4.4BSD/usr/share/man/cat1/pic.0
PIC(1) BSD Reference Manual PIC(1)
NNAAMMEE
pic - compile pictures for troff or TeX
SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
ppiicc [ --nnvvCC ] [ _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e ... ]
ppiicc --tt [ --ccvvzzCC ] [ _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e ... ]
DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
This manual page descibes the GNU version of ppiicc, which is
part of the groff document formatting system. ppiicc com-
piles descriptions of pictures embedded within ttrrooffff or
TeX input files into commands that are understood by TeX
or ttrrooffff. Each picture starts with a line beginning with
..PPSS and ends with a line beginning with ..PPEE. Anything
outside of ..PPSS and ..PPEE is passed through without change.
It is the user's responsibility to provide appropriate
definitions of the PPSS and PPEE macros. When the macro pack-
age being used does not supply such definitions (for exam-
ple, old versions of -ms), appropriate definitions can be
obtained with --mmppiicc: these will center each picture.
OOPPTTIIOONNSS
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 stan-
dard input.
--CC Recognize ..PPSS and ..PPEE even when followed by a char-
acter other than space or newline.
--nn 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 exten-
sions. The extensions are described in
ggrrooffff__oouutt(5). The --nn option also causes pic not to
use zero-length lines to draw dots in troff mode.
--tt TeX mode.
--cc Be more compatible with ttppiicc. Implies --tt. Lines
beginning with \\ are not passed through transpar-
ently. Lines beginning with .. are passed through
with the initial .. changed to \\. A line beginning
with ..ppss 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
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by use of the tthhiicckknneessss attribute or by setting the
lliinneetthhiicckk variable.
--vv Print the version number.
--zz In TeX mode draw dots using zero-length lines.
The following options supported by other versions of ppiicc
are ignored:
--DD Draw all lines using the \D escape sequence. ppiicc
always does this.
--TT _d_e_v Generate output for the ttrrooffff device _d_e_v. This is
unnecessary because the ttrrooffff output generated by
ppiicc is device-independent.
UUSSAAGGEE
This section describes only the differences between GNU
pic and the original version of pic. Many of these dif-
ferences also apply to newer versions of Unix pic.
TTeeXX mmooddee
TeX mode is enabled by the --tt option. In TeX mode, pic
will define a vbox called \\ggrraapphh for each picture. You
must yourself print that vbox using, for example, the com-
mand
\\cceenntteerrlliinnee{{\\bbooxx\\ggrraapphh}}
Actually, since the vbox has a height of zero this will
produce slightly more vertical space above the picture
than below it;
\\cceenntteerrlliinnee{{\\rraaiissee 11eemm\\bbooxx\\ggrraapphh}}
would avoid this.
You must use a TeX driver that supports the ttppiicc 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 \\bbaasseelliinneesskkiipp. Anything else
may well produce undesirable results; use at your own
risk. Lines beginning with a period are not given any
special treatment.
CCoommmmaannddss
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PIC(1) BSD Reference Manual PIC(1)
ffoorr _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e == _e_x_p_r_1 ttoo _e_x_p_r_2 [bbyy [**]_e_x_p_r_3] ddoo _X _b_o_d_y _X
Set _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e to _e_x_p_r_1. While the value of _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e
is less than or equal to _e_x_p_r_2, do _b_o_d_y and incre-
ment _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e by _e_x_p_r_3; if bbyy is not given, incre-
ment _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e by 1. If _e_x_p_r_3 is prefixed by ** then
_v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e will instead be multiplied by _e_x_p_r_3. _X
can be any character not occurring in _b_o_d_y.
iiff _e_x_p_r tthheenn _X _i_f_-_t_r_u_e _X [eellssee _Y _i_f_-_f_a_l_s_e _Y]
Evaluate _e_x_p_r; if it is non-zero then do _i_f_-_t_r_u_e,
otherwise do _i_f_-_f_a_l_s_e. _X can be any character not
occurring in _i_f_-_t_r_u_e. _Y can be any character not
occurring in _i_f_-_f_a_l_s_e.
pprriinntt _a_r_g...
