This bc attempts to be as portable as possible. It can be built on any POSIX-compliant system.
To accomplish that, a POSIX-compatible, custom configure.sh script is used to select build options, compiler, and compiler flags and generate a Makefile.
The general form of configuring, building, and installing this bc is as follows:
[ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=<value>...] ./configure.sh [build_options...] make make install
To get all of the options, including any useful environment variables, use either one of the following commands:
./configure.sh -h ./configure.sh --help
WARNING: even though configure.sh supports both option types, short and long, it does not support handling both at the same time. Use only one type.
To learn the available make targets run the following command after running the configure.sh script:
make help
See Build Environment Variables for a more detailed description of all accepted environment variables and Build Options for more detail about all accepted build options.
For releases, Windows builds of bc, dc, and bcl are available for download from https://git.yzena.com/gavin/bc and GitHub.
However, if you wish to build it yourself, this bc can be built using Visual Studio or MSBuild.
Unfortunately, only one build configuration (besides Debug or Release) is supported: extra math, and history enabled, NLS (locale support) disabled, with both calculators built. The default settings are BC_BANNER=1, {BC,DC}_SIGINT_RESET=0, {BC,DC}_TTY_MODE=1, {BC,DC}_PROMPT=1.
The library can also be built on Windows.
In Visual Studio, open up the solution file (bc.sln for bc, or bcl.sln for the library), select the desired configuration, and build.
To build with MSBuild, first, be sure that you are using the MSBuild that comes with Visual Studio.
To build bc, run the following from the root directory:
msbuild -property:Configuration=<config> bc.sln
where <config> is either one of Debug or Release.
To build the library, run the following from the root directory:
msbuild -property:Configuration=<config> bcl.sln
where <config> is either one of Debug or Release.
Building bc, dc, and bcl (the library) is more complex than on Windows because many build options are supported.
To cross-compile this bc, an appropriate compiler must be present and assigned to the environment variable HOSTCC or HOST_CC (the two are equivalent, though HOSTCC is prioritized). This is in order to bootstrap core file(s), if the architectures are not compatible (i.e., unlike i686 on x86_64). Thus, the approach is:
HOSTCC="/path/to/native/compiler" ./configure.sh make make install
HOST_CC will work in exactly the same way.
HOSTCFLAGS and HOST_CFLAGS can be used to set compiler flags for HOSTCC. (The two are equivalent, as HOSTCC and HOST_CC are.) HOSTCFLAGS is prioritized over HOST_CFLAGS. If neither are present, HOSTCC (or HOST_CC) uses CFLAGS (see Build Environment Variables for more details).
It is expected that CC produces code for the target system and HOSTCC produces code for the host system. See Build Environment Variables for more details.
If an emulator is necessary to run the bootstrap binaries, it can be set with the environment variable GEN_EMU.
This bc supports CC, HOSTCC, HOST_CC, CFLAGS, HOSTCFLAGS, HOST_CFLAGS, CPPFLAGS, LDFLAGS, LDLIBS, PREFIX, DESTDIR, BINDIR, DATAROOTDIR, DATADIR, MANDIR, MAN1DIR, LOCALEDIR EXECSUFFIX, EXECPREFIX, LONG_BIT, GEN_HOST, and GEN_EMU environment variables in configure.sh. Any values of those variables given to configure.sh will be put into the generated Makefile.
More detail on what those environment variables do can be found in the following sections.
CCC compiler for the target system. CC must be compatible with POSIX c99 behavior and options. However, I encourage users to use any C99 or C11 compatible compiler they wish.
If there is a space in the basename of the compiler, the items after the first space are assumed to be compiler flags, and in that case, the flags are automatically moved into CFLAGS.
Defaults to c99.
HOSTCC or HOST_CCC compiler for the host system, used only in cross compiling. Must be compatible with POSIX c99 behavior and options.
If there is a space in the basename of the compiler, the items after the first space are assumed to be compiler flags, and in that case, the flags are automatically moved into HOSTCFLAGS.
Defaults to $CC.
CFLAGSCommand-line flags that will be passed verbatim to CC.
Defaults to empty.
HOSTCFLAGS or HOST_CFLAGSCommand-line flags that will be passed verbatim to HOSTCC or HOST_CC.
Defaults to $CFLAGS.
CPPFLAGSCommand-line flags for the C preprocessor. These are also passed verbatim to both compilers (CC and HOSTCC); they are supported just for legacy reasons.
Defaults to empty.
LDFLAGSCommand-line flags for the linker. These are also passed verbatim to both compilers (CC and HOSTCC); they are supported just for legacy reasons.
Defaults to empty.
