gcalccmd

gcalccmd [OPTION...] [EXPRESSION ...]

-h, --help
    Display help message and exit.

-v, --version
    Show version information and exit.

-d, --debug
    Enable debug output for troubleshooting.

-t, --tty
    Run in terminal mode without GUI; output results to stdout.

--rcfile=FILE
    Use alternate configuration file instead of default.

gcalccmd is a lightweight command-line tool that provides access to the powerful calculation engine of gnome-calculator. It enables users to evaluate mathematical expressions directly from the terminal, supporting a wide range of functions including basic arithmetic, trigonometry (sin, cos, tan), logarithms, exponents, financial calculations, and more. By default, it launches the full GUI calculator with the given expression pre-loaded, but the --tty option allows headless operation, printing results to stdout for scripting and automation.

This makes gcalccmd ideal for shell scripts, quick computations, or integration into pipelines. Expressions follow standard mathematical notation with operator precedence, and variables can be defined. For example, compute sqrt(16) or complex formulas like (1 + 1/n)^n for large n. It inherits gnome-calculator's precision and accuracy, handling arbitrary-precision arithmetic in certain modes.

Requires gnome-calculator package installed. GUI mode needs X11/Wayland; --tty is limited to basic display without interactive editing. Not suitable for extremely high-precision needs compared to dedicated tools like bc.

gcalccmd '2+2*3'
gcalccmd --tty 'sin(3.14159/2) + log(100)'
gcalccmd --tty 'define var=42; var^2'

0 on success, non-zero on parse errors or calculation failures.

Introduced in GNOME 2.x era as part of gnome-calculator (formerly gcalc); maintained through GNOME 40+ with updates for modern desktops. Focuses on bridging GUI calculator to CLI for power users.

gnome-calculator(1), bc(1), dc(1), expr(1)