Understand Syntax of Expressions

Quick Reference

See Also

CAL evaluates expressions according to standard mathematical rules of precedence:

Expressions in parentheses first, starting with the innermost set
Operators in standard order: exponents first, multiplication and division second, and addition and subtraction last
Operators of equal precedence from left to right

Numeric Expressions

Numeric expressions are real integer numbers and functions combined with the operators in the following table.

The following are examples of numeric expressions:

3 + 0.6

(5.8^2) + PI

Vector Expressions

A vector expression is a collection of points, vectors, numbers, and functions combined with the operators in the following table.

Vector operators
Operator	Operation
( )	Groups expressions
&	Determines the vector product of vectors (as a vector) [a,b,c]&[x,y,z] = [ (bz) - (cy) , (cx) - (az) , (ay) - (bx) ]
*	Determines the scalar product of vectors (as a real number) [a,b,c]*[x,y,z] = ax + by + cz
*, /	Multiplies, divides a vector by a real number a[x,y,z] = [ax,ay,az]
+ , -	Adds, subtracts vectors (points) [a,b,c] + [x,y,z] = [a+x,b+y,c+z]

The following are examples of vector expressions:

A+[1,2,3] provides the point located [1,2,3] units relative to point A.

The expression

[2<45<45] + [2<45<0] - [1.02, 3.5, 2]

adds two points and subtracts a third point. The first two points are expressed in spherical coordinates.