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<h2 id="sec:arith"><a id="sec:4.27"><span class="sec-nr">4.27</span> <span class="sec-title">Arithmetic</span></a></h2>
<a id="sec:arith"></a>
<p>Arithmetic can be divided into some special purpose integer
predicates and a series of general predicates for integer, floating
point and rational arithmetic as appropriate. The general arithmetic
predicates all handle <var>expressions</var>. An expression is either a
simple number or a <var>function</var>. The arguments of a function are
expressions. The functions are described in <a class="sec" href="arith.html">section
4.27.2.3</a>.
<p><h3 id="sec:logic-int-arith"><a id="sec:4.27.1"><span class="sec-nr">4.27.1</span> <span class="sec-title">Special
purpose integer arithmetic</span></a></h3>
<a id="sec:logic-int-arith"></a>
<p>The predicates in this section provide more logical operations
between integers. They are not covered by the ISO standard, although
they are `part of the community' and found as either library or built-in
in many other Prolog systems.
<dl class="latex">
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="between/3"><strong>between</strong>(<var>+Low,
+High, ?Value</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var>Low</var> and <var>High</var> are integers, <var><var>High</var> >=<var>Low</var></var>.
If
<var>Value</var> is an integer, <var><var>Low</var> =<<var>Value</var>
=<<var>High</var></var>. When <var>Value</var> is a variable it is
successively bound to all integers between <var>Low</var> and <var>High</var>.
If <var>High</var> is <code>inf</code> or
<code>infinite</code><sup class="fn">78<span class="fn-text">We prefer <code>infinite</code>,
but some other Prolog systems already use <code>inf</code> for infinity;
we accept both for the time being.</span></sup>
<a id="idx:between3:1163"></a><a class="pred" href="arith.html#between/3">between/3</a>
is true iff <var><var>Value</var> >=<var>Low</var></var>, a feature
that is particularly interesting for generating integers from a certain
value.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="succ/2"><strong>succ</strong>(<var>?Int1,
?Int2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var><var>Int2</var> = <var>Int1</var> + 1</var> and <var><var>Int1</var>
>= 0</var>. At least one of the arguments must be instantiated to a
natural number. This predicate raises the domain error <code>not_less_than_zero</code>
if called with a negative integer. E.g. <code>succ(X, 0)</code> fails
silently and <code>succ(X, -1)</code> raises a domain error.<sup class="fn">79<span class="fn-text">The
behaviour to deal with natural numbers only was defined by Richard
O'Keefe to support the common count-down-to-zero in a natural way. Up to
5.1.8, <a id="idx:succ2:1164"></a><a class="pred" href="arith.html#succ/2">succ/2</a>
also accepted negative integers.</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="plus/3"><strong>plus</strong>(<var>?Int1,
?Int2, ?Int3</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if <var><var>Int3</var> = <var>Int1</var> + <var>Int2</var></var>.
At least two of the three arguments must be instantiated to integers.
</dd>
</dl>
<p><h3 id="sec:arithpreds"><a id="sec:4.27.2"><span class="sec-nr">4.27.2</span> <span class="sec-title">General
purpose arithmetic</span></a></h3>
<a id="sec:arithpreds"></a>
<p>The general arithmetic predicates are optionally compiled (see
<a id="idx:setprologflag2:1165"></a><a class="pred" href="flags.html#set_prolog_flag/2">set_prolog_flag/2</a>
and the <strong>-O</strong> command line option). Compiled arithmetic
reduces global stack requirements and improves performance.
Unfortunately compiled arithmetic cannot be traced, which is why it is
optional.