Concatenate the arguments and print as a line on
stderr. Each _a_r_g must be an expression, a posi-
tion, or text. This is useful for debugging.
ccoommmmaanndd _a_r_g...
Concatenate the arguments and pass them through as
a line to troff orTeX. Each _a_r_g must be an expres-
sion, 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.
sshh _X _c_o_m_m_a_n_d _X
Pass _c_o_m_m_a_n_d to a shell. _X can be any character
not occurring in _c_o_m_m_a_n_d.
ccooppyy ""_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e""
Include _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e at this point in the file.
ccooppyy [""_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e""] tthhrruu _X _b_o_d_y _X [uunnttiill ""_w_o_r_d""]
ccooppyy [""_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e""] tthhrruu _m_a_c_r_o [uunnttiill ""_w_o_r_d""]
This construct does _b_o_d_y once for each line of
_f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e; the line is split into blank-delimited
words, and occurrences of $$_i in _b_o_d_y, for _i between
1 and 9, are replaced by the _i-th word of the line.
If _f_i_l_e_n_a_m_e is not given, lines are taken from the
current input up to ..PPEE. If an uunnttiill clause is
specified, lines will be read only until a line the
first word of which is _w_o_r_d; that line will then be
discarded. _X can be any character not occurring in
_b_o_d_y. For example,
..PPSS
ccooppyy tthhrruu %% cciirrccllee aatt (($$11,,$$22)) %% uunnttiill ""EENNDD""
11 22
33 44
55 66
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PIC(1) BSD Reference Manual PIC(1)
EENNDD
bbooxx
..PPEE
is equivalent to
..PPSS
cciirrccllee aatt ((11,,22))
cciirrccllee aatt ((33,,44))
cciirrccllee aatt ((55,,66))
bbooxx
..PPEE
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 tthhrruu.
rreesseett
rreesseett _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_1,, _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_2 _._._.
Reset pre-defined variables _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_1, _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e_2
... to their default values. If no arguments are
given, reset all pre-defined variables to their
default values. Note that assigning a value to
ssccaallee also causes all pre-defined variables that
control dimensions to be reset to their default
values times the new value of scale.
pplloott _e_x_p_r [""_t_e_x_t""]
This is a text object which is constructed by using
_t_e_x_t as a format string for sprintf with an argu-
ment of _e_x_p_r. If _t_e_x_t is omitted a format string
of ""%%gg"" 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 sspprriinnttff.
_v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e::==_e_x_p_r
This is similar to == except _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e must already
be defined, and the value of _v_a_r_i_a_b_l_e 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
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{{ _a_n_y_t_h_i_n_g }}
In this case _a_n_y_t_h_i_n_g can contain balanced occurrences of
{{ and }}. Strings may contain _X or imbalanced occurrences
of {{ and }}.
EExxpprreessssiioonnss
The syntax for expressions has been significantly
extended:
_x ^^ _y (exponentiation)
ssiinn((_x))
ccooss((_x))
aattaann22((_y,, _x))
lloogg((_x)) (base 10)
eexxpp((_x)) (base 10, ie 10_x)
ssqqrrtt((_x))
iinntt((_x))
rraanndd(()) (return a random number between 0 and 1)
rraanndd((_x)) (return a random number between 1 and _x; depre-
cated)
mmaaxx((_e_1,, _e_2))
mmiinn((_e_1,, _e_2))
!!_e
_e_1 &&&& _e_2
_e_1 |||| _e_2
_e_1 ==== _e_2
_e_1 !!== _e_2
_e_1 >>== _e_2
_e_1 >> _e_2
_e_1 <<== _e_2
_e_1 << _e_2
""_s_t_r_1"" ==== ""_s_t_r_2""
""_s_t_r_1"" !!== ""_s_t_r_2""
String comparison expressions must be parenthesised in
some contexts to avoid ambiguity.
OOtthheerr CChhaannggeess
A bare expression, _e_x_p_r, is acceptable as an attribute; it
is equivalent to _d_i_r _e_x_p_r, where _d_i_r is the current direc-
tion. For example
lliinnee 22ii
means draw a line 2 inches long in the current direction.
