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PIC !!!PIC NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS USAGE CONVERSION FILES SEE ALSO BUGS ---- !!NAME pic - compile pictures for troff or TeX !!SYNOPSIS __pic__ [[ __-nvCSU__ ] [[ ''filename'' ... ]__ pic -t__ [[ __-cvzCSU__ ] [[ ''filename'' ... ] !!DESCRIPTION This manual page describes the GNU version of __pic__, which is part of the groff document formatting system. __pic__ compiles descriptions of pictures embedded within __troff__ or TEX input files into commands that are understood by TEX or __troff__. Each picture starts with a line beginning with __.PS__ and ends with a line beginning with __.PE__. Anything outside of __.PS__ and __.PE__ is passed through without change. It is the user's responsibility to provide appropriate definitions of the __PS__ and __PE__ macros. When the macro package being used does not supply such definitions (for example, old versions of -ms), appropriate definitions can be obtained with __-mpic__: these will center each picture. !!OPTIONS Options that do not take arguments may be grouped behind a single __-__. The special option __--__ can be used to mark the end of the options. A filename of __-__ refers to the standard input. __-C__ Recognize __.PS__ and __.PE__ even when followed by a character other than space or newline. __-S__ Safer mode; do not execute __sh__ commands. This can be useful when operating on untrustworthy input. (enabled by default) __-U__ Unsafe mode; revert the default option __-S__. __-n__ Don't use the groff extensions to the troff drawing commands. You should use this if you are using a postprocessor that doesn't support these extensions. The extensions are described in groff_out(5). The __-n__ option also causes __pic__ not to use zero-length lines to draw dots in troff mode. __-t__ TEX mode. __-c__ Be more compatible with __tpic__. Implies __-t__. Lines beginning with __\__ are not passed through transparently. Lines beginning with __.__ are passed through with the initial __.__ changed to __\__. A line beginning with __.ps__ is given special treatment: it takes an optional integer argument specifying the line thickness (pen size) in milliinches; a missing argument restores the previous line thickness; the default line thickness is 8 milliinches. The line thickness thus specified takes effect only when a non-negative line thickness has not been specified by use of the __thickness__ attribute or by setting the __linethick__ variable. __-v__ Print the version number. __-z__ In TEX mode draw dots using zero-length lines. The following options supported by other versions of __pic__ are ignored: __-D__ Draw all lines using the D escape sequence. __pic__ always does this. __-T__ ''dev'' Generate output for the __troff__ device ''dev''. This is unnecessary because the __troff__ output generated by __pic__ is device-independent. !!USAGE This section describes only the differences between GNU __pic__ and the original version of __pic__. Many of these differences also apply to newer versions of Unix __pic__. __TEX mode__ TEX mode is enabled by the __-t__ option. In TEX mode, __pic__ will define a vbox called __graph__ for each picture. You must yourself print that vbox using, for example, the command __centerline{boxgraph}__ Actually, since the vbox has a height of zero this will produce slightly more vertical space above the picture than below it; __centerline{raise 1emboxgraph}__ would avoid this. You must use a TEX driver that supports the __tpic__ specials, version 2. Lines beginning with __\__ are passed through transparently; a __%__ is added to the end of the line to avoid unwanted spaces. You can safely use this feature to change fonts or to change the value of __baselineskip__. Anything else may well produce undesirable results; use at your own risk. Lines beginning with a period are not given any special treatment. __Commands__ __for__ ''variable'' __=__ ''expr1'' __to__ ''expr2'' [[__by__ [[__*__]''expr3''] __do__ ''X body X'' Set ''variable'' to ''expr1''. While the value of ''variable'' is less than or equal to ''expr2'', do ''body'' and increment ''variable'' by ''expr3''; if __by__ is not given, increment ''variable'' by 1. If ''expr3'' is prefixed by __*__ then ''variable'' will instead be multiplied by ''expr3''. ''X'' can be any character not occurring in ''body''. __if__ ''expr'' __then__ ''X if-true X'' [[__else__ ''Y if-false Y''] Evaluate ''expr''; if it is non-zero then do ''if-true'', otherwise do ''if-false''. ''X'' can be any character not occurring in ''if-true''. ''Y'' can be any character not occurring in ''if-false''. __print__ ''arg''... Concatenate the arguments and print as a line on stderr. Each ''arg'' must be an expression, a position, or text. This is useful for debugging. __command__ ''arg''... Concatenate the arguments and pass them through as a line to troff orTEX. Each ''arg'' must be an expression, a position, or text. This has a similar effect to a line beginning with __.