Manual: xcalc
XCALC(1) General Commands Manual XCALC(1)
NAME
xcalc - scientific calculator for X
SYNOPSIS
xcalc [-stipple] [-rpn] [-toolkitoption...]
xcalc -version
xcalc -help
DESCRIPTION
xcalc is a scientific calculator desktop accessory that can emulate a TI-30 or an HP-10C.
OPTIONS
xcalc accepts all of the standard toolkit command line options along with these additional options:
-stipple
This option indicates that the background of the calculator should be drawn using a stipple of the foreground
and background colors. On monochrome displays improves the appearance.
-rpn This option indicates that Reverse Polish Notation should be used. In this mode the calculator will look and
behave like an HP-10C. Without this flag, it will emulate a TI-30.
-help This option indicates that xcalc should print its usage message and exit.
-version
This option indicates that xcalc should print its version and exit.
OPERATION
Pointer Usage: Operations may be performed with pointer button 1, or in some cases, with the keyboard. Many common
calculator operations have keyboard accelerators. To quit, press pointer button 3 on the AC key of the TI calcula‐
tor, or the ON key of the HP calculator.
Calculator Key Usage (TI mode): The numbered keys, the +/- key, and the +, -, *, /, and = keys all do exactly what
you would expect them to. It should be noted that the operators obey the standard rules of precedence. Thus, enter‐
ing "3+4*5=" results in "23", not "35". The parentheses can be used to override this. For example,
"(1+2+3)*(4+5+6)=" results in "6*15=90".
The entire number in the calculator display can be selected, in order to paste the result of a calculation into text.
The action procedures associated with each function are given below. These are useful if you are interested in
defining a custom calculator. The action used for all digit keys is digit(n), where n is the corresponding digit,
0..9.
1/x Replaces the number in the display with its reciprocal. The corresponding action procedure is recipro‐
cal().
x^2 Squares the number in the display. The corresponding action procedure is square().
SQRT Takes the square root of the number in the display. The corresponding action procedure is squareRoot().
CE/C When pressed once, clears the number in the display without clearing the state of the machine. Allows you
to re-enter a number if you make a mistake. Pressing it twice clears the state, also. The corresponding
action procedure for TI mode is clear().
AC Clears the display, the state, and the memory. Pressing it with the third pointer button turns off the
calculator, in that it exits the program. The action procedure to clear the state is off(); to quit,
quit().
INV Invert function. See the individual function keys for details. The corresponding action procedure is in‐
verse().
sin Computes the sine of the number in the display, as interpreted by the current DRG mode (see DRG, below).
If inverted, it computes the arcsine. The corresponding action procedure is sine().
cos Computes the cosine, or arccosine when inverted. The corresponding action procedure is cosine().
tan Computes the tangent, or arctangent when inverted. The corresponding action procedure is tangent().
DRG Changes the DRG mode, as indicated by 'DEG', 'RAD', or 'GRAD' at the bottom of the calculator ``liquid
crystal'' display. When in 'DEG' mode, numbers in the display are taken as being degrees. In 'RAD' mode,
numbers are in radians, and in 'GRAD' mode, numbers are in grads. When inverted, the DRG key has a feature
of converting degrees to radians to grads and vice-versa. Example: put the calculator into 'DEG' mode,
and enter "45 INV DRG". The display should now show something along the lines of ".785398", which is 45
degrees converted to radians. The corresponding action procedure is degree().
e The constant 'e'. (2.7182818...). The corresponding action procedure is e().
EE Used for entering exponential numbers. For example, to get "-2.3E-4" you'd enter "2 . 3 +/- EE 4 +/-".
