How do I get percentage output from a csh script?

[ChetBritt]

I am writing a csh script and trying to get percentage output figures. When I divide two figures all I get is a zero value instead of the percentage number I'm looking for. Thanks.

[RRick]

The simple answer is that you can't get percentages directly from csh. What you need is a scripting language that handles doubles or floats and most of the unix shell languages don't.

There is a special command line calculator (bc) that will work with floating values. It takes simple string commands and spits out the value. For example:

$ echo "40./57." | bc -l
.70175438596491 228070

You can fake percentages in csh by using integers instead. Instead of dividing B by A, first multiply B by 100 and divide by A. The integer answer will be the percent value. If you want to have the answer rounded to the nearest percent, try RoundUp=(B*1000 +A*5)/A*10.

If this is too painful, try a scripting language that supports doubles. Perl is one.