<dl class="latex">
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id=">/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>></strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a larger number than <var>Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="</2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong><</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a smaller number than <var>Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="=</2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>=<</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a smaller or equal
number to <var>Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id=">=/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>>=</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a larger or equal
number to <var>Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="=\=/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>=\=</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a number non-equal to
<var>Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="=:=/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>=:=</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True if expression <var>Expr1</var> evaluates to a number equal to <var>
Expr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="is/2"><var>-Number</var> <strong>is</strong> <var>+Expr</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
True when <var>Number</var> is the value to which <var>Expr</var>
evaluates. Typically, <a id="idx:is2:1166"></a><a class="pred" href="arith.html#is/2">is/2</a>
should be used with unbound left operand. If equality is to be tested, <a class="pred" href="arith.html#=:=/2">=:=/2</a>
should be used. For example:
<p><table class="latex frame-void center">
<tr><td><code>?- 1 is sin(pi/2).</code> </td><td>Fails! sin(pi/2)
evaluates to the float 1.0, which does not unify with the integer 1. </td></tr>
<tr><td><code>?- 1 =:= sin(pi/2).</code> </td><td>Succeeds as expected.</td></tr>
</table>
</dd>
</dl>
<p><h4 id="sec:artypes"><a id="sec:4.27.2.1"><span class="sec-nr">4.27.2.1</span> <span class="sec-title">Arithmetic
types</span></a></h4>
<a id="sec:artypes"></a>
<p><a id="idx:integerunbounded:1167"></a><a id="idx:rationalnumber:1168"></a><a id="idx:numberrational:1169"></a>SWI-Prolog
defines the following numeric types:
<p>
<ul class="latex">
<li><i>integer</i><br>
If SWI-Prolog is built using the <em>GNU multiple precision arithmetic
library</em> <a id="idx:GMP:1170"></a>(GMP), integer arithmetic is <em>unbounded</em>,
which means that the size of integers is limited by available memory
only. Without GMP, SWI-Prolog integers are 64-bits, regardless of the
native integer size of the platform. The type of integer support can be
detected using the Prolog flags <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:bounded">bounded</a>, <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:min_integer">min_integer</a>
and
<a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:max_integer">max_integer</a>. As
the use of GMP is default, most of the following descriptions assume
unbounded integer arithmetic.
<p>Internally, SWI-Prolog has three integer representations. Small
integers (defined by the Prolog flag <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:max_tagged_integer">max_tagged_integer</a>)
are encoded directly. Larger integers are represented as 64-bit values
on the global stack. Integers that do not fit in 64 bits are represented
as serialised GNU MPZ structures on the global stack.
<p>
<li><i>rational number</i><br>
Rational numbers (<var>Q</var>) are quotients of two integers. Rational
arithmetic is only provided if GMP is used (see above). Rational numbers
are currently not supported by a Prolog type. They are represented by
the compound term <code>rdiv(N,M)</code>. Rational numbers that are
returned from <a id="idx:is2:1171"></a><a class="pred" href="arith.html#is/2">is/2</a>
are <em>canonical</em>, which means <var>M</var> is positive and <var>N</var>
and
<var>M</var> have no common divisors. Rational numbers are introduced in
the computation using the <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>, <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rationalize/1">rationalize/1</a>
or the <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rdiv/2">rdiv/2</a>
(rational division) function. Using the same functor for rational
division and for representing rational numbers allows for passing
rational numbers between computations as well as for using <a id="idx:format3:1172"></a><a class="pred" href="format.html#format/3">format/3</a>
for printing.
<p>In the long term, it is likely that rational numbers will become
<em>atomic</em> as well as a subtype of <em>number</em>. User code that
creates or inspects the <code>rdiv(M,N)</code> terms will not be
portable to future versions. Rationals are created using one of the
functions mentioned above and inspected using <a id="idx:rational3:1173"></a><a class="pred" href="typetest.html#rational/3">rational/3</a>.
<p>
<li><i>float</i><br>
Floating point numbers are represented using the C type <code>double</code>.
On most of today's platforms these are 64-bit IEEE floating point
numbers.
</ul>
<p>Arithmetic functions that require integer arguments accept, in
addition to integers, rational numbers with (canonical) denominator `1'.
If the required argument is a float the argument is converted to float.
Note that conversion of integers to floating point numbers may raise an
overflow exception. In all other cases, arguments are converted to the
same type using the order below.
<blockquote> integer <var>-></var> rational number <var>-></var>
floating point number
</blockquote>
<p><h4 id="sec:rational"><a id="sec:4.27.2.2"><span class="sec-nr">4.27.2.2</span> <span class="sec-title">Rational
number examples</span></a></h4>
<a id="sec:rational"></a>
<p>The use of rational numbers with unbounded integers allows for exact
integer or <em>fixed point</em> arithmetic under addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division. To exploit rational arithmetic <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rdiv/2">rdiv/2</a>
should be used instead of `/' and floating point numbers must be
converted to rational using <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>.
Omitting the <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>
on floats will convert a rational operand to float and continue the
arithmetic using floating point numbers. Here are some examples.