The corresponding action procedure is scientific().
log Calculates the log (base 10) of the number in the display. When inverted, it raises "10.0" to the number
in the display. For example, entering "3 INV log" should result in "1000". The corresponding action pro‐
cedure is logarithm().
ln Calculates the log (base e) of the number in the display. When inverted, it raises "e" to the number in
the display. For example, entering "e ln" should result in "1". The corresponding action procedure is
naturalLog().
y^x Raises the number on the left to the power of the number on the right. For example "2 y^x 3 =" results in
"8", which is 2^3. For a further example, "(1+2+3) y^x (1+2) =" equals "6 y^x 3" which equals "216". The
corresponding action procedure is power().
not Performs a bitwise not. The corresponding action procedure is not().
and Performs a bitwise and. The corresponding action procedure is and().
or Performs a bitwise or. The corresponding action procedure is or().
xor Performs a bitwise exclusive or. The corresponding action procedure is xor().
trunc Truncates the number in the display to an integer. The corresponding action procedure is trunc().
PI The constant 'pi'. (3.1415927....) The corresponding action procedure is pi().
x! Computes the factorial of the number in the display. The number in the display must be an integer in the
range 0-500, though, depending on your math library, it might overflow long before that. The corresponding
action procedure is factorial().
( Left parenthesis. The corresponding action procedure for TI calculators is leftParen().
) Right parenthesis. The corresponding action procedure for TI calculators is rightParen().
base Changes the number base, as indicated by 'DEC', 'HEX, or 'OCT' at the bottom of the calculator display.
When in 'DEC' mode, numbers in the display are taken as being decimal (base 10). In 'HEX' mode, numbers
are in hexadecimal (base 16), and in 'OCT' mode, numbers are in octal (base 8). The corresponding action
procedure is base().
shl Performs an arithmetic bitwise shift left, For example, entering "1 shl 2" should result in "4". The cor‐
responding action procedure is shl().
shr Performs an arithmetic bitwise shift right, For example, entering "8 shr 1" should result in "4". The
corresponding action procedure is shr().
mod Performs the modulo operation, which calculates the remainder when dividing the first number by the second.
For example, entering "14 mod 8" should result in "6". The corresponding action procedure is mod().
/ Division. The corresponding action procedure is divide().
* Multiplication. The corresponding action procedure is multiply().
- Subtraction. The corresponding action procedure is subtract().
+ Addition. The corresponding action procedure is add().
= Perform calculation. The TI-specific action procedure is equal().
STO Copies the number in the display to the memory location. The corresponding action procedure is store().
RCL Copies the number from the memory location to the display. The corresponding action procedure is recall().
SUM Adds the number in the display to the number in the memory location. The corresponding action procedure is
sum().
EXC Swaps the number in the display with the number in the memory location. The corresponding action procedure
for the TI calculator is exchange().
+/- Negate; change sign. The corresponding action procedure is negate().
. Decimal point. The action procedure is decimal().
Calculator Key Usage (RPN mode): The number keys, CHS (change sign), +, -, *, /, and ENTR keys all do exactly what
you would expect them to do. Many of the remaining keys are the same as in TI mode. The differences are detailed
below. The action procedure for the ENTR key is enter().
<- This is a backspace key that can be used if you make a mistake while entering a number. It will erase dig‐
its from the display. (See BUGS). Inverse backspace will clear the X register. The corresponding action
procedure is back().
ON Clears the display, the state, and the memory. Pressing it with the third pointer button turns off the
calculator, in that it exits the program. To clear state, the action procedure is off; to quit, quit().
INV Inverts the meaning of the function keys. This would be the f key on an HP calculator, but xcalc does not
display multiple legends on each key. See the individual function keys for details.
10^x Raises "10.0" to the number in the top of the stack. When inverted, it calculates the log (base 10) of the
number in the display. The corresponding action procedure is tenpower().
e^x Raises "e" to the number in the top of the stack. When inverted, it calculates the log (base e) of the
number in the display. The action procedure is epower().
STO Copies the number in the top of the stack to a memory location. There are 10 memory locations. The de‐
sired memory is specified by following this key with a digit key.
RCL Pushes the number from the specified memory location onto the stack.
SUM Adds the number on top of the stack to the number in the specified memory location.
x:y Exchanges the numbers in the top two stack positions, the X and Y registers. The corresponding action pro‐
cedure is XexchangeY().
