man dc Command

Man page for apt-get dc Command

Man Page for dc in Linux

This tutorial shows the man page for man dc in linux.

Open terminal with 'su' access and type the command as shown below:
man dc

Result of the Command Execution shown below:

dc(1)                                                                                                                                                          dc(1)



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 inte 
              ger 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~Ssd0qaPlxx] 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 num 
              ber, 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 com 
       mands 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.   Other 
              wise 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 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 !.

       

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