Non-heuristic decimal divide method and apparatus

摘要

A method and apparatus for performing decimal division using a computer that does not have the capability to perform single instruction decimal multiplication or division. A divisor is normalized such that the value of the first digit of the divisor is not less than 5. Trial quotient digits within a trial quotient table are predetermined. A multiples table comprises multiples of the normalized divisor. The most significant digits of the normalized divisor and the most significant digits of each partial dividend are used to locate trial quotient digits within the trial quotient digit table. The trial quotient digits are used to locate multiples within the multiples table. A single subtraction (or addition) operation from a partial dividend can be used to determine whether the trial quotient digit is the actual quotient digit.