bcal ☆

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Description:
Storage conversion and expression calculator

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 2.4@0 | Tracked Since: Dec 17, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: Developer tools

Tags: calculator storage cli utility conversion

Install: brew install bcal

About:
bcal is a command-line utility for byte-level calculations and storage conversions. It allows users to perform arithmetic operations directly on human-readable storage units (KB, MB, GB, etc.) and convert between different units. The tool also functions as a calculator for expressions involving these units, making it highly practical for system administrators and developers.

Key Features:

Arithmetic operations on storage units (e.g., '2 GiB + 512 MiB')
Unit conversion between binary (IEC) and decimal (SI) standards
Byte address calculation and LBA/CHS conversion
Interactive mode with readline support

Use Cases:

Calculating required storage capacity for backups or virtual machines
Converting file sizes from one unit to another for documentation
Performing quick arithmetic on memory addresses or disk sectors

Alternatives:

calc – bcal is specialized for storage units, whereas calc is a general-purpose arbitrary precision calculator.
numconv – bcal offers a broader range of features including arithmetic and interactive mode, while numconv focuses strictly on number base conversion.

License: GPL-3.0-or-later

Dependencies: readline

Bottles available for: arm64_tahoe, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_ventura, arm64_monterey, arm64_big_sur, sonoma, ventura, monterey, big_sur, catalina, arm64_linux, x86_64_linux

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Sep 13, 2025 11:24am		0	VERSION_BUMP	37d4af2f
Sep 11, 2024 9:49am		0	VERSION_BUMP	c1c3f57e