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ieee.3 (140505) ieee.3 (140890)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1985, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
1.\" Copyright (c) 1985 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright

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25.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
26.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
27.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
28.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
29.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
30.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
31.\"
32.\" from: @(#)ieee.3 6.4 (Berkeley) 5/6/91
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright

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25.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
26.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
27.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
28.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
29.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
30.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
31.\"
32.\" from: @(#)ieee.3 6.4 (Berkeley) 5/6/91
33.\" $FreeBSD: head/lib/msun/man/ieee.3 140505 2005-01-20 09:17:07Z ru $
33.\" $FreeBSD: head/lib/msun/man/ieee.3 140890 2005-01-27 05:46:17Z das $
34.\"
34.\"
35.Dd June 20, 2004
35.Dd January 26, 2005
36.Dt IEEE 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
36.Dt IEEE 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm copysign ,
40.Nm copysignf ,
41.Nm copysignl ,
42.Nm finite ,
43.Nm finitef ,
44.Nm ilogb ,
45.Nm ilogbf ,
46.Nm ilogbl ,
47.Nm nextafter ,
48.Nm nextafterf ,
49.Nm remainder ,
50.Nm remainderf ,
51.Nm scalbln ,
52.Nm scalblnf ,
53.Nm scalbn ,
54.Nm scalbnf
55.Nd functions for IEEE arithmetic
56.Sh LIBRARY
57.Lb libm
58.Sh SYNOPSIS
59.In math.h
60.Ft double
61.Fn copysign "double x" "double y"
62.Ft float
63.Fn copysignf "float x" "float y"
64.Ft long double
65.Fn copysignl "long double x" "long double y"
66.Ft int
67.Fn finite "double x"
68.Ft int
69.Fn finitef "float x"
70.Ft int
71.Fn ilogb "double x"
72.Ft int
73.Fn ilogbf "float x"
74.Ft int
75.Fn ilogbl "long double x"
76.Ft double
77.Fn nextafter "double x" "double y"
78.Ft float
79.Fn nextafterf "float x" "float y"
80.Ft double
81.Fn remainder "double x" "double y"
82.Ft float
83.Fn remainderf "float x" "float y"
84.Ft double
85.Fn scalbln "double x" "long n"
86.Ft float
87.Fn scalblnf "float x" "long n"
88.Ft double
89.Fn scalbn "double x" "int n"
90.Ft float
91.Fn scalbnf "float x" "int n"
39.Nm ieee
40.Nd IEEE standard 754 for floating-point arithmetic
92.Sh DESCRIPTION
41.Sh DESCRIPTION
93These functions are required or recommended by
94.St -ieee754 .
42The IEEE Standard 754 for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic
43defines representations of floating-point numbers and abstract
44properties of arithmetic operations relating to precision,
45rounding, and exceptional cases, as described below.
46.Ss IEEE STANDARD 754 Floating-Point Arithmetic
47Radix: Binary.
95.Pp
48.Pp
96The
97.Fn copysign ,
98.Fn copysignf
99and
100.Fn copysignl
101functions
102return
103.Fa x
104with its sign changed to
105.Fa y Ns 's .
49.Bl -column "" -compact
50Overflow and underflow:
51.El
52.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
53Overflow goes by default to a signed \*(If.
54Underflow is
55.Em gradual .
56.Ed
106.Pp
57.Pp
107.Fn finite
108and
109.Fn finitef
110return the value 1 just when
111\-\*(If \*(Lt
112.Fa x
113\*(Lt +\*(If;
114otherwise a
115zero is returned
116(when
117.Pf \\*(Ba Ns Fa x Ns \\*(Ba
118= \*(If or
119.Fa x
120is \*(Na).
58Zero is represented ambiguously as +0 or \-0.
59.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
60Its sign transforms correctly through multiplication or
61division, and is preserved by addition of zeros
62with like signs; but x\-x yields +0 for every
63finite x.
64The only operations that reveal zero's
65sign are division by zero and
66.Fn copysign x \(+-0 .
67In particular, comparison (x > y, x \(>= y, etc.)\&
68cannot be affected by the sign of zero; but if
69finite x = y then \*(If = 1/(x\-y) \(!= \-1/(y\-x) = \-\*(If.
70.Ed
121.Pp
71.Pp
122.Fn ilogb ,
123.Fn ilogbf
124and
125.Fn ilogbl
126return
127.Fa x Ns 's exponent,
128in integer format.
129.Fn ilogb \*(Pm\*(If
130returns
131.Dv INT_MAX ,
132.Fn ilogb \*(Pm\*(Na
133returns
134.Dv FP_ILOGBNAN
135and
136.Fn ilogb 0
137returns
138.Dv FP_ILOGB0 .
