A more functional command-line calculator
Jul 09, '07 07:30:01AM
Contributed by: fou51521
I have read all the hints about command line calculators, and I've tried just about all of them, including:
- Python
- awk
- bc
Unfortunately, none of these options had built-in functions like sin() or cos(), or constants like pi. For Python, in order to include the math library you have to type from math import *. But then to get it to do the things you want (like adjusting precision), you have to be familiar with Python and/or you have to read documentation on the Python math library. The problem with bc is that when you type bc -l you only get six built-in functions, such as s(), c(), a(), which are sine, cosine, and arctangent respectively. You don't get any built-in constants.
There's a better way, but it requires a small download of a program called wcalc. If you have Fink installed, you can just type fink install wcalc (or get the pre-compiled version via sudo apt-get install wcalc. After you've installed wcalc, on the command-line in Terminal, type wcalc and you're set to go. The program provides you with a prompt and tells you "Enter an expression to evaluate, q to quit, or ? for help." It's pretty self-explanatory.
[robg adds: The Fink version of wcalc is 1.7. However, on the home page I linked above, you can download version 2.2.2 for Mac OS X, which also includes a GUI version.]
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Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20070705014342292