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Besides doing logical expression, Leopard Spotlight can also do some mathematical calculations. Are you curious what are those functions?
I know a little bit about Java Programming Language, so I try to use the Math library, which contains some functions to do scientific calculations, on Spotlight. To my surprise, some of these functions work.
Here are some examples :
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well i don't no that it can even calculate Trigonometry and others thanks
heh great stuff..
Of what kind is the relation between Spotlight and the Java Math library?
In fact, Spotlight is written in Objective-C, and uses math.h functions. Java took some of those functions for the java.math package. I've written a exhaustive exploration of math.h functions available through Spotlight's calculator in Spanish, but the functions summary is easily understandable. http://www.entremaqueros.com/bitacoras/memoria/?p=946
The following functions also work :
1. fmod(a,b) - remainder of 'a' / 'b'
2. fabs(a) - absolute value of 'a'
3. hypot(a,b) - hypotenuse of triangle with sides 'a' and 'b'
4. j0(a) - zeroth Bessel function of the first kind evaluated at 'a'
5. j1(a) - first Bessel function of the first kind evaluated at 'a'
6. y0(a) - zeroth Bessel function of the second kind evaluated at 'a'
7. y1(a) - first Bessel function of the second kind evaluated at 'a'
8. erf(a) - values of the error function evaluated at 'a'
9. erfc(a) - value of the complementary error function evaluated at 'a'
X. lgamma(a) - value of the logarithm of the gamma function evaluated at 'a'
The first 3 are the most useful for basic math - the rest I have no idea what they're for. Why some of the functions in math.h work and other don't is beyond me. It's not like they're any harder to calculate.
Ben
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