MATHOMATIC(1)MATHOMATIC(1)NAMEmathomatic - a computer algebra system
SYNOPSISmathomatic [ -abcdehqrtuvwx ] [ -s level:time ] [ -m number ] [
input_files or input ]
DESCRIPTION
Mathomatic is a general-purpose computer algebra system (CAS) that can
symbolically solve, simplify, combine, and compare algebraic equations,
perform standard, complex number, modular, 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 rmath(1). Plotting expressions with gnuplot is
also supported.
mathomatic is the main Mathomatic application that does interactive
symbolic-numeric mathematics through a simple command-line interface.
Readline or editline 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:
2^(1/3), which is the cube root of 2 exactly.
OPTIONS-a Enable alternative colors. Ansi color mode will be enabled in
MS-Windows, if this option is specified and color mode is on.
-b 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.
-c 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 option to increase the color brightness.
-d Set demo mode. Currently this mode only bypasses loading the
startup (rc) file, and ignores the pause command. It also
allows using the calculate command without prompting for the
values of any of the variables.
-e 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 Math‐
omatic input that follows this option. Works similar to enter‐
ing it into the Mathomatic main prompt, except the autoselect
option is turned off. Useful for quick command-line calcula‐
tions. The startup messages are not displayed with this option.
Follow this option with "--" so that expressions can start with
a minus sign (-).
-h Display a brief help message listing all of these options and
then exit.
-m number
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.
-q Set quiet mode. The startup messages and prompts are not dis‐
played. This is useful when piping or redirecting input into
Mathomatic, because the input won't be displayed, so prompt out‐
put should be turned off. This option does the same thing as
the "set no prompt" command.
-r Disable readline or editline input processing. Readline, and
the editline drop-in replacement library, allow line input edit‐
ing using the cursor keys, and output terminal control codes,
all of which can be turned off with this option.
-s level:time
Set the enforced security level for the user's Mathomatic ses‐
sion. Level 0 is the default with no security. Level 1 disal‐
lows shelling out (forking). Level 2 disallows shelling out and
writing files. Level 3 disallows shelling out and reading/writ‐
ing files. Level 4 is the highest security level and is the
same as compiling with the -DSECURE option. This run-time
option was created for use on open public servers. Specifying a
colon, then a time in seconds, will time limit the application
for that session.
-t 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 the pause command, etc.
It also allows using the calculate command without prompting for
the values of any of the variables.
-u Guarantee that standard output and standard error output are
unbuffered. Also echoes all line input if not in quiet mode (
-q option ). Useful when piping.
-v Display program name and version number, then exit successfully.
-w 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 ter‐
minal emulator that doesn't wrap lines. This mode only affects
2D output.
-x Enable HTML output mode (which is also valid XHTML). This makes
Mathomatic output suitable for inclusion in a web page. Color
and bold mode affect this mode, allowing HTML color output.
Wide output mode is also set by this option, meaning expressions
will always be displayed in 2D.
GENERAL
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 -e option is specified.
Mathomatic is best run from within a terminal emulator. It uses con‐
sole line input and output for the user interface. First you type in
your mathematical equations in standard algebraic 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, "help examples" to get started. If the command
name is longer than 4 letters, you only need to type in the first 4
letters. Most commands operate on the current equation by default.
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.
Complete documentation is available in HTML and PDF formats; see the
local documentation directory or online at "http://math‐
omatic.org/math/doc/" for the latest Mathomatic documentation.
ENVIRONMENT
EDITOR The EDITOR environment variable specifies which text editor to
use for the edit command.
FILES
~/.mathomaticrc
Optional startup file containing Mathomatic set command options.
It should be a text file with one or more set options per line.
For example, the line "no color" will make Mathomatic default to
non-color mode, which is useful if you aren't using a supported
color device.
AUTHOR
Mathomatic has been written by George Gesslein II (gesslein@math‐
omatic.org), with help from the Internet community.
REPORTING BUGS
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:
"https://launchpad.net/mathomatic".
SEE ALSOrmath(1), matho-primes(1), primorial(1), matho-mult(1), matho-sum(1),
matho-pascal(1), matho-sumsq(1)MATHOMATIC(1)
