huschi.net

<float.h>(0P)              POSIX Programmer's Manual             <float.h>(0P)

NAME
       float.h - floating types
SYNOPSIS
       #include <float.h>
DESCRIPTION
       The  characteristics  of floating types are defined in terms of a model
       that describes a representation of floating-point  numbers  and  values
       that  provide  information  about  an  implementation's  floating-point
       arithmetic.
       The following parameters are used to define the model for  each  float-
       ing-point type:
       s      Sign (+-1).
       b      Base or radix of exponent representation (an integer >1).
       e      Exponent  (an  integer  between  a  minimum  e_min and a maximum
              e_max).
       p      Precision (the number of base-b digits in the significand).
       f_k    Non-negative integers less than b (the significand digits).

       A floating-point number x is defined by the following model:
       In addition to  normalized  floating-point  numbers  (f_1>0  if  x!=0),
       floating  types  may  be  able to contain other kinds of floating-point
       numbers, such as subnormal floating-point numbers  (  x!=0,  e=  e_min,
       f_1=0)  and  unnormalized  floating-point  numbers  (  x!=0,  e> e_min,
       f_1=0), and values that are not floating-point numbers, such as infini-
       ties  and  NaNs.  A NaN is an encoding signifying Not-a-Number. A quiet
       NaN propagates through almost every arithmetic operation without  rais-
       ing  a  floating-point  exception;  a  signaling NaN generally raises a
       floating-point exception when occurring as an arithmetic operand.
       The accuracy of the floating-point operations ( '+', '-',  '*',  '/'  )
       and  of  the  library functions in <math.h> and <complex.h> that return
       floating-point results is  implementation-defined.  The  implementation
       may state that the accuracy is unknown.
       All integer values in the <float.h> header, except FLT_ROUNDS, shall be
       constant expressions suitable for use in #if preprocessing  directives;
       all  floating  values  shall  be constant expressions. All except DECI-
       MAL_DIG, FLT_EVAL_METHOD, FLT_RADIX, and FLT_ROUNDS have separate names
       for  all three floating-point types. The floating-point model represen-
       tation  is  provided  for  all  values   except   FLT_EVAL_METHOD   and
       FLT_ROUNDS.
       The  rounding  mode for floating-point addition is characterized by the
       implementation-defined value of FLT_ROUNDS:
       -1     Indeterminable.
        0     Toward zero.
        1     To nearest.
        2     Toward positive infinity.
        3     Toward negative infinity.

       All other values  for  FLT_ROUNDS  characterize  implementation-defined
       rounding behavior.
       The  values  of operations with floating operands and values subject to
       the usual arithmetic conversions and of floating constants  are  evalu-
       ated to a format whose range and precision may be greater than required
       by the type. The use of evaluation  formats  is  characterized  by  the
       implementation-defined value of FLT_EVAL_METHOD:
       -1     Indeterminable.
        0     Evaluate all operations and constants just to the range and pre-
              cision of the type.
        1     Evaluate operations and constants of type float  and  double  to
              the range and precision of the double type; evaluate long double
              operations and constants to the range and precision of the  long
              double type.
        2     Evaluate all operations and constants to the range and precision
              of the long double type.

       All other negative values for FLT_EVAL_METHOD characterize  implementa-
       tion-defined behavior.
       The  values  given  in  the following list shall be defined as constant
       expressions with implementation-defined  values  that  are  greater  or
       equal in magnitude (absolute value) to those shown, with the same sign.
        * Radix of exponent representation, b.
       FLT_RADIX
              2

        * Number  of  base-FLT_RADIX digits in the floating-point significand,
          p.
       FLT_MANT_DIG
       DBL_MANT_DIG
       LDBL_MANT_DIG

        * Number of decimal digits, n, such that any floating-point number  in
          the  widest supported floating type with p_max radix b digits can be
          rounded to a floating-point number with n decimal  digits  and  back
          again without change to the value.
       DECIMAL_DIG
              10

        * Number  of  decimal  digits,  q, such that any floating-point number
          with q decimal digits can be rounded into  a  floating-point  number
          with p radix b digits and back again without change to the q decimal
          digits.
       FLT_DIG
              6
       DBL_DIG
              10
       LDBL_DIG
              10

        * Minimum negative integer such that FLT_RADIX raised  to  that  power
          minus 1 is a normalized floating-point number, e_min.
       FLT_MIN_EXP
       DBL_MIN_EXP
       LDBL_MIN_EXP

        * Minimum negative integer such that 10 raised to that power is in the
          range of normalized floating-point numbers.
       FLT_MIN_10_EXP
              -37
       DBL_MIN_10_EXP
              -37
       LDBL_MIN_10_EXP
              -37

        * Maximum integer such that FLT_RADIX raised to that power minus 1  is
          a representable finite floating-point number, e_max.
       FLT_MAX_EXP
       DBL_MAX_EXP
       LDBL_MAX_EXP

        * Maximum integer such that 10 raised to that power is in the range of
          representable finite floating-point numbers.
       FLT_MAX_10_EXP
              +37
       DBL_MAX_10_EXP
              +37
       LDBL_MAX_10_EXP
              +37

       The values given in the following list shall  be  defined  as  constant
       expressions with implementation-defined values that are greater than or
       equal to those shown:
        * Maximum representable finite floating-point number.
       FLT_MAX
              1E+37
       DBL_MAX
              1E+37
       LDBL_MAX
              1E+37

       The values given in the following list shall  be  defined  as  constant
       expressions with implementation-defined (positive) values that are less
       than or equal to those shown:
        * The difference between 1 and the least value greater than 1 that  is
          representable in the given floating-point type, b**1-p.
       FLT_EPSILON
              1E-5
       DBL_EPSILON
              1E-9
       LDBL_EPSILON
              1E-9

        * Minimum normalized positive floating-point number, b**e_min.
       FLT_MIN
              1E-37
       DBL_MIN
              1E-37
       LDBL_MIN
              1E-37

       The following sections are informative.
APPLICATION USAGE
       None.
RATIONALE
       None.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
       None.
SEE ALSO
       <complex.h>, <math.h>
COPYRIGHT
       Portions  of  this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form
       from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology
       --  Portable  Operating  System  Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base
       Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003  by  the  Institute  of
       Electrical  and  Electronics  Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the
       event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and
       The  Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard
       is the referee document. The original Standard can be  obtained  online
       at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

IEEE/The Open Group                  2003                        <float.h>(0P)