Preface - Adobe

CHAPTER 3
Numbers
Numbers in the PostScript language include:
• Signed integers, such as
123 −98 43445 0 +17
• Real numbers, such as
−.002 34.5 −3.62 123.6e10 1.0E−5 1E6 −1. 0.0
• Radix numbers, such as
8#1777 16#FFFE 2#1000
28
Language
An integer consists of an optional sign followed by one or more decimal digits.
The number is interpreted as a signed decimal integer and is converted to an integer
object. If it exceeds the implementation limit for integers, it is converted to a
real object. (See Appendix B for implementation limits.)
A real number consists of an optional sign and one or more decimal digits, with
an embedded period (decimal point), a trailing exponent, or both. The exponent,
if present, consists of the letter E or e followed by an optional sign and one or
more decimal digits. The number is interpreted as a real number and is converted
to a real (floating-point) object. If it exceeds the implementation limit for real
numbers, a limitcheck error occurs.
A radix number takes the form base#number, where base is a decimal integer in
the range 2 through 36. number is interpreted in this base; it must consist of digits
ranging from 0 to base − 1. Digits greater than 9 are represented by the letters A
through Z (or a through z). The number is treated as an unsigned integer and is
converted to an integer object having the same twos-complement binary representation.
This notation is intended for specifying integers in a nondecimal radix,
such as binary, octal, or hexadecimal. If the number exceeds the implementation
limit for integers, a limitcheck error occurs.