72Infinity is signed.
73.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
74It persists when added to itself
75or to any finite number.
76Its sign transforms
77correctly through multiplication and division, and
78(finite)/\(+-\*(If\0=\0\(+-0
79(nonzero)/0 = \(+-\*(If.
80But
81\*(If\-\*(If, \*(If\(**0 and \*(If/\*(If
82are, like 0/0 and sqrt(\-3),
83invalid operations that produce \*(Na. ...
84.Ed
139.Pp
85.Pp
140.Fn nextafter
141and
142.Fn nextafterf
143return the next machine representable number from
144.Fa x
145in direction
146.Fa y .
86Reserved operands (\*(Nas):
87.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
88An \*(Na is
89.Em ( N Ns ot Em a N Ns umber ) .
90Some \*(Nas, called Signaling \*(Nas, trap any floating-point operation
91performed upon them; they are used to mark missing
92or uninitialized values, or nonexistent elements
93of arrays.
94The rest are Quiet \*(Nas; they are
95the default results of Invalid Operations, and
96propagate through subsequent arithmetic operations.
97If x \(!= x then x is \*(Na; every other predicate
98(x > y, x = y, x < y, ...) is FALSE if \*(Na is involved.
99.Ed
147.Pp
100.Pp
148.Fn remainder
149and
150.Fn remainderf
151return the remainder
152.Fa r
153:=
154.Fa x
155\-
156.Fa n\(**y
157where
158.Fa n
159is the integer nearest the exact value of
160.Bk -words
161.Fa x Ns / Ns Fa y ;
162.Ek
163moreover if
164.Pf \\*(Ba Fa n
165\-
166.Sm off
167.Fa x No / Fa y No \\*(Ba
168.Sm on
169=
1701/2
101Rounding:
102.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
103Every algebraic operation (+, \-, \(**, /,
104\(sr)
105is rounded by default to within half an
106.Em ulp ,
107and when the rounding error is exactly half an
108.Em ulp
171then
109then
172.Fa n
173is even.
174Consequently
175the remainder is computed exactly and
176.Sm off
177.Pf \\*(Ba Fa r No \\*(Ba
178.Sm on
179\*(Le
180.Sm off
181.Pf \\*(Ba Fa y No \\*(Ba/2 .
182.Sm on
183But
184.Fn remainder x 0
185and
186.Fn remainder \*(If 0
187are invalid operations that produce a \*(Na.
110the rounded value's least significant bit is zero.
111(An
112.Em ulp
113is one
114.Em U Ns nit
115in the
116.Em L Ns ast
117.Em P Ns lace . )
118This kind of rounding is usually the best kind,
119sometimes provably so; for instance, for every
120x = 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, ..., 2.0**52, we find
121(x/3.0)\(**3.0 == x and (x/10.0)\(**10.0 == x and ...
122despite that both the quotients and the products
123have been rounded.
124Only rounding like IEEE 754 can do that.
125But no single kind of rounding can be
126proved best for every circumstance, so IEEE 754
127provides rounding towards zero or towards
128+\*(If or towards \-\*(If
129at the programmer's option.
130.Ed
188.Pp
131.Pp
189.Fn scalbln ,
190.Fn scalblnf ,
191.Fn scalbn ,
132Exceptions:
133.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
134IEEE 754 recognizes five kinds of floating-point exceptions,
135listed below in declining order of probable importance.
136.Bl -column -offset indent "Invalid Operation" "Gradual Underflow"
137.Em "Exception Default Result"
138Invalid Operation \*(Na, or FALSE
139Overflow \(+-\*(If
140Divide by Zero \(+-\*(If
141Underflow Gradual Underflow
142Inexact Rounded value
143.El
144.Pp
145NOTE: An Exception is not an Error unless handled
146badly.
147What makes a class of exceptions exceptional
148is that no single default response can be satisfactory
149in every instance.
150On the other hand, if a default
151response will serve most instances satisfactorily,
152the unsatisfactory instances cannot justify aborting
153computation every time the exception occurs.
154.Ed
155.Ss Data Formats
156Single-precision:
157.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
158Type name:
159.Vt float
160.Pp
161Wordsize: 32 bits.
162.Pp
163Precision: 24 significant bits,
164roughly like 7 significant decimals.
165.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
166If x and x' are consecutive positive single-precision
167numbers (they differ by 1
168.Em ulp ) ,
169then
170.Bd -ragged -compact
1715.9e\-08 < 0.5**24 < (x'\-x)/x \(<= 0.5**23 < 1.2e\-07.
