Provided by: bcal_2.4-2_amd64 bug

NAME

       bcal - Storage expression calculator.

SYNOPSIS

       bcal [-c N] [-f loc] [-s bytes] [expr] [N [unit]] [-b [expr]] [-m] [-d] [-h]

DESCRIPTION

       bcal  (Byte  CALculator) is a command-line utility to help with numerical calculations and
       expressions  involving  binary  prefixes,  SI/IEC  conversion,   byte   addressing,   base
       conversion, LBA/CHS calculation etc.

       It  invokes  GNU  bc  for  non-storage expressions. Alternatively, it can also invoke calc
       (http://www.isthe.com/chongo/tech/comp/calc/). To use calc:

       export BCAL_USE_CALC=1

       bcal uses [SI and IEC binary prefixes]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix

FEATURES

         * evaluate arithmetic expressions involving storage units
         * perform general purpose calculations (using bc or calc)
         * works with piped input or file redirection
         * convert to IEC/SI standard data storage units
         * interactive mode with the last valid result stored for reuse
         * show the address in bytes
         * show address as LBA:OFFSET
         * convert CHS to LBA and vice versa
         * base conversion to binary, decimal and hex
         * custom sector size, max heads/cylinder and max sectors/track
         * minimal dependencies

OPERATIONAL NOTES

       1.  Interactive mode: bcal enters the REPL mode if no arguments are provided. Storage unit
           conversion,  base conversion and expression evaluation are supported in this mode. The
           last valid result is stored in the variable r.

       2.  Expression: Expression passed as argument in  one-shot  mode  must  be  within  double
           quotes.  Inner  spaces  are  ignored. Supported operators: +, -, *, /, % and C bitwise
           operators (except ~ due to storage width dependency).

       3.  N  [unit]:  N  can  be  a  decimal  or  '0x'  prefixed  hex   value.   unit   can   be
           B/KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB/kB/MB/GB/TB.  Default  is  Byte.  As all of these tokens are unique,
           unit is case-insensitive.

       4.  Numeric representation: Decimal  and  hex  are  recognized  in  expressions  and  unit
           conversions. Binary is also recognized in other operations.

       5.  Syntax: Prefix hex inputs with '0x', binary inputs with '0b'.

       6.  Precision:  128 bits if __uint128_t is available or 64 bits for numerical conversions.
           Floating point operations use long double. Negative values in storage expressions  are
           unsupported. Only 64-bit operating systems are supported.

       7.  Fractional  bytes  do not exist, because they can't be addressed. bcal shows the floor
           value of non-integer bytes.

       8.  CHS and LBA syntax:
             - LBA: 'lLBA-MAX_HEAD-MAX_SECTOR'   [NOTE: LBA starts with 'l' (case ignored)]
             - CHS: 'cC-H-S-MAX_HEAD-MAX_SECTOR' [NOTE: CHS starts with 'c' (case ignored)]
             - Format conversion arguments must be hyphen separated.
             - Any unspecified value, including the one  preceding  the  first  '-'  to  the  one
           following the last '-', is considered '0' (zero).
             - Examples:
               - 'c-50--0x12-' -> C = 0, H = 50, S = 0, MH = 0x12, MS = 0
               - 'l50-0x12' -> LBA = 50, MH = 0x12, MS = 0

       9.  Default values:
             - sector size: 0x200 (512)
             - max heads per cylinder: 0x10 (16)
             - max sectors per track: 0x3f (63)

       10. bc  variables:  scale = 10, ibase = 10. r is synced and can be used in expressions. bc
           is  not  called  in  minimal  output  mode.  To  use  calc  instead  of   bc,   export
           BCAL_USE_CALC=1.

OPTIONS

       -c=N   Show decimal, binary and hex representation of positive integer N.

       -f=loc Convert  CHS to LBA or LBA to CHS. loc is hyphen-separated representation of LBA or
              CHS. Please refer to the Operational Notes section for more details.

       -s=bytes
              Sector size in bytes. Default value is 512.

       -b=[expr]
              Start in bc mode. If expression is provided, evaluate in bc and quit.

       -m     Show minimal output (e.g. decimal bytes).

       -d     Enable debug information and logs.

       -h     Show program help, storage sizes on the system and exit.

PROMPT KEYS

       b      Toggle bc mode.

       r      Show result from last operation.

       s      Show sizes of storage types.

       ?      Show prompt help.

       q, double Enter
              Quit the program.

EXAMPLES

       1.  Evaluate arithmetic expression of storage units

              $ bcal "(5kb+2mb)/3"
              $ bcal "5 tb / 12"
              $ bcal "2.5mb*3"
              $ bcal "(2giB * 2) / (2kib >> 2)"

       2.  Convert storage capacity to other units and get address, LBA.

              $ bcal 20140115 b
              $ bcal 0x1335053 B
              $ bcal 0xaabbcc kb
              $ bcal 0xdef Gib
              Note that the units are case-insensitive.

       3.  Convert storage capacity, set sector size to 4096 to calculate LBA.

              $ bcal 0xaabbcc kb -s 4096

       4.  Convert LBA to CHS.

              $ bcal -f l500
              $ bcal -f l0x600-18-0x7e
              $ bcal -f l0x300-0x12-0x7e

       5.  Convert CHS to LBA.

              $ bcal -f c10-10-10
              $ bcal -f c0x10-0x10-0x10
              $ bcal -f c0x10-10-2-0x12
              $ bcal -f c-10-2-0x12
              $ bcal -f c0x10-10--0x12

       6.  Show binary, decimal and hex representations of a number.

              $ bcal -c 20140115
              $ bcal -c 0b1001100110101000001010011
              $ bcal -c 0x1335053
              bcal> c 20140115 // Interactive mode

       7.  Invoke bc.

              $ bcal -b '3.5 * 2.1 + 5.7'
              bcal> b // Interactive mode
              bc vars: scale = 10, ibase = 10, last = r
              bc> 3.5 * 2.1 + 5.7

       8.  Pipe input.

              $ printf '15 kib + 15 gib \n r / 5' | bcal -m
              $ printf '15 + 15 + 2' | bcal -bm

       9.  Redirect from file.

              $ cat expr
              15 gib + 15 kib
              r / 5
              $ bcal -m < expr

       10. Use as a general-purpose calculator.

              $ bcal -b

AUTHORS

       Arun Prakash Jana <engineerarun@gmail.com>

HOME

       https://github.com/jarun/bcal

REPORTING BUGS

       https://github.com/jarun/bcal/issues

LICENSE

       Copyright © 2016 Arun Prakash Jana <engineerarun@gmail.com>

       License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
       This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is  NO  WARRANTY,
       to the extent permitted by law.