The R Project SVN R

\name{Machine}
\title{Machine Characteristics}
\usage{
Machine()
.Machine
}
\alias{Machine}
\alias{.Machine}
\description{
  \code{Machine()} returns information on numeric characteristics of the
  machine \R is running on, such as the largest double or integer and the
  machine's precision.  

  \code{.Machine} is a variable holding this information.

  The algorithm is based on Cody's subroutine MACHAR (see the reference
  below).
}
\value{
  \code{Machine()} returns a list with components (for simplicity, the
  prefix ``double'' is omitted in the explanations)
  \item{"double.eps"}{the smallest positive floating-point number
    \code{x} such that \code{1 + x != 1}.  It equals
    \code{base^ulp.digits} if either \code{base} is 2 or \code{rounding}
    is 0;  otherwise, it is \code{(base^ulp.digits) / 2}.}
  \item{"double.neg.eps"}{a small positive floating-point number \code{x}
    such that \code{1 - x != 1}.  It equals \code{base^neg.ulp.digits}
    if \code{base} is 2 or \code{round} is 0;  otherwise, it is
    \code{(base^neg.ulp.digits) / 2}.
    As \code{neg.ulp.digits} is bounded below by \code{-(digits + 3)},
    \code{neg.eps} may not be the smallest number that can alter 1 by
    subtraction.}
  \item{"double.xmin"}{the smallest non-vanishing normalized
    floating-point power of the radix, i.e., \code{base^min.exp}.}
  \item{"double.xmax"}{the largest finite floating-point number.
    Typically, it is equal to \code{(1 - neg.eps) * base^max.exp}, but
    on some machines it is only the second, or perhaps third, largest
    number, being too small by 1 or 2 units in the last digit of the
    significand.}
  \item{"double.base"}{the radix for the floating-point representation}
  \item{"double.digits"}{the number of base digits in the floating-point
    significand}
  \item{"double.rounding"}{the rounding action. \cr
    0 if floating-point addition chops; \cr
    1 if floating-point addition rounds, but not in the IEEE style; \cr
    2 if floating-point addition rounds in the IEEE style; \cr
    3 if floating-point addition chops, and there is partial underflow; \cr
    4 if floating-point addition rounds, but not in the IEEE style, and
    there is partial underflow; \cr
    5 if floating-point addition rounds in the IEEE style, and there is
    partial underflow}
  \item{"double.guard"}{the number of guard digits for multiplication
    with truncating arithmetic.  It is 1 if floating-point arithmetic
    truncates and more than \code{digits} base \code{base} digits
    participate in the post-normalization shift of the floating-point
    significand in multiplication, and 0 otherwise.}
  \item{"double.ulp.digits"}{the largest negative integer \code{i} such
    that \code{1 + base^i != 1}, except that it is bounded below by
    \code{-(digits + 3)}.}
  \item{"double.neg.ulp.digits"}{the largest negative integer \code{i}
    such that \code{1 - base^i != 1}, except that it is bounded below by
    \code{-(digits + 3)}.}
  \item{"double.exponent"}{
    the number of bits (decimal places if \code{base} is 10) reserved
    for the representation of the exponent (including the bias or sign)
    of a floating-point number}
  \item{"double.min.exp"}{
    the largest in magnitude negative integer \code{i} such that
    \code{base ^ i} is positive and normalized.}
  \item{"double.max.exp"}{
    the smallest positive power of \code{base} that overflows.}
  \item{"integer.max"}{the largest integer which can be represented.}
}
\references{
  W. J. Cody (1988),
  \emph{MACHAR: A Subroutine to Dynamically Determine Machine
    Parameters}.
  Transactions on Mathematical Software, \bold{14}, 4, 303-311.
}