<p><table class="latex frame-void center">
<tr><td>A is 2 rdiv 6</td><td>A = 1 rdiv 3 </td></tr>
<tr><td>A is 4 rdiv 3 + 1</td><td>A = 7 rdiv 3 </td></tr>
<tr><td>A is 4 rdiv 3 + 1.5</td><td>A = 2.83333 </td></tr>
<tr><td>A is 4 rdiv 3 + rational(1.5)</td><td>A = 17 rdiv 6 </td></tr>
</table>
<p>Note that floats cannot represent all decimal numbers exactly. The
function <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>
creates an <em>exact</em> equivalent of the float, while <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rationalize/1">rationalize/1</a>
creates a rational number that is within the float rounding error from
the original float. Please check the documentation of these functions
for details and examples.
<p>Rational numbers can be printed as decimal numbers with arbitrary
precision using the <a id="idx:format3:1174"></a><a class="pred" href="format.html#format/3">format/3</a>
floating point conversion:
<pre class="code">
?- A is 4 rdiv 3 + rational(1.5),
format('~50f~n', [A]).
2.83333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333
A = 17 rdiv 6
</pre>
<p><h4 id="sec:functions"><a id="sec:4.27.2.3"><span class="sec-nr">4.27.2.3</span> <span class="sec-title">Arithmetic
Functions</span></a></h4>
<a id="sec:functions"></a>
<p>Arithmetic functions are terms which are evaluated by the arithmetic
predicates described in <a class="sec" href="arith.html">section 4.27.2</a>.
There are four types of arguments to functions:
<p><table class="latex frame-void center">
<tr><td><var>Expr</var> </td><td>Arbitrary expression, returning either
a floating point value or an integer. </td></tr>
<tr><td><var>IntExpr</var> </td><td>Arbitrary expression that must
evaluate to an integer. </td></tr>
<tr><td><var>RatExpr</var> </td><td>Arbitrary expression that must
evaluate to a rational number. </td></tr>
<tr><td><var>FloatExpr</var> </td><td>Arbitrary expression that must
evaluate to a floating point.</td></tr>
</table>
<p>For systems using bounded integer arithmetic (default is unbounded,
see <a class="sec" href="arith.html">section 4.27.2.1</a> for details),
integer operations that would cause overflow automatically convert to
floating point arithmetic.
<p>SWI-Prolog provides many extensions to the set of floating point
functions defined by the ISO standard. The current policy is to provide
such functions on `as-needed' basis if the function is widely supported
elsewhere and notably if it is part of the
<a class="url" href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n1124.pdf">C99</a>
mathematical library. In addition, we try to maintain compatibility with <a class="url" href="http://www.dcc.fc.up.pt/~vsc/Yap/">YAP</a>.
<dl class="latex">
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f--/1"><strong>-</strong> <var>+Expr</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = -<var>Expr</var></var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-+/1"><strong>+</strong> <var>+Expr</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr</var></var>. Note that if <code><code>+</code></code>
is followed by a number, the parser discards the <code><code>+</code></code>.
I.e. <code>?- integer(+1)</code> succeeds.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-+/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>+</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr1</var> + <var>Expr2</var></var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f--/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>-</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr1</var> - <var>Expr2</var></var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-*/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>*</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr1</var> × <var>Expr2</var></var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-//2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>/</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr1</var>/<var>Expr2</var></var>. If the
flag <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:iso">iso</a> is <code>true</code>,
both arguments are converted to float and the return value is a float.
Otherwise (default), if both arguments are integers the operation
returns an integer if the division is exact. If at least one of the
arguments is rational and the other argument is integer, the operation
returns a rational number. In all other cases the return value is a
float. See also <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-///2">///2</a>
and <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rdiv/2">rdiv/2</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-mod/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>mod</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Modulo, defined as <var>Result</var> = <var>IntExpr1</var> - (<var>IntExpr1</var>
div <var>IntExpr2</var>) <var> × </var> <var>IntExpr2</var>, where <code>div</code>
is
<em>floored</em> division.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-rem/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>rem</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Remainder of integer division. Behaves as if defined by
<var>Result</var> is <var>IntExpr1</var> - (<var>IntExpr1</var> // <var>IntExpr2</var>) <var> × </var> <var>IntExpr2</var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-///2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>//</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Integer division, defined as <var>Result</var> is <var>rnd_I</var>(<var>Expr1</var>/<var>Expr2</var>)
. The function <var>rnd_I</var> is the default rounding used by the C
compiler and available through the Prolog flag
<a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:integer_rounding_function">integer_rounding_function</a>.
