NAME

Data::Float::DoubleDouble - human-readable representation of the "double-double" long double

AIM

Mostly, one would use Data::Float to do what this module does.
But that module doesn't work with the powerpc long double,
which uses a 'double-double' arrangement ... hence, this module.

Given a double-double value, we aim to be able to:
 1) Convert that NV to its internal packed hex form;
 2) Convert the packed hex form of 1) back to the original value;
 3) Convert that NV to a more human-readable packed hex form,
    similar to what Data::Float's float_hex function achieves;
 4) Convert the packed hex form of 3) back to the original value;

 For 1) we use NV2H().
 For 2) we use H2NV().
 For 3) we use float_H().
 For 4) we use H_float().

 We also have float_B and B_float which are the base 2
 equivalents of float_H and H_float.

FUNCTIONS

#############################################

$hex = NV2H($nv);

 Unpacks the NV to a string of 32 hex characters.
 The first 16 characters relate to the value of the most significant
 double:
  Characters 1 to 3 (incl) embody the sign of the mantissa, the value
  of the exponent, and the value (0 or 1) of the implied leading bit.
  Characters 4 to 16 (incl) embody the value of the 52-bit mantissa.

 The second 16 characters (17 to 32) relate to the value of the least
 siginificant double:
  Characters 17 to 19 (incl) embody the sign of the mantissa, the
  value of the exponent, and the value (0 or 1) of the implied
  leading bit.
  Characters 20 to 32 (incl) embody the value of the 52-bit mantissa.

 For a more human-readable hex representation, use float_H().

#############################################

$nv = H2NV($hex);

 For $hex written in the format returned by NV2H, H2NV($hex)
 returns the NV.

#############################################

$hex = D2H($nv);

 Treats the NV as a double and returns a string of 16 hex characters.
 Characters 1 to 3 (incl) embody the sign of the mantissa, the value
 (0 or 1) of the implied leading bit and the value of the exponent.
 Characters 4 to 16 (incl) embody the value of the 52-bit mantissa
 of the first double.

#############################################

$nv = H2D($hex, $opt); # Second arg is optional

 For $hex written in the format returned by D2H, H2D($hex) returns
 the NV.

#############################################

$readable_hex = float_H($nv, $opt); # Aliased to float_hex
                                         # $opt is optional

 For *most* NVs, returns a 106-bit hex representation of the NV
 (long double) $nv in the format
 s0xd.hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhpe where:
  s is the sign (either '-' or '+')
  0x is literally "0x"
  d is the leading (first) bit of the number (either '1' or '0')
  . is literally "." (the decimal point)
  hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh is a string of 27 hex digits
                              representing the remaining 105 bits
                              of the mantissa.
  p is a literal "p" that separates mantissa from exponent
  e is the (signed) exponent

 The keen mind will have realised that 27 hex digits encode 108
 (not 105) bits. However, the last 3 bits are to be ignored and
 will always be zero for a 106-bit float. Thus the 27th hex
 character for a 106-bit float will either be "8" (representing
 a "1") or "0" (representing a "0") for the 106th bit.

 BUT: Some NV values encapsulate a value that require more than
      106 bits in order to be correctly represented.
      If the string that float_H returns is larger than as
      described above, then it will, however,  have returned a
      string that contains the *minimum* number of characters
      needed to accurately represent the given value.
      As an extreme example: the double-double arrangement can
      represent the value 2**1023 + 2**-1074, but to express
      that value as a stream of bits requires 2098 bits, and to
      express that value in the format that float_H returns
      requires 526 hex characters (all of which are zero, except
      for the first and the last). When you add the sign, radix
      point, exponent, etc., the float_H representation of that
      value consists of 535 characters.

 If a second arg is provided, it must be the string 'raw' - in
 which case infs/nans will be returned in hex format instead of
 as "inf"/"nan" strings.

#############################################

$readable_hex = DD2HEX($nv, $fmt);

 As for float_H, but uses C's sprintf() function to do the
 conversion to the hex string. The second arg ($fmt) can be either
 "%La" (in which case the alphabetic characters will be lower
 case) or "%LA" (in which case the alphabetic characters will be
 upper case).
 Unlike float_H, this function cannot take the 'raw' argument.
 And, unlike float_H, this function will not return values that
 require more than 106 bits to be expressed.

