[SOLVED] fractions in linux

naushi · 01-28-2012, 07:54 AM

I am using fractions in my equations but it gives me an error. see below

let var1=3.4 does not work - var1=3 works

i also tried the bash calculator like

var1=`bc <<EOF
3.4+5.6
EOF
`
echo $var1

does not work gives me syntax error invalid arithmetic

any help will be appreciated

kilgoretrout · 01-28-2012, 08:56 AM

Bash does not natively support floating point math. You have to use a command line application called "bc" to do floating point math. Here's an article discussing the technique:

http://phoxis.org/2009/12/23/floatmathbash/