Big Number Calculator (human readable format)

software-recommendation

I'm looking for a calculator suitable for large numbers where a letter can be entered instead of a whole bunch of zeros:

K (Kilo) 000
M (Mega) 000,000 .............................. Million
G (Giga) 000,000,000 ....................... Billion
T (Tera) 000,000,000,000 ............... Trillion
P (Peta) 000,000,000,000,000 ........ Quadtrillion
E (Exa) 000,000,000,000,000,000 . Quintrillion

For example $20 trillion dollars / 50 million units would be entered as:

20t / 50m

The result is 400,000 and can be displayed as 400 K.

Is there already a calculator for Ubuntu / Debian for Big Numbers (aka Human Readable format)?

My question is similar to these questions but not a duplicate:

Add thousand separator to gnome calculator in Ubuntu 18.04
How to show comma separation in numbers on Ubuntu's calculator?

The letters used such as T for Tera (Trillion) or G for Giga (Billion), etc. come from industry standards. Standards are set by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Edit: A few days after original question was posted, this turned into a self-answered question. Original answers though and alternative suggestions are welcome and would likely interest others.

An initial solution only took a few minutes by taking this readily available Python Calculator GUI.

Add a little code

The full script is below but to summarize insert these lines near the top:

self.newtext=self.newtext.replace(' ','')
self.newtext=self.newtext.upper()
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('K','000')
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('M','000000')
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('G','000000000')
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('T','000000000000')
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('P','000000000000000')
self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('E','000000000000000000')

Insert these lines near the bottom:

  Button(master,text="E",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('E')).grid(row=5, column=0)
  Button(master,text="P",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('P')).grid(row=5, column=1)
  Button(master,text="T",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('T')).grid(row=5, column=2)
  Button(master,text="G",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('G')).grid(row=5, column=3)
  Button(master,text="M",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('M')).grid(row=5, column=4)
  Button(master,text="K",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('K')).grid(row=5, column=5)

Insert these lines in the middle:

 def convert(self):
    #2**10 = 1024
    power = 1000
    size=self.value
    n = 0
    Dic_powerN = {0: '', 1: 'K', 2: 'M', 3: 'G', 4: 'T', 5: 'P', 6: 'E'}
    while size > power:
        size /=  power
        n += 1
    return size, Dic_powerN[n]

There are a few other cosmetic changes for larger font on HDPI monitor (1920x1080 pixels)

Sample Calculator Window

calc.py.png

This is a pretty standard calculator layout.
Notice the bottom row of keys we added.
You can click the keys or simply type in T instead of clicking T button.
Also notice how we entered 20 t / 50 M to represent 20 Trillion divided by 50 Million.
The result will be displayed as 400 K

Full Python Script

#-*-coding: utf-8-*-
# NAME: calc.py
# CALL: python calc.py
# DATE: December 8, 2018
# DESC: Calculator in E-Exa, P-Peta, T-Tetra, G-Giga, M-Mega and K-Kilo
# NOTE: Requires Tkinter GUI libraries: sudo apt install python-tk

# Majority Credit to: https://www.techinfected.net/2016/02/make-gui-calculator-in-python-windows-linux.html
from Tkinter import *
import tkFont
import math

class calc:
 def getandreplace(self):
  """replace x with * and ÷ with /"""
  
  self.expression = self.e.get()
  self.newtext=self.expression.replace(self.newdiv,'/')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('x','*')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace(' ','')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.upper()
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('K','000')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('M','000000')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('G','000000000')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('T','000000000000')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('P','000000000000000')
  self.newtext=self.newtext.replace('E','000000000000000000')

 def equals(self):
  """when the equal button is pressed"""

  self.getandreplace()
  try: 
   self.value= eval(self.newtext) #evaluate the expression using the eval function
  except SyntaxError or NameErrror:
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.e.insert(0,'Invalid Input!')
  else:
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.value= self.convert()  # Give result in K, M, G, T, P or E
   self.e.insert(0,self.value)

 def convert(self):
    #2**10 = 1024
    power = 1000
    size=self.value
    n = 0
    Dic_powerN = {0: '', 1: 'K', 2: 'M', 3: 'G', 4: 'T', 5: 'P', 6: 'E'}
    while size > power:
        size /=  power
        n += 1
    return size, Dic_powerN[n]
 
 def squareroot(self):
  """squareroot method"""
  
  self.getandreplace()
  try: 
   self.value= eval(self.newtext) #evaluate the expression using the eval function
  except SyntaxError or NameErrror:
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.e.insert(0,'Invalid Input!')
  else:
   self.sqrtval=math.sqrt(self.value)
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.e.insert(0,self.sqrtval)

 def square(self):
  """square method"""
  
