gen/bc_help.txt

/*
 * *****************************************************************************
 *
 * Copyright 2018 Gavin D. Howard
 *
 * Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any
 * purpose with or without fee is hereby granted.
 *
 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH
 * REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY
 * AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT,
 * INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM
 * LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR
 * OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
 * PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
 *
 * *****************************************************************************
 *
 * The bc help text.
 *
 */

usage: %s [options] [file...]

bc is a command-line, arbitrary-precision calculator with a Turing-complete
language. For details, see this bc's full manual
(https://github.com/gavinhoward/bc/blob/master/manuals/bc.md).

This bc is compatible with both the GNU bc and the POSIX bc spec. See the GNU bc
manual (https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/manual/bc.html) and bc spec
(http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/bc.html)
for details.

This bc has four differences to the GNU bc:

  1) The period (.) can also be used as a shortcut for "last", as in the BSD bc.
  2) Arrays are copied before being passed as arguments to functions. This
     behavior is required by the bc spec.
  3) Arrays can be passed to the builtin "length" function to get the number of
     elements currently in the array. The following example prints "1":

       a[0] = 0
       length(a[])

  4) The precedence of the boolean "not" operator (!) is equal to that of the
     unary minus (-), or negation, operator. This still allows POSIX-compliant
     scripts to work while somewhat preserving expected behavior (versus C) and
     making parsing easier.

Options:

  -e  expr  --expression=expr

      Run "expr" and quit. If multiple expressions or files (see below) are
      given, they are all run before executing from stdin.

  -f  file  --file=file

      Run the bc code in "file" and exit. See above as well.

  -h  --help

      Print this usage message and exit.

  -i  --interactive

      Force interactive mode.

  -l  --mathlib

      Use predefined math routines:

          s(expr)  =  sine of expr in radians
          c(expr)  =  cosine of expr in radians
          a(expr)  =  arctangent of expr, returning radians
          l(expr)  =  natural log of expr
          e(expr)  =  raises e to the power of expr
          j(n, x)  =  Bessel function of integer order n of x

  -q  --quiet

      Don't print version and copyright.

  -s  --standard

      Error if any non-POSIX extensions are used.

  -w  --warn

      Warn if any non-POSIX extensions are used.

  -v  --version

      Print version information and copyright and exit.