__ or __\__, but allows the values of variables to be passed through. __sh__ ''X command X'' Pass ''command'' to a shell. ''X'' can be any character not occurring in ''command''. __copy __''filename''____ Include ''filename'' at this point in the file. __copy__ [[____''filename''____] __thru__ ''X body X'' [[__until __''word''____] __copy__ [[____''filename''____] __thru__ ''macro'' [[__until __''word''____] This construct does ''body'' once for each line of ''filename''; the line is split into blank-delimited words, and occurrences of __$__''i'' in ''body'', for ''i'' between 1 and 9, are replaced by the ''i''-th word of the line. If ''filename'' is not given, lines are taken from the current input up to __.PE__. If an __until__ clause is specified, lines will be read only until a line the first word of which is ''word''; that line will then be discarded. ''X'' can be any character not occurring in ''body''. For example, __.PS copy thru % circle at ($1,$2) % until __ is equivalent to __.PS circle at (1,2) circle at (3,4) circle at (5,6) box .PE __ The commands to be performed for each line can also be taken from a macro defined earlier by giving the name of the macro as the argument to __thru__. __reset__ __reset__ ''variable1''__,__ ''variable2 ...'' Reset pre-defined variables ''variable1'', ''variable2'' ... to their default values. If no arguments are given, reset all pre-defined variables to their default values. Note that assigning a value to __scale__ also causes all pre-defined variables that control dimensions to be reset to their default values times the new value of scale. __plot__ ''expr'' [[____''text''____] This is a text object which is constructed by using ''text'' as a format string for sprintf with an argument of ''expr''. If ''text'' is omitted a format string of ____ is used. Attributes can be specified in the same way as for a normal text object. Be very careful that you specify an appropriate format string; __pic__ does only very limited checking of the string. This is deprecated in favour of __sprintf__. ''variable''__:=__''expr'' This is similar to __=__ except ''variable'' must already be defined, and the value of ''variable'' will be changed only in the innermost block in which it is defined. (By contrast, __=__ defines the variable in the current block if it is not already defined there, and then changes the value in the current block.) Arguments of the form ''X'' anything ''X'' are also allowed to be of the form __{__ ''anything'' __}__ In this case ''anything'' can contain balanced occurrences of __{__ and __}__. Strings may contain ''X'' or imbalanced occurrences of __{__ and __}__. __Expressions__ The syntax for expressions has been significantly extended: ''x'' __^__ ''y'' (exponentiation)__ sin(__''x''__) cos(__''x''__) atan2(__''y''__,__ ''x''__) log(__''x''__)__ (base 10)__ exp(__''x''__)__ (base 10, ie 10''x'')__ sqrt(__''x''__) int(__''x''__) rand()__ (return a random number between 0 and 1)__ rand(__''x''__)__ (return a random number between 1 and ''x''; deprecated)__ srand(__''x''__)__ (set the random number seed)__ max(__''e1''__,__ ''e2''__) min(__''e1''__,__ ''e2''__) !__''e e1'' ____ ''e2 e1'' __||__ ''e2 e1'' __==__ ''e2 e1'' __!=__ ''e2 e1'' ____ ''e2 e1'' ____ ''e2 e1'' ____ ''e2 e1'' ____ ''e2''__ ''str1''__ __''str2''____ __''str1''__ __''str2''____ String comparison expressions must be parenthesised in some contexts to avoid ambiguity. __Other Changes__ A bare expression, ''expr'', is acceptable as an attribute; it is equivalent to ''dir expr'', where ''dir'' is the current direction. For example __line 2i__ means draw a line 2 inches long in the current direction. The maximum width and height of the picture are taken from the variables __maxpswid__ and __maxpsht__. Initially these have values 8.5 and 11. Scientific notation is allowed for numbers. For example __x = 5e-2__ Text attributes can be compounded. For example, ____ is legal. There is no limit to the depth to which blocks can be examined. For example, __[[A: [[B: [[C: box ]]] with .A.B.C.sw at 1,2 circle at last [[].A.B.C__ is acceptable. Arcs now have compass points determined by the circle of which the arc is a part. Circles and arcs can be dotted or dashed. In TEX mode splines can be dotted or dashed. Boxes can have rounded corners. The __rad__ attribute specifies the radius of the quarter-circles at each corner. If no __rad__ or __diam__ attribute is given, a radius of __boxrad__ is used. Initially, __boxrad__ has a value of 0. A box with rounded corners can be dotted or dashed. The __.PS__ line can have a second argument specifying a maximum height for the picture. If the width of zero is specified the width will be ignored in computing the scaling factor for the picture. Note that GNU __pic__ will always scale a picture by the same amount vertically as horizontally. This is different from the DWB 2.0 __pic__ which may scale a picture by a different amount vertically than horizontally if a height is specified. Each text object has an invisible box associated with it. The compass points of a text object are determined by this box. The implicit motion associated with the object is also determined by this box. The dimensions of this box are taken from the width and height attributes; if the width attribute is not supplied then the width will be taken to be __textwid__; if the height attribute is not supplied then the height will be taken to be the number of text strings associated with the object times __textht__. Initially __textwid__ and __textht__ have a value of 0. In places where a quoted text string can be used, an expression of the form __sprintf(__''format''____ ''arg''__,__...