#############################################

$standardised_readable_hex = std_float_H($nv, $fmt);

 As for float_H, but standardises the format to be the same as I
 get for DD2HEX. That is, there's no leading + for positive
 values, positive and zero exponents are prefixed with a +,
 trailing zeroes in the mantissa are removed, and zeroes are
 presented as (-)0x0p+0 or (-)0X0P+0. As for DD2HEX, the second
 arg ($fmt) can be either "%La" or "%LA" (nothing else) and that
 determines whether the alphabetic characters are lower case or
 upper case.
 Unlike float_H, this function cannot take the 'raw' argument.
 Like float_H it will, however, accurately express the value
 that's encapsulated in the double-double (even though that
 minimum may exceed the usual 27 hex digits).

#############################################

$readable = express($nv, $opt); # $opt is an optional arg.

 An alternative way of assessing the value of the double-double.
 Express the double as msd + lsd, where the 2 doubles (msd and lsd)
 are written in scientic notation. The doubles will be written in
 decimal format unless a second arg of 'h' or 'H' is provided - in
 which case they will be written in hex format.
 The second arg ($opt), if provided, must be either 'h' or 'H'.

#############################################

$nv = H_float($hex);

 For $hex written in the format returned by float_H(), returns
 the NV that corresponds to $hex.
#############################################
@bin = float_B($nv, $opt); # Second arg isoptional

 Returns the sign, the mantissa (as a base 2 string), and the
 exponent of $nv. (There's an implied radix point between the
 first and second digits of the mantissa).
 For nan/inf, the mantissa is 'nan' or 'inf' respectively unless
 2nd arg is literally 'raw' - in which case it will be a base 2
 version of the nan/inf encoding.

#############################################

@bin = float_H2B($hex, $opt); # Second arg is optional

 As for the above float_B() function - but takes the hex
 string of the NV (as returned by float_H) as its argument,
 instead of the actual NV.
 For a more direct way of obtaining the array, use float_B
 instead.
 If a second arg is provided, it must be the string 'raw' - in
 which case inf/nan mantissas will be returned in hex format
 instead of as "inf"/"nan" strings.

#############################################

@bin = NV2binary($nv);

 Another way of arriving at (almost) the same binary representation
 of the NV -ie as an array consisting of (sign, mantissa, exponent).
 The mantissa if Infs and NaNs will be returned as 'inf' or 'nan'
 respectively and the sign associated with the nan will always
 be '+'.
 With this function, trailing zeroes are stripped from the mantissa
 and exponents for 0, inf and nan might not match the other binary
 representations.
 This function is based on code from the mpfr library's
 tests/tset_ld.c file.

#############################################

$hex = B2float_H(@bin, $opt); # $opt is an optional arg

 The reverse of float_H2B. It takes the array returned by
 either float_B or float_H2B as its arguments, and returns
 the corresponding hex form.
 If $opt is provided and is the string 'raw', the actual
 hex encoding of any nan/inf will be returned - instead of
 the string "inf" or "nan" respectively.

#############################################

($sign1, $sign2) = get_sign($nv);

 Returns the signs of the two doubles contained in $nv.

#############################################

($exp1, $exp2) = get_exp($nv);

 Returns the exponents of the two doubles contained in $nv.

#############################################

($mantissa1, $mantissa2) = get_mant_H(NV2H($nv));

 Returns an array of the two 52-bit mantissa components of
 the two doubles in their hex form. The values of the
 implied leading (most significant) bits are not provided,
 nor are the values of the two exponents.

#############################################

$intermediate_zeroes = inter_zero(get_exp($nv));

 Returns the number of zeroes that need to come between the
 mantissas of the 2 doubles when $nv is translated to the
 representation that float_H() returns.

#############################################

$bool = are_inf(@nv); # Aliased to float_is_infinite.

 Returns true if and only if all of the (NV) arguments are
 infinities.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = are_nan(@nv); # Aliased to float_is_nan.

 Returns true if and only if all of the (NV) arguments are
 NaNs. Else returns false.

#############################################

$hex = valid_unpack($string [,$die]); # 2nd arg optional

 Verify that the 1st arg is a valid 'unpack' format - such as
 retured by NV2H.
 Die if it's an empty string.
 Die if it has a length greater than 32.
 Check that it consists only of valid hex characters and that
 there are 32 of them.
 If it consists solely of hex characters but there's less than
 32 of them, either die (if $die is set) or append zeroes until
 the length is 32 (if $die is not set).
 If the string was modified, return that modified string - else
 return the 1st arg.