172.Ed
173.Ed
174.Pp
175.Bl -column "XXX" -compact
176Range: Overflow threshold = 2.0**128 = 3.4e38
177 Underflow threshold = 0.5**126 = 1.2e\-38
178.El
179.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
180Underflowed results round to the nearest
181integer multiple of 0.5**149 = 1.4e\-45.
182.Ed
183.Ed
184.Pp
185Double-precision:
186.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
187Type name:
188.Vt double
189.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
190On some architectures,
191.Vt long double
192is the the same as
193.Vt double .
194.Ed
195.Pp
196Wordsize: 64 bits.
197.Pp
198Precision: 53 significant bits,
199roughly like 16 significant decimals.
200.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
201If x and x' are consecutive positive double-precision
202numbers (they differ by 1
203.Em ulp ) ,
204then
205.Bd -ragged -compact
2061.1e\-16 < 0.5**53 < (x'\-x)/x \(<= 0.5**52 < 2.3e\-16.
207.Ed
208.Ed
209.Pp
210.Bl -column "XXX" -compact
211Range: Overflow threshold = 2.0**1024 = 1.8e308
212 Underflow threshold = 0.5**1022 = 2.2e\-308
213.El
214.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
215Underflowed results round to the nearest
216integer multiple of 0.5**1074 = 4.9e\-324.
217.Ed
218.Ed
219.Pp
220Extended-precision:
221.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
222Type name:
223.Vt long double
224(when supported by the hardware)
225.Pp
226Wordsize: 96 bits.
227.Pp
228Precision: 64 significant bits,
229roughly like 19 significant decimals.
230.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
231If x and x' are consecutive positive double-precision
232numbers (they differ by 1
233.Em ulp ) ,
234then
235.Bd -ragged -compact
2361.0e\-19 < 0.5**63 < (x'\-x)/x \(<= 0.5**62 < 2.2e\-19.
237.Ed
238.Ed
239.Pp
240.Bl -column "XXX" -compact
241Range: Overflow threshold = 2.0**16384 = 1.2e4932
242 Underflow threshold = 0.5**16382 = 3.4e\-4932
243.El
244.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
245Underflowed results round to the nearest
246integer multiple of 0.5**16451 = 5.7e\-4953.
247.Ed
248.Ed
249.Pp
250Quad-extended-precision:
251.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
252Type name:
253.Vt long double
254(when supported by the hardware)
255.Pp
256Wordsize: 128 bits.
257.Pp
258Precision: 113 significant bits,
259roughly like 34 significant decimals.
260.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
261If x and x' are consecutive positive double-precision
262numbers (they differ by 1
263.Em ulp ) ,
264then
265.Bd -ragged -compact
2669.6e\-35 < 0.5**113 < (x'\-x)/x \(<= 0.5**112 < 2.0e\-34.
267.Ed
268.Ed
269.Pp
270.Bl -column "XXX" -compact
271Range: Overflow threshold = 2.0**16384 = 1.2e4932
272 Underflow threshold = 0.5**16382 = 3.4e\-4932
273.El
274.Bd -ragged -offset indent -compact
275Underflowed results round to the nearest
276integer multiple of 0.5**16494 = 6.5e\-4966.
277.Ed
278.Ed
279.Ss Additional Information Regarding Exceptions
280.Pp
281For each kind of floating-point exception, IEEE 754
282provides a Flag that is raised each time its exception
283is signaled, and stays raised until the program resets
284it.
285Programs may also test, save and restore a flag.
286Thus, IEEE 754 provides three ways by which programs
287may cope with exceptions for which the default result
288might be unsatisfactory:
289.Bl -enum
290.It
291Test for a condition that might cause an exception
292later, and branch to avoid the exception.
293.It
294Test a flag to see whether an exception has occurred
295since the program last reset its flag.
296.It
297Test a result to see whether it is a value that only
298an exception could have produced.
299.Pp
300CAUTION: The only reliable ways to discover
301whether Underflow has occurred are to test whether
302products or quotients lie closer to zero than the
303underflow threshold, or to test the Underflow
304flag.
305(Sums and differences cannot underflow in
306IEEE 754; if x \(!= y then x\-y is correct to
307full precision and certainly nonzero regardless of
308how tiny it may be.)
309Products and quotients that
310underflow gradually can lose accuracy gradually
311without vanishing, so comparing them with zero
312(as one might on a VAX) will not reveal the loss.
313Fortunately, if a gradually underflowed value is
314destined to be added to something bigger than the
315underflow threshold, as is almost always the case,
316digits lost to gradual underflow will not be missed
317because they would have been rounded off anyway.
