Question: In Octave

```
octave.exe:4> asin(1/2)
ans =  0.52360

```

is it possible to get the result in form of:

```
ans = pi/6

```

It seems not possible with [format function](http://octave.sourceforge.net/octave/function/format.html), but may be there are any tricks.

Answer: 
An alternative might be to convert into units of $\pi$ explicitly, and then seek a rational approximation:

```
> rats(asin(1/2) / pi)                                                                                                                                    
ans =       1/6

```
Try using "format rat". "rat" stands for rational, which puts answers in fractional terms. Using "format rat" puts ALL terms in fractional terms (unless you switch back to a different format such as "format g"), as opposed to rats([expression]), which (I assume - I've never used that) only puts [expression] in rational terms.