scalbn, scalbnf, scalbnl, scalbln, scalblnf, scalblnl

Parameters

Return value

If no errors occur, arg multiplied by FLT_RADIX to the power of exp (arg×FLT_RADIXexp

If a range error due to overflow occurs, ±HUGE_VAL, ±HUGE_VALF, or ±HUGE_VALL is returned.

If a range error due to underflow occurs, the correct result (after rounding) is returned.

Error handling

Errors are reported as specified in math_errhandling.

If the implementation supports IEEE floating-point arithmetic (IEC 60559),

• Unless a range error occurs, FE_INEXACT is never raised (the result is exact).
• Unless a range error occurs, the current rounding mode is ignored.
• If arg is ±0, it is returned, unmodified.
• If arg is ±∞, it is returned, unmodified.
• If exp is 0, then arg is returned, unmodified.
• If arg is NaN, NaN is returned.

Notes

On binary systems (where FLT_RADIX is 2), scalbn is equivalent to ldexp

Although scalbn and scalbln are specified to perform the operation efficiently, on many implementations they are less efficient than multiplication or division by a power of two using arithmetic operators.

The scalbln function is provided because the factor required to scale from the smallest positive floating-point value to the largest finite one may be greater than 32767, the standard-guaranteed INT_MAX. In particular, for the 80-bit long double, the factor is 32828

Example

#include <errno.h>
#include <fenv.h>
#include <float.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <stdio.h>
 
// #pragma STDC FENV_ACCESS ON
 
int main(void)
{
    printf("scalbn(7, -4) = %f\n", scalbn(7, -4));
    printf("scalbn(1, -1074) = %g (minimum positive subnormal double)\n",
            scalbn(1, -1074));
    printf("scalbn(nextafter(1,0), 1024) = %g (largest finite double)\n",
            scalbn(nextafter(1,0), 1024));
 
    // special values
    printf("scalbn(-0, 10) = %f\n", scalbn(-0.0, 10));
    printf("scalbn(-Inf, -1) = %f\n", scalbn(-INFINITY, -1));
 
    // error handling
    errno = 0; feclearexcept(FE_ALL_EXCEPT);
    printf("scalbn(1, 1024) = %f\n", scalbn(1, 1024));
    if (errno == ERANGE)
        perror("    errno == ERANGE");
    if (fetestexcept(FE_OVERFLOW))
        puts("    FE_OVERFLOW raised");
}

scalbn(7, -4) = 0.437500
scalbn(1, -1074) = 4.94066e-324 (minimum positive subnormal double)
scalbn(nextafter(1,0), 1024) = 1.79769e+308 (largest finite double)
scalbn(-0, 10) = -0.000000
scalbn(-Inf, -1) = -inf
scalbn(1, 1024) = inf
    errno == ERANGE: Numerical result out of range
    FE_OVERFLOW raised

References

See also