318So gradual underflows are usually
319.Em provably
320ignorable.
321The same cannot be said of underflows flushed to 0.
322.El
323.Pp
324At the option of an implementor conforming to IEEE 754,
325other ways to cope with exceptions may be provided:
326.Bl -enum
327.It
328ABORT.
329This mechanism classifies an exception in
330advance as an incident to be handled by means
331traditionally associated with error-handling
332statements like "ON ERROR GO TO ...".
333Different
334languages offer different forms of this statement,
335but most share the following characteristics:
336.Bl -dash
337.It
338No means is provided to substitute a value for
339the offending operation's result and resume
340computation from what may be the middle of an
341expression.
342An exceptional result is abandoned.
343.It
344In a subprogram that lacks an error-handling
345statement, an exception causes the subprogram to
346abort within whatever program called it, and so
347on back up the chain of calling subprograms until
348an error-handling statement is encountered or the
349whole task is aborted and memory is dumped.
350.El
351.It
352STOP.
353This mechanism, requiring an interactive
354debugging environment, is more for the programmer
355than the program.
356It classifies an exception in
357advance as a symptom of a programmer's error; the
358exception suspends execution as near as it can to
359the offending operation so that the programmer can
360look around to see how it happened.
361Quite often
362the first several exceptions turn out to be quite
363unexceptionable, so the programmer ought ideally
364to be able to resume execution after each one as if
365execution had not been stopped.
366.It
367\&... Other ways lie beyond the scope of this document.
368.El
369.Pp
370Ideally, each
371elementary function should act as if it were indivisible, or
372atomic, in the sense that ...
373.Bl -enum
374.It
375No exception should be signaled that is not deserved by
376the data supplied to that function.
377.It
378Any exception signaled should be identified with that
379function rather than with one of its subroutines.
380.It
381The internal behavior of an atomic function should not
382be disrupted when a calling program changes from
383one to another of the five or so ways of handling
384exceptions listed above, although the definition
385of the function may be correlated intentionally
386with exception handling.
387.El
388.Pp
389The functions in
390.Nm libm
391are only approximately atomic.
392They signal no inappropriate exception except possibly ...
393.Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
394.It Xo
395Over/Underflow
396.Xc
397when a result, if properly computed, might have lain barely within range, and
398.It Xo
399Inexact in
400.Fn cabs ,
401.Fn cbrt ,
402.Fn hypot ,
403.Fn log10
192and
404and
193.Fn scalbnf
194return
195.Fa x Ns \(**(2** Ns Fa n )
196computed by exponent manipulation.
405.Fn pow
406.Xc
407when it happens to be exact, thanks to fortuitous cancellation of errors.
408.El
409Otherwise, ...
410.Bl -tag -width indent -offset indent -compact
411.It Xo
412Invalid Operation is signaled only when
413.Xc
414any result but \*(Na would probably be misleading.
415.It Xo
416Overflow is signaled only when
417.Xc
418the exact result would be finite but beyond the overflow threshold.
419.It Xo
420Divide-by-Zero is signaled only when
421.Xc
422a function takes exactly infinite values at finite operands.
423.It Xo
424Underflow is signaled only when
425.Xc
426the exact result would be nonzero but tinier than the underflow threshold.
427.It Xo
428Inexact is signaled only when
429.Xc
430greater range or precision would be needed to represent the exact result.
431.El
197.Sh SEE ALSO
432.Sh SEE ALSO
433.Xr fenv 3 ,
434.Xr ieee_test 3 ,
198.Xr math 3
435.Xr math 3
436.Pp
437An explanation of IEEE 754 and its proposed extension p854
438was published in the IEEE magazine MICRO in August 1984 under
439the title "A Proposed Radix- and Word-length-independent
440Standard for Floating-point Arithmetic" by
441.An "W. J. Cody"
442et al.
443The manuals for Pascal, C and BASIC on the Apple Macintosh
444document the features of IEEE 754 pretty well.
445Articles in the IEEE magazine COMPUTER vol.\& 14 no.\& 3 (Mar.\&
4461981), and in the ACM SIGNUM Newsletter Special Issue of
447Oct.\& 1979, may be helpful although they pertain to
448superseded drafts of the standard.
199.Sh STANDARDS
200.St -ieee754
449.Sh STANDARDS
450.St -ieee754
201.Sh HISTORY
202The
203.Nm ieee
204functions appeared in
205.Bx 4.3 .
206The
207.Fn copysignl ,
208.Fn scalbln ,
209and
210.Fn scalblnf
211functions first appeared in
212.Fx 5.3 .