The maximum width and height of the picture are taken from
the variables mmaaxxppsswwiidd and mmaaxxppsshhtt. Initially these have
values 8.5 and 11.
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Scientific notation is allowed for numbers. For example
xx == 55ee--22
Text attributes can be compounded. For example,
""ffoooo"" aabboovvee lljjuusstt
is legal.
There is no limit to the depth to which blocks can be
examined. For example,
[[AA:: [[BB:: [[CC:: bbooxx ]]]]]] wwiitthh ..AA..BB..CC..ssww aatt 11,,22
cciirrccllee aatt llaasstt [[]]..AA..BB..CC
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 rraadd attribute speci-
fies the radius of the quarter-circles at each corner. If
no rraadd or ddiiaamm attribute is given, a radius of bbooxxrraadd is
used. Initially, bbooxxrraadd has a value of 0. A box with
rounded corners can be dotted or dashed.
The ..PPSS line can have a second argument specifying a maxi-
mum height for the picture. If the width of zero is spec-
ified 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 horizon-
tally. This is different from the DWB 2.0 pic which may
scale a picture by a different amount vertically than hor-
izontally 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 tteexxttwwiidd; if the height attribute is not sup-
plied then the height will be taken to be the number of
text strings associated with the object times tteexxtthhtt.
Initially tteexxttwwiidd and tteexxtthhtt have a value of 0.
In places where a quoted text string can be used, an
expression of the form
sspprriinnttff((""_f_o_r_m_a_t"",, _a_r_g,,...))
can also be used; this will produce the arguments
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PIC(1) BSD Reference Manual PIC(1)
formatted according to _f_o_r_m_a_t, which should be a string as
described in pprriinnttff(3) appropriate for the number of argu-
ments supplied, using only the ee, ff, gg or %% format charac-
ters.
The thickness of the lines used to draw objects is con-
trolled by the lliinneetthhiicckk variable. This gives the thick-
ness 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 --cc
option, this means use the line thickness specified by ..ppss
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
tthhiicckk[nneessss] attribute. For example,
cciirrccllee tthhiicckknneessss 11..55
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 ssccaallee variable, nor by the width or height
given in the ..PPSS line.
Boxes (including boxes with rounded corners), circles and
ellipses can be filled by giving then an attribute of
ffiillll[eedd]. This takes an optional argument of an expres-
sion with a value between 0 and 1; 0 will fill it with
white, 1 with black, values in between with a proportion-
ally 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 ffiillllvvaall will be used. Initially this has a value
of 0.5. The invisible attribute does not affect the fill-
ing 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 vari-
able aarrrroowwhheeaadd is non-zero and either TeX mode is enabled
or the --xx option has been given. Initially aarrrroowwhheeaadd has
a value of 1.
The troff output of pic is device-independent. The --TT
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 aalliiggnneedd attribute. This will only
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PIC(1) BSD Reference Manual PIC(1)
work when the postprocessor is ggrrooppss. Any text associated
with an object having the aalliiggnneedd 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 coin-
cident.
In places where _ntthh is allowed ``_e_x_p_r''tthh is also allowed.
Note that ''tthh is a single token: no space is allowed
between the '' and the tthh. For example,
ffoorr ii == 11 ttoo 44 ddoo {{
line from `i'th box.nw to `i+1'th box.se
}
FFIILLEESS
//uussrr//sshhaarree//ttmmaacc//ttmmaacc..ppiicc Example definitions of the PPSS
and PPEE macros.
SSEEEE AALLSSOO
ttrrooffff(1), ggrrooffff__oouutt(5), tteexx(1)
Tpic: Pic for TeX
AT&T Bell Laboratories, Computing Science Technical Report
No. 116, PIC -- A Graphics Language for Typesetting.
(This can be obtained by sending a mail message to
netlib@research.att.com with a body of
`send 116 from research/cstr'.)
BBUUGGSS
Input characters that are illegal for ggrrooffff (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 ffiillllvvaall is incompatible with the pic
in 10th edition Unix, which interprets 0 as black and 1 as
white.
Groff Version 1.08 9 August 1992 8