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NAME

       math::bigfloat - Arbitrary precision floating-point numbers

SYNOPSIS

       package require Tcl  8.5

       package require math::bigfloat  ?2.0.3?

       fromstr number ?trailingZeros?

       tostr ?-nosci? number

       fromdouble double ?decimals?

       todouble number

       isInt number

       isFloat number

       int2float integer ?decimals?

       add x y

       sub x y

       mul x y

       div x y

       mod x y

       abs x

       opp x

       pow x n

       iszero x

       equal x y

       compare x y

       sqrt x

       log x

       exp x

       cos x

       sin x

       tan x

       cotan x

       acos x

       asin x

       atan x

       cosh x

       sinh x

       tanh x

       pi n

       rad2deg radians

       deg2rad degrees

       round x

       ceil x

       floor x

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION

       The  bigfloat package provides arbitrary precision floating-point math capabilities to the
       Tcl language. It is designed to work with Tcl 8.5, but for Tcl 8.4 is provided an  earlier
       version  of this package.  See WHAT ABOUT TCL 8.4 ? for more explanations.  By convention,
       we will talk about the numbers treated in this library as :

       •      BigFloat for floating-point numbers of arbitrary length.

       •      integers for arbitrary length signed integers, just as  basic  integers  since  Tcl
              8.5.

       Each  BigFloat  is  an  interval,  namely  [m-d,  m+d],  where m is the mantissa and d the
       uncertainty, representing the limitation of that number's precision.  This is why we  call
       such  mathematics  interval  computations.   Just  take  an  example in physics : when you
       measure a temperature, not all digits you read are significant. Sometimes you just  cannot
       trust  all  digits - not to mention if doubles (f.p. numbers) can handle all these digits.
       BigFloat can handle this problem - trusting the digits you get - plus the ability to store
       numbers  with  an arbitrary precision.  BigFloats are internally represented at Tcl lists:
       this package provides a set of procedures operating against the internal representation in
       order to :

       •      perform math operations on BigFloats and (optionnaly) with integers.

       •      convert BigFloats from their internal representations to strings, and vice versa.

INTRODUCTION

       fromstr number ?trailingZeros?
              Converts  number  into  a  BigFloat. Its precision is at least the number of digits
              provided by number.  If the number contains only  digits  and  eventually  a  minus
              sign, it is considered as an integer. Subsequently, no conversion is done at all.

              trailingZeros  -  the  number  of  zeros to append at the end of the floating-point
              number to get more precision. It cannot be applied to an integer.

              # x and y are BigFloats : the first string contained a dot, and the second an e sign
              set x [fromstr -1.000000]
              set y [fromstr 2000e30]
              # let's see how we get integers
              set t 20000000000000
              # the old way (package 1.2) is still supported for backwards compatibility :
              set m [fromstr 10000000000]
              # but we do not need fromstr for integers anymore
              set n -39
              # t, m and n are integers

       The number's last digit is considered by the procedure to be true at  +/-1,  For  example,
       1.00  is  the  interval [0.99, 1.01], and 0.43 the interval [0.42, 0.44].  The Pi constant
       may be approximated by the number "3.1415".   This  string  could  be  considered  as  the
       interval [3.1414 , 3.1416] by fromstr.  So, when you mean 1.0 as a double, you may have to
       write 1.000000 to get enough precision.  To learn more about this subject, see PRECISION.

       For example :

              set x [fromstr 1.0000000000]
              # the next line does the same, but smarter
              set y [fromstr 1. 10]

       tostr ?-nosci? number
              Returns a string form of a BigFloat, in which all digits  are  exacts.   All  exact
              digits means a rounding may occur, for example to zero, if the uncertainty interval
              does not clearly show the true digits.  number  may  be  an  integer,  causing  the
              command  to  return exactly the input argument.  With the -nosci option, the number
              returned is never shown in scientific notation, i.e. not like '3.4523e+5' but  like
              '345230.'.

              puts [tostr [fromstr 0.99999]] ;# 1.0000
              puts [tostr [fromstr 1.00001]] ;# 1.0000
              puts [tostr [fromstr 0.002]] ;# 0.e-2

              See  PRECISION  for that matter.  See also iszero for how to detect zeros, which is
              useful when performing a division.

       fromdouble double ?decimals?
              Converts a double (a simple floating-point  value)  to  a  BigFloat,  with  exactly
              decimals  digits.   Without  the decimals argument, it behaves like fromstr.  Here,
              the only important feature you might care of is the  ability  to  create  BigFloats
              with a fixed number of decimals.

              tostr [fromstr 1.111 4]
              # returns : 1.111000 (3 zeros)
              tostr [fromdouble 1.111 4]
              # returns : 1.111

       todouble number
              Returns a double, that may be used in expr, from a BigFloat.

       isInt number
              Returns 1 if number is an integer, 0 otherwise.

       isFloat number
              Returns 1 if number is a BigFloat, 0 otherwise.