#############################################

@bin = valid_bin($sign, $mantissa, $exponent [,$die]);

 Checks and returns a validated binary format (sign,
 mantissa, exponent) - such as that returned by float_B().
 Dies if it can't validate the supplied arguments.
 If exponent is 1024, the sub will die unless mantissa matches
 the format for an inf or a nan.
 Dies if exponent > 1024.
 Returns 0 if exponent <= -1075 (unless $die is set &&
 mantissa =~ /1/ - in which case it dies.)
 Unless $die is set, it will make some simple modifications
 if needed:
  1) Set $sign to '+' if it's the empty string;
  2) Append zeroes to $mantissa if there are too few
     characters.
 Return $sign, $mantissa, $exponent.

#############################################

$hex = valid_hex($float_string [,$die]);

 Checks and returns a validated hex format - such as that
 returned by float_H. Dies if it can't validate the supplied
 argument.
 Unless $die is set, it will make some simple modifications
 if needed:
  1) Prepend a '+' sign if no sign is present;
  2) Append zeroes if there are too few characters.
 If the string was modified, return that modified string - else
 return the 1st arg.

#############################################

For Compatibility with Data::Float:

#############################################

$class = float_class($nv);

 Returns one of either "NAN", "INFINITE", "ZERO", "NORMAL"
 or "SUBNORMAL" - whichever is appropriate. (The NV must
 belong to one (and only one) class.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_nan($nv); # Alias for are_nan()

 Returns true if $nv is a NaN.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_infinite($nv); # Alias for are_inf()

 Returns true if $nv is infinite.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_finite($nv);

 Returns true if NV is neither infinite nor a NaN.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_nzfinite($nv);

 Returns true if NV is neither infinite, nor a NaN, nor zero.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_zero($nv);

 Returns true if NV is zero.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_normal($nv);

 Returns true if NV is finite && non-zero && the implied
 leading digit in its internal representation is '1'.
 Else returns false.

#############################################

$bool = float_is_subnormal($nv);

 Returns true if NV is finite && non-zero && the implied
 leading digit in its internal representation is '0'.

#############################################

$nv = nextafter($nv1, $nv2);

 $nv1 and $nv2 must both be floating point values. Returns the
 next representable floating point value adjacent to $nv1 in the
 direction of $nv2, or returns $nv2 if it is numerically
 equal to $nv1. Infinite values are regarded as being adjacent to
 the largest representable finite values. Zero counts as one value,
 even if it is signed, and it is adjacent to the positive and
 negative smallest representable finite values. If a zero is returned
 then it has the same sign as $nv1. Returns
 NaN if either argument is a NaN.

#############################################

$nv = nextup($nv1);

 $nv1 must be a floating point value. Returns the next representable
 floating point value adjacent to $nv1 with a numerical value that
 is strictly greater than $nv1, or returns $nv1 unchanged if there
 is no such value. Infinite values are regarded as being adjacent to
 the largest representable finite values. Zero counts as one value,
 even if it is signed, and it is adjacent to the smallest
 representable positive and negative finite values. If a zero is
 returned, because $nv1 is the smallest representable negative
 value, and zeroes are signed, it is a negative zero that is
 returned. Returns NaN if $nv1 is a NaN.

#############################################

$nv = nextdown($nv1);

 $nv1 must be a floating point value. Returns the next representable
 floating point value adjacent to $nv1 with a numerical value that
 is strictly less than $nv1, or returns $nv1 unchanged if there is
 no such value. Infinite values are regarded as being adjacent to the
 largest representable finite values. Zero counts as one value, even
 if it is signed, and it is adjacent to the smallest representable
 positive and negative finite values. If a zero is returned, because
 $nv is the smallest representable positive value, and zeroes are
 signed, it is a positive zero that is returned. Returns NaN if VALUE
 is a NaN.

#############################################
#############################################

TODO

Over time, introduce the features of (and functions provided by)
Data::Float

LICENSE

This program is free software; you may redistribute it and/or
modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.
Copyright 2014 Sisyphus

AUTHOR

Sisyphus <sisyphus at(@) cpan dot (.) org>