__)__ can also be used; this will produce the arguments formatted according to ''format'', which should be a string as described in printf(3) appropriate for the number of arguments supplied, using only the __e__, __f__, __g__ or __%__ format characters. The thickness of the lines used to draw objects is controlled by the __linethick__ variable. This gives the thickness of lines in points. A negative value means use the default thickness: in TEX output mode, this means use a thickness of 8 milliinches; in TEX output mode with the __-c__ option, this means use the line thickness specified by __.ps__ lines; in troff output mode, this means use a thickness proportional to the pointsize. A zero value means draw the thinnest possible line supported by the output device. Initially it has a value of -1. There is also a __thick__[[__ness__] attribute. For example, __circle thickness 1.5__ would draw a circle using a line with a thickness of 1.5 points. The thickness of lines is not affected by the value of the __scale__ variable, nor by the width or height given in the __.PS__ line. Boxes (including boxes with rounded corners), circles and ellipses can be filled by giving then an attribute of __fill__[[__ed__]. This takes an optional argument of an expression with a value between 0 and 1; 0 will fill it with white, 1 with black, values in between with a proportionally gray shade. A value greater than 1 can also be used: this means fill with the shade of gray that is currently being used for text and lines. Normally this will be black, but output devices may provide a mechanism for changing this. Without an argument, then the value of the variable __fillval__ will be used. Initially this has a value of 0.5. The invisible attribute does not affect the filling of objects. Any text associated with a filled object will be added after the object has been filled, so that the text will not be obscured by the filling. Arrow heads will be drawn as solid triangles if the variable __arrowhead__ is non-zero and either TEX mode is enabled or the __-x__ option has been given. Initially __arrowhead__ has a value of 1. The troff output of __pic__ is device-independent. The __-T__ option is therefore redundant. All numbers are taken to be in inches; numbers are never interpreted to be in troff machine units. Objects can have an __aligned__ attribute. This will only work when the postprocessor is __grops__. Any text associated with an object having the __aligned__ attribute will be rotated about the center of the object so that it is aligned in the direction from the start point to the end point of the object. Note that this attribute will have no effect for objects whose start and end points are coincident. In places where ''n''__th__ is allowed __`__''expr''__'th__ is also allowed. Note that __'th__ is a single token: no space is allowed between the __'__ and the __th__. For example, __for i = 1 to 4 do { __ line from `i'th box.nw to `i+1'th box.se } !!CONVERSION To obtain a stand-alone picture from a __pic__ file, enclose your __pic__ code with __.PS__ and __.PE__ requests; __roff__ configuration commands may be added at the beginning of the file, but no __roff__ text. It is necessary to feed this file into __groff__ without adding any page information, so you must check which __.PS__ and __.PE__ requests are actually called. For example, the mm macro package adds a page number, which is very annoying. At the moment, calling standard __groff__ without any macro package works. Alternatively, you can define your own requests, e.g. to do nothing: __.de PS .. .de PE .. __ __groff__ itself does not provide direct conversion into other graphics file formats. But there are lots of possibilities if you first transform your picture into !PostScript format using the __groff__ option __-Tps__. Since this ''ps''-file lacks !BoundingBox information it is not very useful by itself, but it may be fed into other conversion programs, usually named __ps2__''other'' or __psto__''other'' or the like. Moreover, the !PostScript interpreter __ghostscript__ (__gs__) has built-in graphics conversion devices that are called with the option __gs -sDEVICE=__'''' Call __gs --help__ for a list of the available devices. As the Encapsulated !PostScript File Format __EPS__ is getting more and more important, and the conversion wasn't regarded trivial in the past you might be interested to know that there is a conversion tool named __ps2eps__ which does the right job. It is much better than the tool __ps2epsi__ packaged with __gs__. For bitmapped graphic formats, you should use __pstopnm__; the resulting (intermediate) __PNM__ file can be then converted to virtually any graphics format using the tools of the __netpbm__ package . !!FILES __/usr/share/groff/1.17.2/tmac/pic.tmac__ Example definitions of the __PS__ and __PE__ macros. !!SEE ALSO troff(1), groff_out(5), tex(1), gs(1), ps2eps(1), pstopnm(1), ps2epsi(1), pnm(5) Tpic: Pic for TEX Brian W. Kernighan, PIC -- A Graphics Language for Typesetting (User Manual). AT __ps2eps__ is available from CTAN mirrors, e.g. W. Richard Stevens - Turning PIC Into HTML W. Richard Stevens - Examples of picMacros !!BUGS Input characters that are illegal for __groff__ (ie those with ASCII code 0 or between 013 and 037 octal or between 0200 and 0237 octal) are rejected even in TEX mode. The interpretation of __fillval__ is incompatible with the pic in 10th edition Unix, which interprets 0 as black and 1 as white. !PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporation. ----
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