In the C99 standard, C-rounding is defined as <code>towards_zero</code>.<sup class="fn">80<span class="fn-text">Future
versions might guarantee rounding towards zero.</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-div/2"><strong>div</strong>(<var>+IntExpr1,
+IntExpr2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Integer division, defined as <var>Result</var> is (<var>IntExpr1</var> - <var>IntExpr1</var> <var>mod</var> <var>IntExpr2</var>)
// <var>IntExpr2</var>. In other words, this is integer division that
rounds towards -infinity. This function guarantees behaviour that is
consistent with
<a class="function" href="arith.html#f-mod/2">mod/2</a>, i.e., the
following holds for every pair of integers
<var>X,Y</var> where <code>Y =\= 0</code>.
<pre class="code">
Q is div(X, Y),
M is mod(X, Y),
X =:= Y*Q+M.
</pre>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-rdiv/2"><var>+RatExpr</var> <strong>rdiv</strong> <var>+RatExpr</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Rational number division. This function is only available if SWI-Prolog
has been compiled with rational number support. See
<a class="sec" href="arith.html">section 4.27.2.2</a> for details.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-gcd/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>gcd</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Result is the greatest common divisor of <var>IntExpr1</var>, <var>IntExpr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-abs/1"><strong>abs</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate <var>Expr</var> and return the absolute value of it.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-sign/1"><strong>sign</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to -1 if <var><var>Expr</var> < 0</var>, 1 if <var><var>Expr</var>
> 0</var> and 0 if
<var><var>Expr</var> = 0</var>. If <var>Expr</var> evaluates to a float,
the return value is a float (e.g., -1.0, 0.0 or 1.0). In particular,
note that sign(-0.0) evaluates to 0.0. See also <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-copysign/1">copysign/1</a></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-copysign/1"><strong>copysign</strong>(<var>+Expr1,
+Expr2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to <var>X</var>, where the absolute value of <var>X</var>
equals the absolute value of <var>Expr1</var> and the sign of <var>X</var>
matches the sign of <var>Expr2</var>. This function is based on
copysign() from C99, which works on double precision floats and deals
with handling the sign of special floating point values such as -0.0.
Our implementation follows C99 if both arguments are floats. Otherwise, <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-copysign/1">copysign/1</a>
evaluates to <var>Expr1</var> if the sign of both expressions matches or
-<var>Expr1</var> if the signs do not match. Here, we use the extended
notion of signs for floating point numbers, where the sign of -0.0 and
other special floats is negative.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-max/2"><strong>max</strong>(<var>+Expr1,
+Expr2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to the larger of <var>Expr1</var> and <var>Expr2</var>. Both
arguments are compared after converting to the same type, but the return
value is in the original type. For example, max(2.5, 3) compares the two
values after converting to float, but returns the integer 3.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-min/2"><strong>min</strong>(<var>+Expr1,
+Expr2</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to the smaller of <var>Expr1</var> and <var>Expr2</var>. See
<a class="function" href="arith.html#f-max/2">max/2</a> for a
description of type handling.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-./2"><strong>.</strong>(<var>+Int,[]</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
A list of one element evaluates to the element. This implies <code>"a"</code>
evaluates to the character code of the letter `a' (97) using the
traditional mapping of double quoted string to a list of character
codes. Arithmetic evaluation also translates a string object (see
<a class="sec" href="strings.html">section 4.24</a>) of one character
length into the character code for that character. This implies that
expression <code>"a"</code> also works of the Prolog flag <a class="flag" href="flags.html#flag:double_quotes">double_quotes</a>
is set to <code>string</code>. The recommended way to specify the
character code of the letter `a' is
<code>0'a</code>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-random/1"><strong>random</strong>(<var>+IntExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to a random integer <var>i</var> for which <var>0 =< i < <var>IntExpr</var></var>.
The system has two implementations. If it is compiled with support for
unbounded arithmetic (default) it uses the GMP library random functions.
In this case, each thread keeps its own random state. The default
algorithm is the <em>Mersenne Twister</em> algorithm. The seed is set
when the first random number in a thread is generated. If available, it
is set from <code>/dev/random</code>. Otherwise it is set from the
system clock. If unbounded arithmetic is not supported, random numbers
are shared between threads and the seed is initialised from the clock
when SWI-Prolog was started. The predicate <a id="idx:setrandom1:1175"></a><a class="pred" href="miscarith.html#set_random/1">set_random/1</a>
can be used to control the random number generator.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-random_float/0"><strong>random_float</strong></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to a random float <var>I</var> for which <var>0.0 < i <
1.0</var>. This function shares the random state with <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-random/1">random/1</a>.