LDLIBSLibraries to link to. These are also passed verbatim to both compilers (CC and HOSTCC); they are supported just for legacy reasons and for cross compiling with different C standard libraries (like musl).
Defaults to empty.
PREFIXThe prefix to install to.
Can be overridden by passing the --prefix option to configure.sh.
Defaults to /usr/local.
DESTDIRPath to prepend onto PREFIX. This is mostly for distro and package maintainers.
This can be passed either to configure.sh or make install. If it is passed to both, the one given to configure.sh takes precedence.
Defaults to empty.
BINDIRThe directory to install binaries in.
Can be overridden by passing the --bindir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $PREFIX/bin.
INCLUDEDIRThe directory to install header files in.
Can be overridden by passing the --includedir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $PREFIX/include.
LIBDIRThe directory to install libraries in.
Can be overridden by passing the --libdir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $PREFIX/lib.
DATAROOTDIRThe root directory to install data files in.
Can be overridden by passing the --datarootdir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $PREFIX/share.
DATADIRThe directory to install data files in.
Can be overridden by passing the --datadir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $DATAROOTDIR.
MANDIRThe directory to install manpages in.
Can be overridden by passing the --mandir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $DATADIR/man
MAN1DIRThe directory to install Section 1 manpages in. Because both bc and dc are Section 1 commands, this is the only relevant section directory.
Can be overridden by passing the --man1dir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $MANDIR/man1.
LOCALEDIRThe directory to install locales in.
Can be overridden by passing the --localedir option to configure.sh.
Defaults to $DATAROOTDIR/locale.
EXECSUFFIXThe suffix to append onto the executable names when installing. This is for packagers and distro maintainers who want this bc as an option, but do not want to replace the default bc.
Defaults to empty.
EXECPREFIXThe prefix to append onto the executable names when building and installing. This is for packagers and distro maintainers who want this bc as an option, but do not want to replace the default bc.
Defaults to empty.
LONG_BITThe number of bits in a C long type. This is mostly for the embedded space.
This bc uses longs internally for overflow checking. In C99, a long is required to be 32 bits. For this reason, on 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers, the generated code to do math with long types may be inefficient.
For most normal desktop systems, setting this is unnecessary, except that 32-bit platforms with 64-bit longs may want to set it to 32.
Defaults to the default value of LONG_BIT for the target platform. For compliance with the bc spec, the minimum allowed value is 32.
It is an error if the specified value is greater than the default value of LONG_BIT for the target platform.
GEN_HOSTWhether to use gen/strgen.c, instead of gen/strgen.sh, to produce the C files that contain the help texts as well as the math libraries. By default, gen/strgen.c is used, compiled by $HOSTCC and run on the host machine. Using gen/strgen.sh removes the need to compile and run an executable on the host machine since gen/strgen.sh is a POSIX shell script. However, gen/lib2.bc is perilously close to 4095 characters, the max supported length of a string literal in C99 (and it could be added to in the future), and gen/strgen.sh generates a string literal instead of an array, as gen/strgen.c does. For most production-ready compilers, this limit probably is not enforced, but it could be. Both options are still available for this reason.
If you are sure your compiler does not have the limit and do not want to compile and run a binary on the host machine, set this variable to “0”. Any other value, or a non-existent value, will cause the build system to compile and run gen/strgen.c.
Default is "".
GEN_EMUThe emulator to run bootstrap binaries under. This is only if the binaries produced by HOSTCC (or HOST_CC) need to be run under an emulator to work.
Defaults to empty.
This bc comes with several build options, all of which are enabled by default.
All options can be used with each other, with a few exceptions that will be noted below.
NOTE: All long options with mandatory argumenst accept either one of the following forms:
--option arg --option=arg
To build the math library, use the following commands for the configure step:
./configure.sh -a ./configure.sh --library
Both commands are equivalent.
When the library is built, history and locales are disabled, and the functionality for bc and dc are both enabled, though the executables are not built. This is because the library's options clash with the executables.
To build an optimized version of the library, users can pass optimization options to configure.sh or include them in CFLAGS.
The library API can be found in manuals/bcl.3.md or man bcl once the library is installed.
The library is built as bin/libbcl.a.
bc OnlyTo build bc only (no dc), use any one of the following commands for the configure step:
./configure.sh -b ./configure.sh --bc-only ./configure.sh -D ./configure.sh --disable-dc
Those commands are all equivalent.
Warning: It is an error to use those options if bc has also been disabled (see below).
dc OnlyTo build dc only (no bc), use either one of the following commands for the configure step:
./configure.sh -d ./configure.sh --dc-only ./configure.sh -B ./configure.sh --disable-bc
Those commands are all equivalent.
Warning: It is an error to use those options if dc has also been disabled (see above).
