Formulas

There are many situations where formulas can be used in Rainmeter to arrive at a numerical result. These might be things like:

  • In a Calc measure: Formula=(2.5 + 100) * 2
  • In an IFCondition option value: IfCondition=MeasureName > (2.5 + 100) * 2
  • In a numeric meter or measure option value: W=((2.5 + 100) * 2)
  • As a numeric part of an option value: FontColor=(255 * 0.5),255,255,255
  • In a Bang: LeftMouseUpAction=[!SetOption SomeMeter W "((2.5 + 100) * 2)"]

There are a few place where formulas are not allowed. These are primarily places where the option value is assumed to be a string and only a string. In those cases, the characters used in a formula are treated as any other string character. A few examples are:

  • The Text option of a String meter.
  • The String option of a String measure.
  • The RegExp option of a WebParser measure.
  • IfMatch options.
  • TootipText or TooltipTitle options.

While formulas can be used in the [Variables] section of a skin, be aware that the [Variables] section itself does not resolve the formula. If you have a variable MyVar=(5 * 2), then the value of #MyVar# is not "10", but literally "(5 * 2)". However, if you then use the variable in an option that does allow formulas, that option itself will do the math, as in X=#MyVar# in a meter.

Mathematical formulas must be entirely enclosed in (parentheses) to alert Rainmeter that it is a formula, unless they are being used in the Formula option of a Calc measure or in a IfCondition option, where the function is always assumed to be a formula, and the enclosing parentheses are optional.

Note: While [Measures], [SectionVariables:] and #Variables# can be used in a formula, all the components of a formula must be numeric, using only numbers, operators, functions and constants. Using .5 or .25 in a formula will cause an error. It must be 0.5 or 0.25.

Formula Syntax

Operators

  • +: Addition
  • -: Subtraction
  • *: Multiplication
  • /: Division
  • **: Power
  • %: Remainder or modulus
  • &: Bitwise AND
  • |: Bitwise OR
  • ^: Bitwise XOR
  • ~: Bitwise NOT

Logical Operators

  • <>: Not equal
  • =: Equal to
  • >: Greater than
  • <: Less than
  • <=: Less than or equal to
  • >=: Greater than or equal to
  • &&: Logical AND
  • ||: Logical OR

    • Conditional statements using logical operators evaluate to 1 or 0 (true / false).

    Logical && and || operators must have the conditions on either side enclosed in (parentheses).
    Example: (MyMeasure = 5) || (MyMeasure = 10)

Functions

  • Cos(x): The cosine of an angle of x radians.
  • Sin(x): The sine of an angle of x radians.
  • Tan(x): The tangent of an angle of x radians.
  • Acos(x): The principal arc cosine of x, in the interval [0,PI] radians. The value of x is between -1 and 1.
  • Asin(x): The principal arc sine of x, in the interval [-PI/2,+PI/2] radians. The value of x is between -1 and 1.
  • Atan(x): The principal arc tangent of x, in the interval [-PI/2,+PI/2] radians.
  • Atan2(y, x): The principal arc tangent in the interval [-PI,+PI] radians between points y and x in the Cartesian plane. The sign of the elements determines the quadrant.
  • Rad(x): Converts x degrees to radians.
  • Deg(x): Converts x radians to degrees.
  • Abs(x): Absolute value of x.
  • Neg(x): Negative value of x.
  • Exp(x): Returns ex.
  • Log(x): Base 10 logarithm of x.
  • Ln(x): Natural logarithm of x.
  • Sqrt(x): Square root of x.
  • Sgn(x): Return 1 if x is positive, -1 if x is negative, or 0 if x is zero.
  • Frac(x): Fractional, or decimal, part of x. (e.g. frac(1.234) = 0.234)
  • Trunc(x): Integer part of x. (e.g. trunc(1.234) = 1)
  • Floor(x): Floor of x.
  • Ceil(x): Ceiling of x.
  • Min(x, y): Minimum of x and y.
  • Max(x, y): Maximum of x and y.
  • Clamp(x, low, high): Restricts value x to low and high limits.
  • Round(x, precision): Rounds x to an integer, or to a specified number of decimal places. precision is optional.

Constants

  • PI: Mathematical constant Pi (~3.14159265...).
  • E: Mathematical constant e (~2.71828182...).

Conditional Operations

<condition> ? <expr. if true.> : <expr. if false.>

This will evaluate condition as being either true or false. If it is true, the expression to the left of the colon (:) is evaluated. If it is false, the expression to the right is evaluated. This is equivalent to the following if-then-else statement:

if (condition)
  then
    expr. if true
  else
    expr. if false
end if
[Measure]
Measure=Calc
Formula=5

[Meter]
Meter=String
X=([Measure] < 6 ? 0 : 10)
DynamicVariables=1

The meter would be positioned at X=0 since the condition [Measure] < 6 evaluates to true.

Conditional operators can be nested. It should be noted that there is a maximum of 30 nested operators.

[Measure]
Measure=Calc
Formula=2

[Meter]
Meter=String
X=([Measure] < 1 ? 99 : ([Measure] < 2 ? 98 : ([Measure] < 3 ? 97 : 96)))
DynamicVariables=1

The meter would be positioned at X=97. Since the first statement of [Measure] < 1 is false, the formula begins testing the nested formulas in order until the condition becomes true . If none of the conditions are met, the final false value of 96 would be set.