All remarks with the function <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-random/1">random/1</a>
also apply for <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-random_float/0">random_float/0</a>.
Note that both sides of the domain are <em>open</em>. This avoids
evaluation errors on, e.g., <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-log/1">log/1</a>
or <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-//2">//2</a> while no
practical application can expect 0.0.<sup class="fn">81<span class="fn-text">Richard
O'Keefe said: ``If you <em>are</em> generating IEEE doubles with the
claimed uniformity, then 0 has a 1 in <var>2^53 = 1 in
9,007,199,254,740,992</var> chance of turning up. No program that
expects [0.0,1.0) is going to be surprised when 0.0 fails to turn up in
a few millions of millions of trials, now is it? But a program that
expects (0.0,1.0) could be devastated if 0.0 did turn up.''</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-round/1"><strong>round</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate <var>Expr</var> and round the result to the nearest integer.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-integer/1"><strong>integer</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Same as <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-round/1">round/1</a>
(backward compatibility).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-float/1"><strong>float</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Translate the result to a floating point number. Normally, Prolog will
use integers whenever possible. When used around the 2nd argument of
<a id="idx:is2:1176"></a><a class="pred" href="arith.html#is/2">is/2</a>,
the result will be returned as a floating point number. In other
contexts, the operation has no effect.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-rational/1"><strong>rational</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Convert the <var>Expr</var> to a rational number or integer. The
function returns the input on integers and rational numbers. For
floating point numbers, the returned rational number <em>exactly</em>
represents the float. As floats cannot exactly represent all decimal
numbers the results may be surprising. In the examples below, doubles
can represent 0.25 and the result is as expected, in contrast to the
result of <code>rational(0.1)</code>. The function <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rationalize/1">rationalize/1</a>
remedies this. See <a class="sec" href="arith.html">section 4.27.2.2</a>
for more information on rational number support.
<pre class="code">
?- A is rational(0.25).
A is 1 rdiv 4
?- A is rational(0.1).
A = 3602879701896397 rdiv 36028797018963968
</pre>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-rationalize/1"><strong>rationalize</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Convert the <var>Expr</var> to a rational number or integer. The
function is similar to <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>,
but the result is only accurate within the rounding error of floating
point numbers, generally producing a much smaller denominator.<sup class="fn">82<span class="fn-text">The
names <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rational/1">rational/1</a>
and <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-rationalize/1">rationalize/1</a>
as well as their semantics are inspired by Common Lisp.</span></sup>
<pre class="code">
?- A is rationalize(0.25).
A = 1 rdiv 4
?- A is rationalize(0.1).
A = 1 rdiv 10
</pre>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-float_fractional_part/1"><strong>float_fractional_part</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Fractional part of a floating point number. Negative if <var>Expr</var>
is negative, rational if <var>Expr</var> is rational and 0 if <var>Expr</var>
is integer. The following relation is always true:
<var>X is float_fractional_part(X) + float_integer_part(X)</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-float_integer_part/1"><strong>float_integer_part</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Integer part of floating point number. Negative if <var>Expr</var> is
negative, <var>Expr</var> if <var>Expr</var> is integer.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-truncate/1"><strong>truncate</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Truncate <var>Expr</var> to an integer. If <var><var>Expr</var> >= 0</var>
this is the same as <code>floor(Expr)</code>. For <var><var>Expr</var> <
0</var> this is the same as
<code>ceil(Expr)</code>. That is, <a id="idx:truncate1:1177"></a><span class="pred-ext">truncate/1</span>
rounds towards zero.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-floor/1"><strong>floor</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate <var>Expr</var> and return the largest integer smaller or equal
to the result of the evaluation.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-ceiling/1"><strong>ceiling</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate <var>Expr</var> and return the smallest integer larger or equal
to the result of the evaluation.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-ceil/1"><strong>ceil</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Same as <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-ceiling/1">ceiling/1</a>
(backward compatibility).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f->>/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>>></strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise shift <var>IntExpr1</var> by <var>IntExpr2</var> bits to the
right. The operation performs <em>arithmetic shift</em>, which implies
that the inserted most significant bits are copies of the original most
significant bits.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-<</2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong><<</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise shift <var>IntExpr1</var> by <var>IntExpr2</var> bits to the
