dave@lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman) (02/19/85)
We teach a course in Canadian income tax on our UNIX system,
and students need access to an on-line calculator. Right now
I invoke "bc" when they request a calculator, but it's far from
ideal. I have to give several lines of instructions, like "use '*'
for multiplication", and "do not type the equals sign". Of course,
2+2=
produces
syntax error on line , teletype
which is hardly what I want to inflict on law students who are
dealing with what is otherwise an extremely user-cuddly system.
So, I'd like a calculator which will:
- do simple arithmetic, no variables
- accept (but not require) a '=' on the line
- allow 'x' or 'X' as well as '*' for multiplication
- handle '%' and () bracketing if possible (not crucial)
- produce floating-point when needed after division, not truncate
If no-one has one like this, I guess I'll work from Kernighan & Pike
and construct one using lex & yacc. But I really don't have the time.
--
{utzoo pesnta nrcaero utcs hcr}!lsuc!dave
{allegra decvax ihnp4 linus}!utcsri!lsuc!daverpw3@redwood.UUCP (Rob Warnock) (02/20/85)
+--------------- | ... students need access to an on-line calculator. Right now | I invoke "bc" when they request a calculator, but it's far from | ideal... So, I'd like a calculator which will: [...list of features...] | If no-one has one like this, I guess I'll work from Kernighan & Pike | and construct one using lex & yacc. But I really don't have the time. | {utzoo pesnta nrcaero utcs hcr}!lsuc!dave | {allegra decvax ihnp4 linus}!utcsri!lsuc!dave +--------------- K & P's "hoc6" was posted to net.sources last June (1984) by <nlm-vax!lef> (by permission from Prentice-Hall). Check your local/nearby net.sources archives. <nlm-vax!lef> posted one followup bug fix, which I include in case the archive doesn't have it: The fourth line (#define code3...) should be appended by the following text: ; code (c3) I compiled it (with the above fix) and it seemed to work just fine. Rob Warnock Systems Architecture Consultant UUCP: {ihnp4,ucbvax!dual}!fortune!redwood!rpw3 DDD: (415)572-2607 USPS: 510 Trinidad Lane, Foster City, CA 94404
dave@lsuc.UUCP (David Sherman) (02/20/85)
In article <167@redwood.UUCP> rpw3@redwood.UUCP (Rob Warnock) writes: ||+--------------- ||| ... students need access to an on-line calculator. Right now ||| I invoke "bc" when they request a calculator, but it's far from ||| ideal... So, I'd like a calculator which will: [...list of features...] ||| If no-one has one like this, I guess I'll work from Kernighan & Pike ||| and construct one using lex & yacc. But I really don't have the time. ||| Dave Sherman ||+--------------- || ||K & P's "hoc6" was posted to net.sources last June (1984) by <nlm-vax!lef> ||(by permission from Prentice-Hall). Check your local/nearby net.sources ||archives... I thought I made that clear with my original posting. hoc6 isn't what I want either, but if I have to I can go back and build what I need by following the hoc creation. I don't want variables. I just want exactly what you get when you use a dummy physical $5 calculator. That's something law students can understand. I have hoc6 running here, and if I type 2+2= I get hoc: syntax error near line 1 I'm sure putting in code to ignore an '=' isn't hard, but that's just one of the things which need doing to make it usable by *anyone*. Dave Sherman -- {utzoo pesnta nrcaero utcs hcr}!lsuc!dave {allegra decvax ihnp4 linus}!utcsri!lsuc!dave
jsdy@hadron.UUCP (Joseph S. D. Yao) (02/22/85)
> So, I'd like a calculator which will: > - do simple arithmetic, no variables > - accept (but not require) a '=' on the line > - allow 'x' or 'X' as well as '*' for multiplication > - handle '%' and () bracketing if possible (not crucial) > - produce floating-point when needed after division, not truncate It's gross overkill, but the only package I know of that does all that is MACSYMA / VAXSYMA, and I don't know offhand where or how to get a copy. Anybody? ;-) Joe Yao hadron!jsdy@seismo.{ARPA,UUCP}