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<title>MATHOMATIC(1) manual page</title>
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<a href='#toc'>Table of Contents</a><p>
<p>
<h2><a name='sect0' href='#toc0'>Name</a></h2>
mathomatic - a computer algebra system
<p>
<h2><a name='sect1' href='#toc1'>Synopsis</a></h2>
<b>mathomatic</b> [ <b>-bcehqrtuvwx</b>
] [ <b>-s</b> level ] [ <b>-m</b> number ] [ input_files or input ]
<p>
<h2><a name='sect2' href='#toc2'>Description</a></h2>
Mathomatic
is a general-purpose computer algebra system (CAS) that can symbolically
solve, simplify, combine, and compare algebraic equations, perform complex
number and polynomial arithmetic, etc. It does some calculus and handles
all elementary algebra, except logarithms. Trigonometry and function expansion
are supported in a separate program called <a href='rmath.1.html'><b>rmath</b>(1)</a>
. Plotting expressions
with <a href='gnuplot.1.html'><b>gnuplot</b>(1)</a>
is also supported.
<p> <b>mathomatic</b> is the main Mathomatic application
that does interactive symbolic-numeric mathematics through a simple command-line
interface. Readline support is usually compiled into this application, making
it easy to edit input and recall previous input with the cursor keys. The
numeric arithmetic is double precision floating point with about 14 decimal
digits accuracy. Many results will be exact, because symbolic math is an
exact math, and because multiple floating point numbers can be combined
for a single mathematical value; for example: <b>2^(1/3),</b> which is the cubed
root of 2 exactly.
<p>
<h2><a name='sect3' href='#toc3'>Options</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt><b>-b</b> </dt>
<dd>Enable bold colors. Color mode will be turned
on and colors will be brighter if this option is specified. Same as the
"set bold color" command.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-c</b> </dt>
<dd>Toggle color mode. This mode outputs ANSI terminal
escape sequences to make each level of parentheses a different color, for
easier reading. Requires a terminal emulator that supports ANSI color escape
sequences. If the colors are too hard to see, use the <b>-b</b> option to increase
the brightness.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-e</b> </dt>
<dd>Process mathematical expressions and Mathomatic commands
instead of input files on the shell command line, and then quit. Unquoted
space characters are the line separators on the Mathomatic input that follows
this option. Works similar to entering it into the Mathomatic main prompt,
except the autoselect option is turned off. Useful for quick command-line
calculations. The startup messages are not displayed with this option. Follow
this option with "--" so that expressions can start with a minus sign (-).
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-h</b> </dt>
<dd>Display a brief help message listing all of these options and then exit.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-m number</b> </dt>
<dd>Change the memory size of equation spaces. It is followed by a
decimal floating point number which is a multiplier of the default equation
space size. This allows larger equation spaces so that manipulating extremely
large expressions will succeed without getting the "Expression too large"
error. Specifying a number higher than 100 may make Mathomatic unresponsive.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-q</b> </dt>
<dd>Set quiet mode. The startup messages and prompts are not displayed. This
is useful when piping or redirecting input into Mathomatic, because the
input won’t be displayed, so prompt output should be turned off. This option
does the same thing as the "set no prompt" command.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-r</b> </dt>
<dd>Disable readline
input processing. Readline allows line input editing using the cursor keys,
and outputs terminal control codes, all of which can be turned off with
this option.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-s level</b> </dt>
<dd>Set the enforced security level for the Mathomatic
session. Level 0 is the default with no security. Level 1 disallows shelling
out (forking). Level 2 disallows shelling out and writing files. Level 3
disallows shelling out and reading/writing files for complete security.
This run-time option was created for use on open public servers that can’t
use the SECURE compile-time define.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-t</b> </dt>
<dd>Set test mode. Used when testing and
comparing output. Bypasses loading startup (rc) file, turns off color mode
and readline, sets wide output mode, ignores pause command, etc.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-u</b> </dt>
<dd>Guarantee
that standard output and standard error output are unbuffered. Also echoes
all line input if not in quiet mode (-q). Useful when piping.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-v</b> </dt>
<dd>Display version
number, compilation options used, maximum possible memory usage, then exit.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-w</b> </dt>
<dd>Set wide output mode for an unlimited width output device like the "set
wide" command does. Sets infinite screen columns and rows so that 2D (two
dimensional) expression output will always succeed and not be downgraded
to 1D output when it doesn’t fit in the display area. Use when redirecting
output or with a terminal emulator that doesn’t wrap lines. This mode only
affects 2D output.