left.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-\//2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>\/</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise `or' <var>IntExpr1</var> and <var>IntExpr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-/\/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>/\</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise `and' <var>IntExpr1</var> and <var>IntExpr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-xor/2"><var>+IntExpr1</var> <strong>xor</strong> <var>+IntExpr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise `exclusive or' <var>IntExpr1</var> and <var>IntExpr2</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-\/1"><strong>\</strong> <var>+IntExpr</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Bitwise negation. The returned value is the one's complement of
<var>IntExpr</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-sqrt/1"><strong>sqrt</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = sqrt(<var>Expr</var>)</var>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-sin/1"><strong>sin</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = sin(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Expr</var> is
the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-cos/1"><strong>cos</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = cos(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Expr</var> is
the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-tan/1"><strong>tan</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = tan(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Expr</var> is
the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-asin/1"><strong>asin</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arcsin(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Result</var>
is the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-acos/1"><strong>acos</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arccos(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Result</var>
is the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-atan/1"><strong>atan</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arctan(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. <var>Result</var>
is the angle in radians.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-atan2/2"><strong>atan2</strong>(<var>+YExpr,
+XExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arctan(<var>YExpr</var>/<var>XExpr</var>)</var>. <var>Result</var>
is the angle in radians. The return value is in the range <var>[- pi ...
pi ]</var>. Used to convert between rectangular and polar coordinate
system.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-atan/2"><strong>atan</strong>(<var>+YExpr,
+XExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Same as <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-atan2/2">atan2/2</a>
(backward compatibility).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-sinh/1"><strong>sinh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = sinh(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. The hyperbolic
sine of <var>X</var> is defined as <var>e ** X - e ** -X / 2</var>.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-cosh/1"><strong>cosh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = cosh(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. The hyperbolic
cosine of <var>X</var> is defined as <var>e ** X + e ** -X / 2</var>.
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-tanh/1"><strong>tanh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = tanh(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. The hyperbolic
tangent of <var>X</var> is defined as <var>sinh( X ) / cosh( X )</var>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-asinh/1"><strong>asinh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arcsinh(<var>Expr</var>)</var> (inverse
hyperbolic sine).
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-acosh/1"><strong>acosh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arccosh(<var>Expr</var>)</var> (inverse
hyperbolic cosine).
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-atanh/1"><strong>atanh</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = arctanh(<var>Expr</var>)</var>. (inverse
hyperbolic tangent).</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-log/1"><strong>log</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Natural logarithm. <var><var>Result</var> = ln(<var>Expr</var>)</var>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-log10/1"><strong>log10</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Base-10 logarithm. <var><var>Result</var> = log10(<var>Expr</var>)</var>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-exp/1"><strong>exp</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = e **<var>Expr</var></var></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-**/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>**</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = <var>Expr1</var>**<var>Expr2</var></var>. The
result is a float, unless SWI-Prolog is compiled with unbounded integer
support and the inputs are integers and produce an integer result. The
integer expressions <var>0 ** I</var>, <var>1 ** I</var> and <var>-1 **
I</var> are guaranteed to work for any integer <var>I</var>. Other
integer base values generate a
<code>resource</code> error if the result does not fit in memory.
<p>The ISO standard demands a float result for all inputs and introduces
<a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> for integer
exponentiation. The function
<a class="function" href="arith.html#f-float/1">float/1</a> can be used
on one or both arguments to force a floating point result. Note that
casting the <em>input</em> result in a floating point computation, while
casting the <em>output</em> performs integer exponentiation followed by
a conversion to float.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-^/2"><var>+Expr1</var> <strong>^</strong> <var>+Expr2</var></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
In SWI-Prolog, <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> is
equivalent to <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-**/2">**/2</a>. The
ISO version is similar, except that it produces a evaluation error if
both
<var>Expr1</var> and <var>Expr2</var> are integers and the result is not
an integer. The table below illustrates the behaviour of the
exponentiation functions in ISO and SWI.
