched for undefined functions. If a function is mentioned in a user program or expression but not defined, a file found in the TABLEFUNCTIONS path with the name of the undefined function will be included in the program. This feature allows a library of usefull functions to be built and accessed easily.
ARRDEL array delimiter for splitting columns into arrays.