To disable hisory, pass either the -H flag or the --disable-history option to configure.sh, as follows:
./configure.sh -H ./configure.sh --disable-history
Both commands are equivalent.
History is automatically disabled when building for Windows or on another platform that does not support the terminal handling that is required.
WARNING: Of all of the code in the bc, this is the only code that is not completely portable. If the bc does not work on your platform, your first step should be to retry with history disabled.
This option affects the build type.
To disable locale support (use only English), pass either the -N flag or the --disable-nls option to configure.sh, as follows:
./configure.sh -N ./configure.sh --disable-nls
Both commands are equivalent.
NLS (locale support) is automatically disabled when building for Windows or on another platform that does not support the POSIX locale API or utilities.
This option affects the build type.
This bc has 7 extra operators:
$ (truncation to integer)@ (set precision)@= (set precision and assign)<< (shift number left, shifts radix right)<<= (shift number left and assign)>> (shift number right, shifts radix left)>>= (shift number right and assign)There is no assignment version of $ because it is a unary operator.
The assignment versions of the above operators are not available in dc, but the others are, as the operators $, @, H, and h, respectively.
In addition, this bc has the option of outputting in scientific notation or engineering notation. It can also take input in scientific or engineering notation. On top of that, it has a pseudo-random number generator. (See the full manual for more details.)
Extra operators, scientific notation, engineering notation, and the pseudo-random number generator can be disabled by passing either the -E flag or the --disable-extra-math option to configure.sh, as follows:
./configure.sh -E ./configure.sh --disable-extra-math
Both commands are equivalent.
This bc also has a larger library that is only enabled if extra operators and the pseudo-random number generator are. More information about the functions can be found in the Extended Library section of the full manual.
This option affects the build type.
The Karatsuba length is the point at which bc and dc switch from Karatsuba multiplication to brute force, O(n^2) multiplication. It can be set by passing the -k flag or the --karatsuba-len option to configure.sh as follows:
./configure.sh -k32 ./configure.sh --karatsuba-len 32
Both commands are equivalent.
Default is 32.
WARNING: The Karatsuba Length must be a integer greater than or equal to 16 (to prevent stack overflow). If it is not, configure.sh will give an error.
This bc and dc have a few settings to override default behavior.
The defaults for these settings can be set by package maintainers, and the settings themselves can be overriden by users.
To set a default to on, use the -s or --set-default-on option to configure.sh, with the name of the setting, as follows:
./configure.sh -s bc.banner ./configure.sh --set-default-on=bc.banner
Both commands are equivalent.
To set a default to off, use the -S or --set-default-off option to configure.sh, with the name of the setting, as follows:
./configure.sh -S bc.banner ./configure.sh --set-default-off=bc.banner
Both commands are equivalent.
Users can override the default settings set by packagers with environment variables. If the environment variable has an integer, then the setting is turned on for a non-zero integer, and off for zero.
The table of the available settings, along with their defaults and the environment variables to override them, is below:
| Setting | Description | Default | Env Variable | | =============== | ==================== | ============ | ==================== | | bc.banner | Whether to display | 0 | BC_BANNER | | | the bc version | | | | | banner when in | | | | | interactive mode. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | bc.sigint_reset | Whether SIGINT will | 1 | BC_SIGINT_RESET | | | reset bc, instead of | | | | | exiting, when in | | | | | interactive mode. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | dc.sigint_reset | Whether SIGINT will | 1 | DC_SIGINT_RESET | | | reset dc, instead of | | | | | exiting, when in | | | | | interactive mode. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | bc.tty_mode | Whether TTY mode for | 1 | BC_TTY_MODE | | | bc should be on when | | | | | available. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | dc.tty_mode | Whether TTY mode for | 0 | BC_TTY_MODE | | | dc should be on when | | | | | available. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | bc.prompt | Whether the prompt | $BC_TTY_MODE | BC_PROMPT | | | for bc should be on | | | | | in tty mode. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- | | dc.prompt | Whether the prompt | $DC_TTY_MODE | DC_PROMPT | | | for dc should be on | | | | | in tty mode. | | | | --------------- | -------------------- | ------------ | -------------------- |
These settings are not meant to be changed on a whim. They are meant to ensure that this bc and dc will conform to the expectations of the user on each platform.
The relevant autotools-style install options are supported in configure.sh:
--prefix--bindir--datarootdir--datadir--mandir--man1dir--localedirAn example is:
./configure.sh --prefix=/usr --localedir /usr/share/nls make make install
They correspond to the environment variables $PREFIX, $BINDIR, $DATAROOTDIR, $DATADIR, $MANDIR, $MAN1DIR, and $LOCALEDIR, respectively.
WARNING: If the option is given, the value of the corresponding environment variable is overridden.