       int2float integer ?decimals?
              Converts  an  integer to a BigFloat with decimals trailing zeros.  The default, and
              minimal, number of decimals is 1.  When converting back to string, one  decimal  is
              lost:

              set n 10
              set x [int2float $n]; # like fromstr 10.0
              puts [tostr $x]; # prints "10."
              set x [int2float $n 3]; # like fromstr 10.000
              puts [tostr $x]; # prints "10.00"

ARITHMETICS

       add x y

       sub x y

       mul x y
              Return  the sum, difference and product of x by y.  x - may be either a BigFloat or
              an integer y - may be either a BigFloat or an integer When both are integers, these
              commands behave like expr.

       div x y

       mod x y
              Return the quotient and the rest of x divided by y.  Each argument (x and y) can be
              either a BigFloat or an integer, but you cannot divide an  integer  by  a  BigFloat
              Divide by zero throws an error.

       abs x  Returns the absolute value of x

       opp x  Returns the opposite of x

       pow x n
              Returns  x taken to the nth power.  It only works if n is an integer.  x might be a
              BigFloat or an integer.

COMPARISONS

       iszero x
              Returns 1 if x is :

              •      a BigFloat close enough to zero to raise "divide by zero".

              •      the integer 0.

              See here how numbers that are close to zero are converted to strings:

              tostr [fromstr 0.001] ; # -> 0.e-2
              tostr [fromstr 0.000000] ; # -> 0.e-5
              tostr [fromstr -0.000001] ; # -> 0.e-5
              tostr [fromstr 0.0] ; # -> 0.
              tostr [fromstr 0.002] ; # -> 0.e-2

              set a [fromstr 0.002] ; # uncertainty interval : 0.001, 0.003
              tostr  $a ; # 0.e-2
              iszero $a ; # false

              set a [fromstr 0.001] ; # uncertainty interval : 0.000, 0.002
              tostr  $a ; # 0.e-2
              iszero $a ; # true

       equal x y
              Returns 1 if x and y are equal, 0 elsewhere.

       compare x y
              Returns 0 if both BigFloat arguments are equal, 1 if x is greater than y, and -1 if
              x is lower than y.  You would not be able to compare an integer to a BigFloat : the
              operands should be both BigFloats, or both integers.

ANALYSIS

       sqrt x

       log x

       exp x

       cos x

       sin x

       tan x

       cotan x

       acos x

       asin x

       atan x

       cosh x

       sinh x

       tanh x The above functions return, respectively, the following : square  root,  logarithm,
              exponential,  cosine,  sine, tangent, cotangent, arc cosine, arc sine, arc tangent,
              hyperbolic cosine, hyperbolic sine, hyperbolic tangent, of a BigFloat named x.

       pi n   Returns a BigFloat representing the Pi constant with n digits after the dot.  n  is
              a positive integer.

       rad2deg radians

       deg2rad degrees
              radians - angle expressed in radians (BigFloat)

              degrees - angle expressed in degrees (BigFloat)

              Convert an angle from radians to degrees, and vice versa.

ROUNDING

       round x

       ceil x

       floor x
              The  above functions return the x BigFloat, rounded like with the same mathematical
              function in expr, and returns it as an integer.

PRECISION

       How do conversions work with precision ?

       •      When a BigFloat is converted from string, the  internal  representation  holds  its
              uncertainty as 1 at the level of the last digit.

       •      During  computations,  the  uncertainty  of  each result is internally computed the
              closest to the reality, thus saving the memory used.

       •      When converting back to string, the digits that are  printed  are  not  subject  to
              uncertainty.  However,  some  rounding  is  done,  as  not  doing  so causes severe
              problems.

       Uncertainties are kept in the internal representation of the number ; it is recommended to
       use  tostr  only  for outputting data (on the screen or in a file), and NEVER call fromstr
       with the result of tostr.  It  is  better  to  always  keep  operands  in  their  internal
       representation.   Due  to  the  internals of this library, the uncertainty interval may be
       slightly wider than expected, but this should not cause false digits.

       Now you may ask this question : What precision am I going to get after calling  add,  sub,
       mul  or  div?   First you set a number from the string representation and, by the way, its
       uncertainty is set:

              set a [fromstr 1.230]
              # $a belongs to [1.229, 1.231]
              set a [fromstr 1.000]
              # $a belongs to [0.999, 1.001]
              # $a has a relative uncertainty of 0.1% : 0.001(the uncertainty)/1.000(the medium value)

       The uncertainty of the sum, or the difference,  of  two  numbers,  is  the  sum  of  their
       respective uncertainties.

              set a [fromstr 1.230]
              set b [fromstr 2.340]
              set sum [add $a $b]]
              # the result is : [3.568, 3.572] (the last digit is known with an uncertainty of 2)
              tostr $sum ; # 3.57

       But  when,  for  example,  we  add  or  substract  an  integer to a BigFloat, the relative
       uncertainty of the result is unchanged. So it is desirable  not  to  convert  integers  to
       BigFloats:

              set a [fromstr 0.999999999]
              # now something dangerous
              set b [fromstr 2.000]
              # the result has only 3 digits
              tostr [add $a $b]

              # how to keep precision at its maximum
              puts [tostr [add $a 2]]

       For  multiplication  and  division,  the  relative  uncertainties  of  the  product or the
       quotient, is the sum of the relative uncertainties of the operands.  Take care of division
       by zero : check each divider with iszero.

              set num [fromstr 4.00]
              set denom [fromstr 0.01]

              puts [iszero $denom];# true
              set quotient [div $num $denom];# error : divide by zero

              # opposites of our operands
              puts [compare $num [opp $num]]; # 1
              puts [compare $denom [opp $denom]]; # 0 !!!
              # No suprise ! 0 and its opposite are the same...

