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AIX Version 4.3 Base Operating System and Extensions Technical Reference, Volume 1

erf, erfl, erfc, or erfcl Subroutine

Purpose

Computes the error and complementary error functions.

Libraries

IEEE Math Library (libm.a)
or System V Math Library (libmsaa.a)

Syntax

#include <math.h>
double erf (x)
double x;
long double erfl (x)
long double x;
double erfc (x)
double x;
long double erfcl (x)
long double x;

Description

The erf and erfl subroutines return the error function of the x parameter, defined for the erf subroutine as the following:

erf(x) = (2/sqrt(pi) * (integral [0 to x] of exp(-(t**2)) dt)
erfc(x) = 1.0 - erf(x)

The erfc and erfcl subroutines are provided because of the extreme loss of relative accuracy if erf ( x) is called for large values of the x parameter and the result is subtracted from 1. For example, 12 decimal places are lost when calculating (1.0 - erf(5) ).

Note: Compile any routine that uses subroutines from the libm.a library with the -lm flag. To compile the erf.c file, for example, enter:
cc erf.c -lm

Parameters

x Specifies a double-precision floating-point value.

Implementation Specifics

These subroutines are part of Base Operating System (BOS) Runtime.

Related Information

The exp, expm1, log, log10, log1p, or pow subroutine, sqrt or cbrt subroutine.

Subroutines Overview in AIX Version 4.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs.

128-Bit long double Floating-Point Format in AIX Version 4.3 General Programming Concepts: Writing and Debugging Programs.


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