<p> </dd>
<dt><b>-x</b> </dt>
<dd>Enable HTML output mode (which is also valid XHTML).
This makes Mathomatic output suitable for inclusion in a web page. The color
mode and bold colors flags affect this mode, allowing HTML color output.
Wide output mode is also set by this option, meaning expressions will always
be displayed in 2D.
<p> </dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name='sect4' href='#toc4'>General</a></h2>
After any options, text files may be specified
on the shell command line that will be automatically read in with the read
command, unless the <b>-e</b> option is specified.
<p> Mathomatic is best run from
within a terminal emulator. It uses console line input and output for the
user interface. First you type in your mathematical equations in standard
infix notation, then you can solve them by typing in the variable name
at the prompt, or perform operations on them with simple English commands.
Type "help" or "?" for the help command. If the command is longer than 4
letters, you only need to type in the first 4 letters. Most commands operate
on the current equation by default.
<p> A command preceded by an exclamation
point (such as "!ls") is taken to be a shell command and is passed unchanged
to the shell (/bin/sh). "!" by itself invokes the default shell, which is
specified in the SHELL environment variable. "!" is also the factorial operator.
<p> Complete documentation is available in HTML and PDF formats; see the local
documentation directory or online at "<a href='http://mathomatic.org/math/doc/'>http://mathomatic.org/math/doc/</a>
" for
the latest Mathomatic documentation.
<p>
<h2><a name='sect5' href='#toc5'>Environment</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt><b>EDITOR</b> </dt>
<dd>The EDITOR environment
variable specifies which text editor to use for the edit command.
<p> </dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name='sect6' href='#toc6'>Files</a></h2>
<dl>
<dt><b>~/.mathomaticrc</b>
</dt>
<dd>Optional startup file containing Mathomatic set command options. It should
be a text file with one set option per line. Do not include the word "set".
For example, the line "no color" will make Mathomatic default to non-color
mode, which is useful if you aren’t using a standard ANSI terminal emulator.
"rc" stands for "run cold".
<p> </dd>
</dl>
<h2><a name='sect7' href='#toc7'>Author</a></h2>
Mathomatic has been written by George
Gesslein II (gesslein@linux.com) with kind help from John Blommers ("http://www.blommers.org")
and the Internet community.
<p>
<h2><a name='sect8' href='#toc8'>Reporting Bugs</a></h2>
The command to take the limit
of an expression is partially functional and experimental. All else should
work perfectly; if not, please report it as a bug to the author or on the
Launchpad website: "<a href='https://launchpad.net/mathomatic'>https://launchpad.net/mathomatic</a>
".
<p>
<h2><a name='sect9' href='#toc9'>See Also</a></h2>
<a href='rmath.1.html'><b>rmath</b>(1)</a>
,
<a href='matho-primes.1.html'><b>matho-primes</b>(1)</a>
, <a href='primorial.1.html'><b>primorial</b>(1)</a>
, <a href='matho-mult.1.html'><b>matho-mult</b>(1)</a>
, <a href='matho-sum.1.html'><b>matho-sum</b>(1)</a>
, <a href='matho-pascal.1.html'><b>matho-pascal</b>(1)</a>
,
<a href='matho-sumsq.1.html'><b>matho-sumsq</b>(1)</a>
<p>
<hr><p>
<a name='toc'><b>Table of Contents</b></a><p>
<ul>
<li><a name='toc0' href='#sect0'>Name</a></li>
<li><a name='toc1' href='#sect1'>Synopsis</a></li>
<li><a name='toc2' href='#sect2'>Description</a></li>
<li><a name='toc3' href='#sect3'>Options</a></li>
<li><a name='toc4' href='#sect4'>General</a></li>
<li><a name='toc5' href='#sect5'>Environment</a></li>
<li><a name='toc6' href='#sect6'>Files</a></li>
<li><a name='toc7' href='#sect7'>Author</a></li>
<li><a name='toc8' href='#sect8'>Reporting Bugs</a></li>
<li><a name='toc9' href='#sect9'>See Also</a></li>
</ul>
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