Ubuntu Manpage: mathomatic - a computer algebra system

NAME

       mathomatic - a computer algebra system

SYNOPSIS

       mathomatic [ -abcdehqrtuvwx ] [ -s level ] [ -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 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 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 (-).

-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 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.

-r 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.

-s level
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. 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.

-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 terminal
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 console 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://mathomatic.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@mathomatic.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".