<p><table class="latex frame-box center">
<tr><td><var>Expr1</var> </td><td><var>Expr2</var> </td><td>Function</td><td>SWI</td><td>ISO </td></tr>
<tr class="hline"><td>Int</td><td>Int</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-**/2">**/2</a> </td><td>Int
or Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr><td>Int</td><td>Float</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-**/2">**/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr><td>Float</td><td>Int</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-**/2">**/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr><td>Float</td><td>Float</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-**/2">**/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr class="hline"><td>Int</td><td>Int</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> </td><td>Int
or Float</td><td>Int or error </td></tr>
<tr><td>Int</td><td>Float</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr><td>Float</td><td>Int</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
<tr><td>Float</td><td>Float</td><td><a class="function" href="arith.html#f-^/2">^/2</a> </td><td>Float</td><td>Float </td></tr>
</table>
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-powm/3"><strong>powm</strong>(<var>+IntExprBase,
+IntExprExp, +IntExprMod</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<var><var>Result</var> = (<var>IntExprBase</var>**<var>IntExprExp</var>)
modulo <var>IntExprMod</var></var>. Only available when compiled with
unbounded integer support. This formula is required for Diffie-Hellman
key-exchange, a technique where two parties can establish a secret key
over a public network.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-lgamma/1"><strong>lgamma</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Return the natural logarithm of the absolute value of the Gamma
function.<sup class="fn">83<span class="fn-text">Some interfaces also
provide the sign of the Gamma function. We canot do that in an
arithmetic function. Future versions may provide a <em>predicate</em>
lgamma/3 that returns both the value and the sign.</span></sup></dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-erf/1"><strong>erf</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<a class="url" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_function">WikipediA</a>:
``In mathematics, the error function (also called the Gauss error
function) is a special function (non-elementary) of sigmoid shape which
occurs in probability, statistics and partial differential equations.''</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-erfc/1"><strong>erfc</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
<a class="url" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_function">WikipediA</a>:
``The complementary error function.''</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><span class="pred-tag">[ISO]</span><a id="f-pi/0"><strong>pi</strong></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to the mathematical constant <var>pi</var> (3.14159 ... ).
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-e/0"><strong>e</strong></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to the mathematical constant <var>e</var> (2.71828 ... ).
</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-epsilon/0"><strong>epsilon</strong></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to the difference between the float 1.0 and the first larger
floating point number.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-cputime/0"><strong>cputime</strong></a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate to a floating point number expressing the <span style="font-variant:small-caps">CPU</span>
time (in seconds) used by Prolog up till now. See also <a id="idx:statistics2:1178"></a><a class="pred" href="statistics.html#statistics/2">statistics/2</a>
and <a id="idx:time1:1179"></a><a class="pred" href="statistics.html#time/1">time/1</a>.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-eval/1"><strong>eval</strong>(<var>+Expr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Evaluate <var>Expr</var>. Although ISO standard dictates that `<var>A</var>=1+2, <var>B</var>
is
<var>A</var>' works and unifies <var>B</var> to 3, it is widely felt
that source level variables in arithmetic expressions should have been
limited to numbers. In this view the eval function can be used to
evaluate arbitrary expressions.<sup class="fn">84<span class="fn-text">The <a class="function" href="arith.html#f-eval/1">eval/1</a>
function was first introduced by ECLiPSe and is under consideration for
YAP.</span></sup>
</dd>
</dl>
<p><b>Bitvector functions</b>
<p>The functions below are not covered by the standard. The
<a class="function" href="arith.html#f-msb/1">msb/1</a> function is
compatible with hProlog. The others are private extensions that improve
handling of ---unbounded--- integers as bit-vectors.
<dl class="latex">
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-msb/1"><strong>msb</strong>(<var>+IntExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Return the largest integer <var>N</var> such that <code>(IntExpr >> N) /\ 1 =:= 1</code>.
This is the (zero-origin) index of the most significant 1 bit in the
value of <var>IntExpr</var>, which must evaluate to a positive integer.
Errors for 0, negative integers, and non-integers.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-lsb/1"><strong>lsb</strong>(<var>+IntExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Return the smallest integer <var>N</var> such that <code>(IntExpr >> N) /\ 1 =:= 1</code>.
This is the (zero-origin) index of the least significant 1 bit in the
value of <var>IntExpr</var>, which must evaluate to a positive integer.
Errors for 0, negative integers, and non-integers.</dd>
<dt class="pubdef"><a id="f-popcount/1"><strong>popcount</strong>(<var>+IntExpr</var>)</a></dt>
<dd class="defbody">
Return the number of 1s in the binary representation of the non-negative
integer <var>IntExpr</var>.
</dd>
</dl>
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