The program rpn is a Reverse Polish Notation programmable
scientific calculator written in C. It is incorporated as a
subprogram into elegant, and a number of the SDDS programs. It
also exists as a command-line program, rpnl, which executes its
command-line arguments as rpn operations and prints the result
before exiting. Use of rpn in any of these modes is extremely
straightforward. Use of the program in its stand-alone form is the
best way to gain familiarity with it. Once you've entered rpn,
entering ``help'' will produce a list of the available operators with
brief summaries of their function. Also, the rpn definitions
file rpn.defns, distributed with elegant, gives examples
of most rpn operation types.
Like all RPN calculators, rpn uses stacks. In particular, it has a numeric stack, a logical stack, and a string stack. Items are pushed onto the numeric stack whenever a number-token is entered, or whenever an operation concludes that has a number as its result; items are popped from this stack by operations that require numeric arguments. Items are pushed onto the logical stack whenever a logical expression is evaluated; they are popped from this stack by use of logical operations that require logical arguments (e.g., logical ANDing), or by conditional branch instructions. Items enclosed in double quotes are pushed onto the string stack; items are popped from this stack by use of operations that require string arguments (e.g., formatted printing).
rpn supports user-defined memories and functions. To create a user-defined memory, one simply stores a value into the name, as in ``1 sto unity''; the memory is created automatically when rpn detects that it does not already exist. To create a user-defined function, enter the ``udf'' command; rpn will prompt you for the function name and the text that forms the function body. To invoke a UDF, simply type the name.
A file containing rpn commands can be executed by pushing the filename onto the string stack and invoking the ``@'' operator. rpn supports more general file I/O through the use of functions that mimic the standard C I/O routines. Files are identified by integer unit numbers, with units 0 and 1 being permanently assigned to the terminal input and terminal output, respectively.