NAME

Math::Cephes::Fraction - Perl interface to the cephes math fraction routines

SYNOPSIS

use Math::Cephes::Fraction qw(fract);
my $f1 = fract(2,3);          # $f1 = 2/3
my $f2 = fract(3,4);          # $f2 = 3/4
my $f3 = $f1->radd($f2);      # $f3 = $f1 + $f2

DESCRIPTION

This module is a layer on top of the basic routines in the
cephes math library to handle fractions. A fraction object
is created via any of the following syntaxes:

 my $f = Math::Cephes::Fraction->new(3, 2);  # $f = 3/2
 my $g = new Math::Cephes::Fraction(5, 3);   # $g = 5/3
 my $h = fract(7, 5);                        # $h = 7/5

the last one being available by importing I<:fract>. If no arguments
are specified, as in

my $h = fract();

then the defaults $z = 0/1 are assumed. The numerator and 
denominator of a fraction are represented respectively by

  $f->{n}; $f->{d}

and can be set according to

 $f->{n} = 4; $f->{d} = 9;

The fraction can be printed out as

 print $f->as_string;

or as a mixed fraction as

 print $f->as_mixed_string;

These routines reduce the fraction to its basic form before printing. 
This uses the I<euclid> routine which finds the greatest common
divisor of two numbers, as follows:

($gcd, $m_reduced, $n_reduced) = euclid($m, $n); 

which returns the greatest common divisor of $m and $n, as well as
the result of reducing $m and $n by $gcd

A summary of the basic routines is as follows.

$x = fract(3, 4);	 #  x = 3 / 4
$y = fract(2, 3);       #  y = 2 / 3
$z = $x->radd( $y );    #  z = x + y
$z = $x->rsub( $y );    #  z = x - y 
$z = $x->rmul( $y );    #  z = x * y
$z = $x->rdiv( $y );    #  z = x / y
print $z->{n}, ' ', $z->{d};  # prints numerator and denominator of $z
print $z->as_string;         # prints the fraction $z
print $z->as_mixed_string;   # converts $z to a mixed fraction, then prints it

$m = 60;
$n = 144;
($gcd, $m_reduced, $n_reduced) = euclid($m, $n); 

TODO

• Integrate the C routines with the Math::Fraction module.

BUGS

Please report any to Randy Kobes <randy@theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca>

SEE ALSO

For the basic interface to the cephes fraction routines, see Math::Cephes. See also Math::Fraction for a more extensive interface to fraction routines.

COPYRIGHT

The C code for the Cephes Math Library is Copyright 1984, 1987, 1989 by Stephen L. Moshier, and is available at http://www.netlib.org/cephes/. Direct inquiries to 30 Frost Street, Cambridge, MA 02140.

The perl interface is copyright 2000 by Randy Kobes. This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.