R v Rolls the stack downward. When inverted, it rolls the stack upward. The corresponding action procedure is
roll().
blank These keys were used for programming functions on the HP-10C. Their functionality has not been duplicated
in xcalc.
Finally, there are two additional action procedures: bell(), which rings the bell; and selection(), which performs a
cut on the entire number in the calculator's ``liquid crystal'' display.
ACCELERATORS
Accelerators are shortcuts for entering commands. xcalc provides some sample keyboard accelerators; also users can
customize accelerators. The numeric keypad accelerators provided by xcalc should be intuitively correct. The accel‐
erators defined by xcalc on the main keyboard are given below:
TI Key HP Key Keyboard Accelerator TI Function HP Function
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
SQRT SQRT r squareRoot() squareRoot()
AC ON space clear() clear()
AC <- Delete clear() back()
AC <- Backspace clear() back()
AC <- Control-H clear() back()
AC Clear clear()
AC ON q quit() quit()
AC ON Control-C quit() quit()
INV i i inverse() inverse()
sin s s sine() sine()
cos c c cosine() cosine()
tan t t tangent() tangent()
DRG DRG d degree() degree()
e e e()
ln ln l naturalLog() naturalLog()
y^x y^x ^ power() power()
PI PI p pi() pi()
x! x! ! factorial() factorial()
( ( leftParen()
) ) rightParen()
/ / / divide() divide()
* * * multiply() multiply()
- - - subtract() subtract()
+ + + add() add()
= = equal()
0..9 0..9 0..9 digit() digit()
+/- CHS n negate() negate()
x:y x XexchangeY()
ENTR Return enter()
ENTR Linefeed enter()
CUSTOMIZATION
The application class name is XCalc.
xcalc has an enormous application defaults file which specifies the position, label, and function of each key on the
calculator. It also gives translations to serve as keyboard accelerators. Because these resources are not specified
in the source code, you can create a customized calculator by writing a private application defaults file, using the
Athena Command and Form widget resources to specify the size and position of buttons, the label for each button, and
the function of each button.
The foreground and background colors of each calculator key can be individually specified. For the TI calculator, a
classical color resource specification might be:
XCalc.ti.Command.background: gray50
XCalc.ti.Command.foreground: white
For each of buttons 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40, specify:
XCalc.ti.button20.background: black
XCalc.ti.button20.foreground: white
For each of buttons 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, and 39:
XCalc.ti.button22.background: white
XCalc.ti.button22.foreground: black
WIDGET HIERARCHY
In order to specify resources, it is useful to know the hierarchy of the widgets which compose xcalc. In the nota‐
tion below, indentation indicates hierarchical structure. The widget class name is given first, followed by the wid‐
get instance name.
XCalc xcalc
Form ti or hp (the name depends on the mode)
Form bevel
Form screen
Label M
Toggle LCD
Label INV
Label DEG
Label RAD
Label GRAD
Label P
Command button1
Command button2
Command button3
and so on, ...
Command button38
Command button39
Command button40
APPLICATION RESOURCES
rpn (Class Rpn)
Specifies that the rpn mode should be used. The default is TI mode.
stipple (Class Stipple)
Indicates that the background should be stippled. The default is ``on'' for monochrome displays, and ``off''
for color displays.
cursor (Class Cursor)
The name of the symbol used to represent the pointer. The default is ``hand2''.
COLORS
If you would like xcalc to use its ti colors, include the following in the #ifdef COLOR section of the file you read
with xrdb:
*customization: -color
This will cause xcalc to pick up the colors in the app-defaults color customization file: /etc/X11/app-de‐
faults/XCalc-color.
SEE ALSO
X(7), xrdb(1), the Athena Widget Set
BUGS
HP mode is not completely debugged. In particular, the stack is not handled properly after errors.
AUTHORS
John Bradley, University of Pennsylvania
Mark Rosenstein, MIT Project Athena
Donna Converse, MIT X Consortium
X Version 11 xcalc 1.1.2 XCALC(1)