[comp.databases] Trig functions in dBase/Clipper

rsc503@csc.anu.oz (08/03/90)

A friend of mine is writing some software in dBase III to be compiled with
Clipper.  He requires some trig functions (sin and arccos) which dBase
apparently doesn't offer, and he thinks the easiest way to do it is to write 
trivial C functions which Clipper can call.

As I have zero experience with C, I was wondering whether someone could
email to me the source code and object files for two functions, called say
sine(x) and invcos(x) which would not return a value but would pass the
sin and arccos of x, ie the value of x on return would be the result.
Some advice as to whether this is the best way to solve the problem would
also be appreciated.

Many thanks...


Ian Gentle					igentle@rsc0.anu.oz.au
Research School of Chemistry
Australian National University
Canberra  ACT 2601
Australia

keithm@ashtate (Keith Mund) (08/03/90)

Simply upgrade to dBASE IV and you have your trig functions built in.

awd@dbase.A-T.COM (Alastair Dallas) (08/08/90)

dBASE IV includes built-in trig functions, including decimal to radian
conversion.  I pushed for this in '87 and lately I've been wondering
why we need it.  More precisely, I've been thinking that trig functions
might be the first to go if we were to pare the product down.  I'd
like to hear why trig functions and databases go together.

The reason I pushed for it in '87 is because I wrote trig functions
for dBASE III in '84.  They were published in an appendix of the
"Advanced Programmer's Guide" by Castro, Hanson and Rettig, which
is an Ashton-Tate book available in bookstores around the country.

/alastair/