  self.getandreplace()
  try: 
   self.value= eval(self.newtext) #evaluate the expression using the eval function
  except SyntaxError or NameErrror:
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.e.insert(0,'Invalid Input!')
  else:
   self.sqval=math.pow(self.value,2)
   self.e.delete(0,END)
   self.e.insert(0,self.sqval)
 
 def clearall(self): 
  """when clear button is pressed,clears the text input area"""
  self.e.delete(0,END)
 
 def clear1(self):
  self.txt=self.e.get()[:-1]
  self.e.delete(0,END)
  self.e.insert(0,self.txt)

 def action(self,argi): 
  """pressed button's value is inserted into the end of the text area"""
  self.e.insert(END,argi)
 
 def __init__(self,master):
  """Constructor method"""
  master.title('Calculator') 
  master.geometry()
  font = "Calibri 13"
  self.e = Entry(master, font = "Calibri 13")
#  self.e = Entry(master)
  self.e.grid(row=0,column=0,columnspan=6,pady=3)
  self.e.focus_set() #Sets focus on the input text area
    
  self.div='÷'
  self.newdiv=self.div.decode('utf-8')

  #Generating Buttons
#  Button(master,text="=",width=10,command=lambda:self.equals()).grid(row=4, column=4,columnspan=2)
  Button(master,text="=",width=8,command=lambda:self.equals()).grid(row=4, column=4,columnspan=2)
  Button(master,text='AC',width=3,command=lambda:self.clearall()).grid(row=1, column=4)
  Button(master,text='C',width=3,command=lambda:self.clear1()).grid(row=1, column=5)
  Button(master,text="+",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('+')).grid(row=4, column=3)
  Button(master,text="x",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('x')).grid(row=2, column=3)
  Button(master,text="-",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('-')).grid(row=3, column=3)
  Button(master,text="÷",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(self.newdiv)).grid(row=1, column=3) 
  Button(master,text="%",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('%')).grid(row=4, column=2)
  Button(master,text="7",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('7')).grid(row=1, column=0)
  Button(master,text="8",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(8)).grid(row=1, column=1)
  Button(master,text="9",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(9)).grid(row=1, column=2)
  Button(master,text="4",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(4)).grid(row=2, column=0)
  Button(master,text="5",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(5)).grid(row=2, column=1)
  Button(master,text="6",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(6)).grid(row=2, column=2)
  Button(master,text="1",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(1)).grid(row=3, column=0)
  Button(master,text="2",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(2)).grid(row=3, column=1)
  Button(master,text="3",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(3)).grid(row=3, column=2)
  Button(master,text="0",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(0)).grid(row=4, column=0)
  Button(master,text=".",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('.')).grid(row=4, column=1)
  Button(master,text="(",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('(')).grid(row=2, column=4)
  Button(master,text=")",width=3,command=lambda:self.action(')')).grid(row=2, column=5)
  Button(master,text="√",width=3,command=lambda:self.squareroot()).grid(row=3, column=4)
  Button(master,text="x²",width=3,command=lambda:self.square()).grid(row=3, column=5)
  Button(master,text="E",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('E')).grid(row=5, column=0)
  Button(master,text="P",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('P')).grid(row=5, column=1)
  Button(master,text="T",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('T')).grid(row=5, column=2)
  Button(master,text="G",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('G')).grid(row=5, column=3)
  Button(master,text="M",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('M')).grid(row=5, column=4)
  Button(master,text="K",width=3,command=lambda:self.action('K')).grid(row=5, column=5)
#Main
root = Tk()
# Larger font for HDPI screen
default_font = tkFont.nametofont("TkDefaultFont")
default_font.configure(size=11)
obj=calc(root) #object instantiated
root.mainloop()

Many thanks to the author (on first link above) for contributing this code!

Install Tkinter

You need python-tk (Tkinter) installed to use Python GUI Calculator:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python-tk

For example $20 trillion dollars / 50 million taxpayers would be entered as:

20t / 50m

I will do a frame challenge

The answer here isn't to find software that supports this format, but to learn a standard format used in both calculators, programming languages and math: scientific notation.

You write a number as a base (significand) and an exponent, e.g. 2*10⁵ for 20000. 20 trillions is thus 2*10¹³ - or 20*10¹². This will work on nearly all calculators, allows for compact and exact numbers, independently of language. Billion may for instance mean both 10⁹ and 10¹², depending on culture.

In addition, this allows you to clearly define significant figures, as you may write 7.0*10³ or 7.02*10³, to note the number of known decimals.

In computers this may additionally be written as ney for n*10^y, for instance 5e6 is interpreted as 5*10⁶. This form can be used in for instance octave.

Big Number Calculator (human readable format)

Add a little code

Sample Calculator Window

Full Python Script

Install Tkinter

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