Before You Begin

This manual describes the floating-point environment supported by software and hardware on SPARCtrademark and x86 platforms running the Solaristrademark operating system. Although this manual discusses some general aspects of the SPARCtrademark and Intel architectures, it is primarily a reference manual designed to accompany Suntrademark language products.

Certain aspects of the IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic are discussed in this manual. To learn about IEEE arithmetic, see the 18-page Standard. See Appendix F for a brief bibliography on IEEE arithmetic.


Who Should Use This Book

This manual is written for those who develop, maintain, and port mathematical and scientific applications or benchmarks. Before using this manual, you should be familiar with the programming language used (Fortran, C, etc.), dbx (the source-level debugger), and the operating system commands and concepts.


How This Book Is Organized

Chapter 1 introduces the floating-point environment.

Chapter 2 describes the IEEE arithmetic model, IEEE formats, and underflow.

Chapter 3 describes the mathematics libraries provided with the Sun Fortetrademark Developer compilers.

Chapter 4 describes exceptions and shows how to detect, locate, and handle them.

Appendix A contains example programs.

Appendix B describes the floating-point hardware options for SPARC workstations.

Appendix C lists x86 and SPARC compatibility issues related to the floating-point units used in Intel systems.

Appendix D is an edited reprint of a tutorial on floating-point arithmetic by David Goldberg.

Appendix E discusses standards compliance.

Appendix F includes a list of references and related documentation.

Glossary contains a definition of terms.

The examples in this manual are in C and Fortran, but the concepts apply to either compiler on a SPARC or Intel system.


Typographic Conventions

TABLE P-1 Typeface Conventions

Typeface

Meaning

Examples

AaBbCc123

The names of commands, files, and directories; on-screen computer output

Edit your .login file.

Use ls -a to list all files.

% You have mail.

AaBbCc123

What you type, when contrasted with on-screen computer output

% su

Password:

AaBbCc123

Book titles, new words or terms, words to be emphasized

Read Chapter 6 in the User's Guide.

These are called class options.

You must be superuser to do this.

AaBbCc123

Command-line placeholder text; replace with a real name or value

To delete a file, type rm filename.


TABLE P-2 Code Conventions

Code Symbol

Meaning

Notation

Code Example

[ ]

Brackets contain arguments that are optional.

O[n]

O4, O

{ }

Braces contain a set of choices for required option.

d{y|n}

dy

|

The "pipe" or "bar" symbol separates arguments, only one of which may be chosen.

B{dynamic|static}

Bstatic

:

The colon, like the comma, is sometimes used to separate arguments.

Rdir[:dir]

R/local/libs:/U/a

...

The ellipsis indicates omission in a series.

xinline=f1[,...fn]

xinline=alpha,dos



Shell Prompts

Shell

Prompt

C shell

%

Bourne shell and Korn shell

$

C shell, Bourne shell, and Korn shell superuser

#



Accessing Forte Developer Development Tools and Man Pages

The Forte Developer product components and man pages are not installed into the standard /usr/bin/ and /usr/share/man directories. To access the Forte Developer compilers and tools, you must have the Forte Developer component directory in your PATH environment variable. To access the Forte Developer man pages, you must have the Forte Developer man page directory in your MANPATH environment variable.

For more information about the PATH variable, see the csh(1), sh(1), and ksh(1) man pages. For more information about the MANPATH variable, see the man(1) man page. For more information about setting your PATH and MANPATH variables to access this Forte Developer release, see the installation guide or your system administrator.



Note - The information in this section assumes that your Forte Developer products are installed in the /opt directory. If your product software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.



Accessing Forte Developer Compilers and Tools

Use the steps below to determine whether you need to change your PATH variable to access the Forte Developer compilers and tools.


procedure icon  To Determine Whether You Need to Set Your PATH Environment Variable

1. Display the current value of the PATH variable by typing the following at a command prompt:

% echo $PATH

2. Review the output for a string of paths that contain /opt/SUNWspro/bin/.

If you find the path, your PATH variable is already set to access Forte Developer development tools. If you do not find the path, set your PATH environment variable by following the instructions in the next section.


procedure icon  To Set Your PATH Environment Variable to Enable Access to Forte Developer Compilers and Tools

1. If you are using the C shell, edit your home .cshrc file. If you are using the Bourne shell or Korn shell, edit your home .profile file.

2. Add the following to your PATH environment variable.

/opt/SUNWspro/bin

Accessing Forte Developer Man Pages

Use the following steps to determine whether you need to change your MANPATH variable to access the Forte Developer man pages.


procedure icon  To Determine Whether You Need to Set Your MANPATH Environment Variable

1. Request the dbx man page by typing the following at a command prompt:

% man dbx

2. Review the output, if any.

If the dbx(1) man page cannot be found or if the man page displayed is not for the current version of the software installed, follow the instructions in the next section for setting your MANPATH environment variable.


procedure icon  To Set Your MANPATH Environment Variable to Enable Access to Forte Developer Man Pages

1. If you are using the C shell, edit your home .cshrc file. If you are using the Bourne shell or Korn shell, edit your home .profile file.

2. Add the following to your MANPATH environment variable.

/opt/SUNWspro/man


Accessing Forte Developer Documentation

You can access Forte Developer product documentation at the following locations:

  • The product documentation is available from the documentation index installed with the product on your local system or network at /opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html.
If your product software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.
  • Most manuals are available from the docs.sun.comsm web site. The following titles are available through your installed product only:
    • Standard C++ Library Class Reference
    • Standard C++ Library User's Guide
    • Tools.h++ Class Library Reference
    • Tools.h++ User's Guide

The docs.sun.com web site (http://docs.sun.com) enables you to read, print, and buy Sun Microsystems manuals through the Internet. If you cannot find a manual, see the documentation index installed with the product on your local system or network.



Note - Sun is not responsible for the availability of third-party web sites mentioned in this document and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. Sun will not be responsible or liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such sites or resources.



Product Documentation in Accessible Formats

Forte Developer 7 product documentation is provided in accessible formats that are readable by assistive technologies for users with disabilities. You can find accessible versions of documentation as described in the following table. If your product software is not installed in the /opt directory, ask your system administrator for the equivalent path on your system.

Type of Documentation

Format and Location of Accessible Version

Manuals (except third-party manuals)

HTML at http://docs.sun.com

Third-party manuals:

  • Standard C++ Library Class Reference
  • Standard C++ Library User's Guide
  • Tools.h++ Class Library Reference
  • Tools.h++ User's Guide

HTML in the installed product through the documentation index at file:/opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html

Readmes and man pages

HTML in the installed product through the documentation index at file:/opt/SUNWspro/docs/index.html

Release notes

Text file on the product CD at /cdrom/devpro_v10n1_sparc/release_notes.txt



Accessing Related Solaris Documentation

The following table describes related documentation that is available through the docs.sun.com web site.

Document Collection

Document Title

Description

Solaris Reference Manual Collection

See the titles of man page sections.

Provides information about the Solaris operating environment.

Solaris Software Developer Collection

Linker and Libraries Guide

Describes the operations of the Solaris link-editor and runtime linker.

Solaris Software Developer Collection

Multithreaded Programming Guide

Covers the POSIX and Solaris threads APIs, programming with synchronization objects, compiling multithreaded programs, and finding tools for multithreaded programs.



Sending Your Comments

Sun is interested in improving its documentation and welcomes your comments and suggestions. Email your comments to Sun at this address:

docfeedback@sun.com