To invoke a particular function math must be linked or copied to the name of the desired function. When math is named as a standard math subroutine, <math_function> reads /rdb tables from the standard input and performs the indicated function from the math subroutine library. The input is one or two columns from the table, depending on the function. The default columns used by <math_function> are the first (and second, in the case of functions which operate on two elements). The default output of <math_function> is a single column having the same name as the function and containing the function result.

-fc

c (not TAB) is the input column separation character.

-Dn

turn on debugging at level n, or 1 if n is not specified.

in_col

if input column name(s) are specified, <math_function> performs the function on the named columns and outputs the entire table with the addition of the function result column.

out_col

if a second argument (in the case of functions which operate on a single column) or a third argument (in the case of functions which operate on two columns) is specified, the function result column is named by this argument. This option will replace an existing column in the input table if it has the same name.

$ cat mathtable
a       b       c
-       -       -
1       2       3
4       5       6
7       8       9

To execute the sin function on mathtable:

$ ln math sin                (UNIX)
C> cp math.exe sin.exe       (DOS)
$ sin < mathtable
sin
---
0.841471
-0.756802
0.656987

To perform sin on column b of mathtable and name the resulting column b.sin:

$ sin b b.sin < mathtable
a       b       c       b.sin
-       -       -       -----
1       2       3       0.909297
4       5       6       -0.958924
7       8       9       0.989358

To perform the hypot function on columns a and b and replace column c with the result:

$ ln math hypot              (UNIX)
C> cp math.exe hypot.exe     (DOS)
$ hypot a b c < mathtable
a       b       c
-       -       -
1       2       2.236068
4       5       6.403124
7       8       10.630146