### gexpr-2.0.2 README file

    GEXPR
    ------

    This is gexpr, a shell calculator that I hope you'll find handy. gexpr is
    similar to the expr(1) command, but it supports floating point math. I wrote
    it just for fun, but also because IMHO bc(1) is not intuitive to use.

    gexpr supports all standard C math and adds a few nice features -- see the
    man page. You use gexpr as a simple calculator. Examples:

      $ gexpr "1+1"
      $ gexpr "sqrt(PI)"
      $ gexpr "fact(5) / pow(2, 4)"
      $ gexpr "log10(sin(PI/8)) < exp(1)/3"
      $ gexpr "${X} * 1.24"

    Note that you can use shell variables, so using gexpr in shell scripts can
    be interesting. (I actually use gexpr in shell scripts to create short data
    files.) The built-in variables are the same as C, plus relational operators
    ( < <= > >= == != ), fact(), and rnd(). Adding your personal functions is
    easy -- use the source.

    INSTALL
    --------

    To build it, type as root:

      # make
      # make install
      # make clean

    Although I only tried to install gexpr under Linux, DOS/Windows, and Digital
    Unix, any machine supporting an ANSI C compiler (e.g. gcc) should be a
    target. Let me know.

    RPM BUILD
    ----------

    On Red Hat and derivatives, you can build an .rpm for gexpr with this
    command:

      # rpm -ta gexpr-2.0.2.tar.gz.

    Then find out where the .rpm was created, and install it as usual:

      # rpm -i gexpr-2.0.2-1.i386.rpm

    COPYING POLICY
    ---------------

    gexpr is under GPL. If you don't know what that means, please read the
    accompanying file COPYING.

    TO DO
    ------

    Still a bit messy, needs polishing. It uses (shock horror) global variables
    and longjmp. It would be nice if the parsing routine were completely
    stand-alone, and easily reusable. No line editing. These problems will be
    addressed in the next version.

    AUTHOR
    -------

    gexpr was written by Guido Gonzato, <ggonza@tin.it>. For any problems,
    suggestions for better parsing algorithms, and whatever you think, feel free
    to contact me.

    Ciao,
    	Guido =8-)