       Effects of the precision of a number considered equal to zero to the cos function:

              puts [tostr [cos [fromstr 0. 10]]]; # -> 1.000000000
              puts [tostr [cos [fromstr 0. 5]]]; # -> 1.0000
              puts [tostr [cos [fromstr 0e-10]]]; # -> 1.000000000
              puts [tostr [cos [fromstr 1e-10]]]; # -> 1.000000000

       BigFloats with different internal representations may be converted to the same string.

       For  most  analysis  functions  (cosine,  square  root,  logarithm, etc.), determining the
       precision of the result is difficult.  It seems however that in many cases,  the  loss  of
       precision in the result is of one or two digits.  There are some exceptions : for example,

              tostr [exp [fromstr 100.0 10]]
              # returns : 2.688117142e+43 which has only 10 digits of precision, although the entry
              # has 14 digits of precision.

WHAT ABOUT TCL 8.4 ?

       If  your  setup  do not provide Tcl 8.5 but supports 8.4, the package can still be loaded,
       switching back to math::bigfloat 1.2. Indeed, an important function introduced in Tcl  8.5
       is  required  - the ability to handle bignums, that we can do with expr.  Before 8.5, this
       ability was provided by several packages,  including  the  pure-Tcl  math::bignum  package
       provided by tcllib.  In this case, all you need to know, is that arguments to the commands
       explained here, are expected to  be  in  their  internal  representation.   So  even  with
       integers,  you will need to call fromstr and tostr in order to convert them between string
       and internal representations.

              #
              # with Tcl 8.5
              # ============
              set a [pi 20]
              # round returns an integer and 'everything is a string' applies to integers
              # whatever big they are
              puts [round [mul $a 10000000000]]
              #
              # the same with Tcl 8.4
              # =====================
              set a [pi 20]
              # bignums (arbitrary length integers) need a conversion hook
              set b [fromstr 10000000000]
              # round returns a bignum:
              # before printing it, we need to convert it with 'tostr'
              puts [tostr [round [mul $a $b]]]

NAMESPACES AND OTHER PACKAGES

       We have not yet discussed about namespaces because we assumed that you had imported public
       commands into the global namespace, like this:

              namespace import ::math::bigfloat::*

       If  you  matter  much about avoiding names conflicts, I considere it should be resolved by
       the following :

              package require math::bigfloat
              # beware: namespace ensembles are not available in Tcl 8.4
              namespace eval ::math::bigfloat {namespace ensemble create -command ::bigfloat}
              # from now, the bigfloat command takes as subcommands all original math::bigfloat::* commands
              set a [bigfloat sub [bigfloat fromstr 2.000] [bigfloat fromstr 0.530]]
              puts [bigfloat tostr $a]

EXAMPLES

       Guess what happens when you are doing some astronomy. Here is an example :

              # convert acurrate angles with a millisecond-rated accuracy
              proc degree-angle {degrees minutes seconds milliseconds} {
                  set result 0
                  set div 1
                  foreach factor {1 1000 60 60} var [list $milliseconds $seconds $minutes $degrees] {
                      # we convert each entry var into milliseconds
                      set div [expr {$div*$factor}]
                      incr result [expr {$var*$div}]
                  }
                  return [div [int2float $result] $div]
              }
              # load the package
              package require math::bigfloat
              namespace import ::math::bigfloat::*
              # work with angles : a standard formula for navigation (taking bearings)
              set angle1 [deg2rad [degree-angle 20 30 40   0]]
              set angle2 [deg2rad [degree-angle 21  0 50 500]]
              set opposite3 [deg2rad [degree-angle 51  0 50 500]]
              set sinProduct [mul [sin $angle1] [sin $angle2]]
              set cosProduct [mul [cos $angle1] [cos $angle2]]
              set angle3 [asin [add [mul $sinProduct [cos $opposite3]] $cosProduct]]
              puts "angle3 : [tostr [rad2deg $angle3]]"

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK

       This document, and the package it describes,  will  undoubtedly  contain  bugs  and  other
       problems.   Please  report  such  in  the  category  math :: bignum :: float of the Tcllib
       Trackers  [http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist].   Please  also  report  any  ideas   for
       enhancements you may have for either package and/or documentation.

       When proposing code changes, please provide unified diffs, i.e the output of diff -u.

       Note further that attachments are strongly preferred over inlined patches. Attachments can
       be made by going to the Edit form of the ticket immediately after its creation,  and  then
       using the left-most button in the secondary navigation bar.

KEYWORDS

       computations, floating-point, interval, math, multiprecision, tcl

CATEGORY

       Mathematics

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2004-2008, by Stephane Arnold <stephanearnold at yahoo dot fr>