mkpic provides an easy interface for making small pictures with
mfpic. To this end an input file has to be created consisting of commands,
one per line, with space separated parameters (or you modify the DATA
section of the mkpic script, which is used if you run it without an input
file). For an extensive description see the files mkpicdoc.tex and
mkpicdoc.pdf, which are part of the distribution.
mkpic produces two files. Assuming an input file named picfile
defaulting to mkpic these are:
picfile.mac
a macro file which will contain TeX commands for every
picture
picfile.sty
a style file for latex, defining the same TeX commands
for every picture.
With the --pdfsample option, two other files are produced:
picfile.pdf
a PDF file containing all pictures. This lets you easily
check the results of your designs.
picfile.tex
the TeX source used for creating this PDF file.
In LaTeX, you have to include \usepackage{picfile} and to include
commands like \Figname in your source, where name is the name
you gave one of your pictures in an mkpic begin command.
In TeX and ConTeXt, you have to \input␣picfile.mac and to
include commands like \Figname in your source, where name is
the name you gave one of your pictures in an mkpic begin command.
In TeX, you must use the \bye command (not \end to finish
your TeX source
See the RUNNING section for how to run mkpic and TeX, LaTeX, or
ConTeXt.
The source is set up so that it is easy to add your own commands,
Currently the following commands have been implemented (the arguments are
not listed here; for those, refer to the SYNOPSIS section):
begin, end
Every picture begins with the begin command and ends with
the end command. The begin command defines a name for the picture and defines
a tex command with that name, prefixed with 'Fig'. The resulting command is
written to a .mac file. Thus the command
starts writing \def\Figaa{...} to the .mac file, and the
picture can be reproduced in a TeX document by importing the .mac file and
using the \Figaa command.
xl and yl are the lengths of the x- and y-axes. xlabel
and ylabel are the label that are placed at the ends of those axes. Use a
space to suppress labeling, or "-" to suppress drawing the axes at
all.
stop
stops further reading of the input. Useful if you have
many pictures, but want to see only the first few for testing purposes.
var=value
sets the variable var to value. This variable, or an
expression containing it, can be used instead of any numerical parameter.
Variable names may contain lower and uppercase letters, digits or underscores,
with the restriction that they must start with a letter and may not end in an
underscore.
#
denotes a comment
xmark, ymark, Xmark, Ymark
These commands place one or more labels along the x- or
y-axes, either below (xmark and ymark) or above (Xmark and Ymark) the
axis.
For the [xXyY]mark commands a parameter containing any
character other than [-.0-9] is interpreted as the label (this implies that
you cannot use expressions here!) to be placed and its position is expected in
the next parameter. If a parameter is just a number, it is placed at that
x-position. If you want a number to be interpreted as a label, put it in
braces: {1950}.
arccst
(Mnemonic: center start theta.) Draws an arc with its
center in xcenter,ycenter, starting in xstart,ystart and with an arc length of
theta degrees.
arcset
(Mnemonic: start end theta.) Draws an arc starting in
xstart,ystartend ending in xend,yend and with an arc length of theta
degrees.
arccrtt
(Mnemonic: center radius theta1 theta2.) Draws an arc
with its center in xcenter,ycenter, a radius radius starting at theta1 degrees
and ending at theta2 degrees.
arc3
(Mnemonic: 3 points.) Draws an arc starting at (x1,y1),
through (x2,y2) and ending in (x3,y3).
xdrop, ydrop, xydrop
These commands draw dotted arrows perpendicularly to the
x-axis, the y-axis and both axes, respectively, ending on the axes with the
arrow head.
arrow
draws an arrow from (x1,y1) to (x2,y2) labeled on its
tail with label
label
draws a label at (x,y). YX tells how it will be adjusted:
for Y=t,b,c (x,y) will be, in the y-direction, on top, bottom or center of the
label respectively, for X=l,r,c it will be, in the x-direction, left, right or
center adjusted on (x,y). Thus
label tl 0 0 Hello World!
will draw the string "Hello World" with its
lower left corner at (0,0)
xlabels
draws many labels, starting at (x,y), and incrementing x
with dx after every label. YX: see label. Labels may not contain spaces; if
you need spaces, use - instead.
ylabels
Same as xlabels, but incrementing y with dy
instead.
point
draws points (dots) at (x1,y1), (x2,y2) et cetera.
dpoint
draws points (dots) starting at (x1,y1) and then moving
by (dx1,dy1), (dx2,dy2) et cetera.
lines
draws line segments from (x1,y1) to (x2,y2), (x3,y3) et
cetera.
dlines
draws line segments starting at (x1,y1) and then moving
by (dx1,dy1), (dx2,dy2) et cetera.
curve
draws a bezier curve from (x1,y1) to (x2,y2), (x3,y3) et
cetera.
dcurve
draws a bezier curve starting at (x1,y1) and then moving
by (dx1,dy1), (dx2,dy2) et cetera.
rect
draws a rectangle with diagonal points at (x1,y1) and
(x2,y2).
drect
draws a rectangle with diagonal points at (x,y) and
(x+dx,y+dy).
crect
clears a rectangle with diagonal points at (x1,y1) and
(x2,y2).
dcrect
clears a rectangle with diagonal points at (x,y) and
(x+dx,y+dy).
arect
draws a rectangle with a widdh width and a height height;
the middle of the bottom is at (xc,yc) and the centerline through (xc,yc)
makes an angle theta with the x-axis.
bar
draws a equivalent with
rect␣x-xdev␣0␣x+xdev␣height
func
draws the function given by expression-in-x between xmin
and xmax, stepping with step units in the x-direction. Note that the
expression-in-x will be evaluated by Metafont, so you will have to use
metafont syntax.
grid
draw dotted grid lines at distances dx and dy in the x-
and y directions; the gaps between the dots are set to xgap an ygap
respectively. For an esthetic appearance, be sure to use integer dx/xgap and
dy/ygap ratios.
hatch
hatch the closed curve that follows.
bhat
starts a path that will eventually be closed, and then
hatched.
ehat
ends a path started with bhat, closes it and then hatches
it.
anything else
will be inserted as is in the macro file, and therefore
should be a valid mfpic statement. You use this when you need such a statement
only once, or a few times and therefore see no need to define a proper command
for it.