WARNING: If any long command-line options are used, the long form of all other command-line options must be used. Mixing long and short options is not supported.
To disable installing manpages, pass either the -M flag or the --disable-man-pages option to configure.sh as follows:
./configure.sh -M ./configure.sh --disable-man-pages
Both commands are equivalent.
By default, bc and dc do not install all locales, but only the enabled locales. If DESTDIR exists and is not empty, then they will install all of the locales that exist on the system. The -l flag or --install-all-locales option skips all of that and just installs all of the locales that bc and dc have, regardless. To enable that behavior, you can pass the -l flag or the --install-all-locales option to configure.sh, as follows:
./configure.sh -l ./configure.sh --install-all-locales
Both commands are equivalent.
The configure.sh script will accept an optimization level to pass to the compiler. Because bc is orders of magnitude faster with optimization, I highly recommend package and distro maintainers pass the highest optimization level available in CC to configure.sh with the -O flag or --opt option, as follows:
./configure.sh -O3 ./configure.sh --opt 3
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
make make install
As usual, configure.sh will also accept additional CFLAGS on the command line, so for SSE4 architectures, the following can add a bit more speed:
CFLAGS="-march=native -msse4" ./configure.sh -O3 make make install
Building with link-time optimization (-flto in clang) can further increase the performance. I highly recommend doing so.
I do NOT recommend building with -march=native; doing so reduces this bc's performance.
Manual stripping is not necessary; non-debug builds are automatically stripped in the link stage.
Debug builds (which also disable optimization if no optimization level is given and if no extra CFLAGS are given) can be enabled with either the -g flag or the --debug option, as follows:
./configure.sh -g ./configure.sh --debug
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
make make install
By default, when bc and dc are not built in debug mode, the binaries are stripped. Stripping can be disabled with either the -T or the --disable-strip option, as follows:
./configure.sh -T ./configure.sh --disable-strip
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
make make install
bc and dc have 8 build types, affected by the History, NLS (Locale Support), and Extra Math build options.
The build types are as follows:
A: Nothing disabled.E: Extra math disabled.H: History disabled.N: NLS disabled.EH: Extra math and History disabled.EN: Extra math and NLS disabled.HN: History and NLS disabled.EHN: Extra math, History, and NLS all disabled.These build types correspond to the generated manuals in manuals/bc and manuals/dc.
When built with both calculators, all available features, and -Os using clang and musl, the executable is 140.4 kb (140,386 bytes) on x86_64. That isn't much for what is contained in the binary, but if necessary, it can be reduced.
The single largest user of space is the bc calculator. If just dc is needed, the size can be reduced to 107.6 kb (107,584 bytes).
The next largest user of space is history support. If that is not needed, size can be reduced (for a build with both calculators) to 119.9 kb (119,866 bytes).
There are several reasons that history is a bigger user of space than dc itself:
dc's lexer and parser are tiny compared to bc's because dc code is almost already in the form that it is executed in, while bc has to not only adjust the form to be executable, it has to parse functions, loops, if statements, and other extra features.dc does not have much extra code in the interpreter.UTF-8 terminals.libc.The next biggest user is extra math support. Without it, the size is reduced to 124.0 kb (123,986 bytes) with history and 107.6 kb (107,560 bytes) without history.
The reasons why extra math support is bigger than dc, besides the fact that dc is small already, are:
The next biggest user is dc, so if just bc is needed, the size can be reduced to 128.1 kb (128,096 bytes) with history and extra math support, 107.6 kb (107,576 bytes) without history and with extra math support, and 95.3 kb (95,272 bytes) without history and without extra math support.
Note: all of these binary sizes were compiled using musl 1.2.0 as the libc, making a fully static executable, with clang 9.0.1 (well, musl-clang using clang 9.0.1) as the compiler and using -Os optimizations. These builds were done on an x86_64 machine running Gentoo Linux.
The default test suite can be run with the following command:
make test
To test bc only, run the following command:
make test_bc
To test dc only, run the following command:
make test_dc
This bc, if built, assumes a working, GNU-compatible bc, installed on the system and in the PATH, to generate some tests, unless the -G flag or --disable-generated-tests option is given to configure.sh, as follows:
./configure.sh -G ./configure.sh --disable-generated-tests
After running configure.sh, build and run tests as follows:
make make test
This dc also assumes a working, GNU-compatible dc, installed on the system and in the PATH, to generate some tests, unless one of the above options is given to configure.sh.
To generate test coverage, pass the -c flag or the --coverage option to configure.sh as follows:
./configure.sh -c ./configure.sh --coverage
Both commands are equivalent.
WARNING: Both bc and dc must be built for test coverage. Otherwise, configure.sh will give an error.