man/man5/metafile.5

.\" RCSid "$Id$"
.TH METAFILE 5 10/23/98 RADIANCE
.SH NAME
metafile - graphics command interface, similar to plot(5)
.SH DESCRIPTION
The
.I metafile
graphics format was designed with the primary
goal of serving as a temporary file for routines which
output to dot-matrix and other line-at-a-time devices.
As a result, all of the "primitives" are completely self-contained
to facilitate sorting.
.PP
A primitive is a command which can itself be plotted.
Into this catagory fall line segments, rectangle and triangle fills,
matrix and vector strings.
Every primitive has a zeroeth argument which contains bundled attribute
information, and an extent.
The extent gives the x and y minimum and maximum values which enclose
the primitive.
The extent is used in sorting, and typically also in describing
the primitive.
For example, a line segment will be described completely by its
enclosing rectangle and attributes including specification
of which diagonal the segment falls on.
Other primitives will have additional arguments, such as vector string,
which must specify the string to be output within its extent.
.PP
"Global" commands separate the primitives
and allow functions which affect all commands.
These are commands such as end of page, pause, open and close segment,
set, unset and reset, and a special global, end of file.
The end of file command is included to facilitate finding the end of
file on systems which do not keep track exactly.
Global commands sometimes have arguments.
The open command, for instance, specifies the name of the segment.
Global commands never have extents.
.PP
The metafile commands are as follows:
.TP 3
.B F
end of file:  no arguments.
.br
When end of file is reached, all processing stops.
.TP
.B E
end of page:  no arguments.
.br
This causes the device to advance to the next screen or page.
If the output device is a terminal, it will beep and wait
for the user to hit return before clearing the screen.
.TP
.B P
pause:  arguments specify the message to be printed.
.br
This causes output to be flushed and the controlling terminal
to be opened.
The user is then prompted with the specified string followed by
the message "- (hit return to continue)".
If no string is specified, the bell is sounded without a message.
After the user hits return, output continues.
This command is useful when the user is required for some part of
the output, such as changing paper or pens.
.TP
.B D
draw global:  no arguments.
.br
This global forces flushing of output and updating of device.
.TP
.B I
include file:  arg0 TRUE if standard file.
.br
The include global causes the contents of the named file to be
substituted in the include command's location.
If arg0 is 1 (TRUE), a standard location is searched if the
file is not found in the working directory.
If arg0 is 0 (FALSE), the file must be in the working directory.
Include files can be nested to the number of allowed open files.
.TP
.B S
set:  arg0 specifies what to set (from meta.h):
.nf
SALL:  place context mark on current settings.
SPAT0:  set pattern 0 to the specified value.
SPAT1:  set pattern 1 to the specified value.
SPAT2:  set pattern 2 to the specified value.
SPAT3:  set pattern 3 to the specified value.
.fi
The set command is used to globally affect certain attributes.
The zeroeth argument specifies the variable to set, and the
arguments following specify the value.
Pattern values can have two forms.
The first form begins with the letter 'P', immediately followed
by an integer between 0 and 11.
This selects one from the following patterns:  solid, 
thick \\\\\\, thin \\\\\\, mixed \\\\\\,
thick ///, thin ///, mixed ///, crisscross, web.
The default pattern settings are:  0=P0, 1=P1, 2=P2, 3=P3.
The second form gives the explicit values for a pattern.
The set all command makes a context mark with the current settings.
All settings which follow can be undone with the unset all command.
.TP
.B U
unset:  arg0 specifies what to unset (from meta.h):
.nf
SALL:  return to previous context.
SPAT0:  set pattern 0 to the previous value.
SPAT1:  set pattern 1 to the previous value.
SPAT2:  set pattern 2 to the previous value.
SPAT3:  set pattern 3 to the previous value.
.fi
The unset command returns a variable to its previous value.
The unset all command returns the settings to the values they had in
the previous context.
If no context has been marked by set all, variables are returned to
their default values.
.TP
.B R
reset:  arg0 specifies what to reset (from meta.h):
.nf
SALL:  reset all variables.
SPAT0:  set pattern 0 to the default value.
SPAT1:  set pattern 1 to the default value.
SPAT2:  set pattern 2 to the default value.
SPAT3:  set pattern 3 to the default value.
.fi
The reset command returns a variable to its default setting.
The reset all command returns all variables to their initial state.
.TP
.B O
open segment:  arguments specify segment name.
.br
The commands following up to a C (close segment) are not to be output,
but are to be stored in the named segment.
Segment names can contain any ascii character (except newline)
in any sequence of reasonable length.
Segment definitions are local to the enclosing segment.
Side effects should
be avoided in segments by balancing calls to set and unset.
A segment cannot reference itself.
.TP
.B C
close segment:  no arguments.
.br
The current segment is closed, which completes its usable definition.
.TP
.B l
line segment:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
100:  orientation:  positive slope, negative slope.
060:  type:  solid, dashed, dotted, dotted-dashed.
014:  width:  0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
.TP
.B r
rectangle fill:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
100:  toggle:  OR fill, XOR fill.
014:  pattern:  choice of 4 (see set).
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
Fills the given extent with the specified pattern.
Toggle (XOR) fill allows the reversal of previous fills to an area.
.TP
.B t
triangle fill:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
100:  toggle:  OR fill, XOR fill.
060:  orientation:  right (& down), up, left, down.
014:  pattern:  choice of 4 (see set).
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
Fills the given half-rectangle  with the specified pattern.
A triangle is oriented to the right if the the area between the
positive-sloped diagonal and the lower right corner of the
extent is filled.
Rotating this triangle ccw successively yields up, left and down
triangles.
Toggle (XOR) fill allows the reversal of previous fills to an area.
.TP
.B p
polygon fill:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
100:  border:  no border, line border.
060:  orientation:  right (& down), up, left, down.
014:  pattern:  choice of 4 (see set).
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
The argument string gives a blank separated list of the polygon
vertices in the form:  "x0 y0 x1 y1 x2 y2 ... ".
The coordinates must be integers ranging between 0 and 16383.
The bounding box and orientation will be used to fit the original polygon
into a scaled and rotated position.
The last vertex will be connected to the first, and the polygon
will be filled in with the specified pattern.
If a border is requested, one will be drawn of solid black zero width
lines.
All polygon fills will toggle, therefore other polygon and toggled
triangle and rectangle fills will affect the final appearance of the
image.
For example, a polygon drawn inside another polygon of the same
pattern will make a hole.
.TP
.B m
matrix string:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
100:  strike:  single, double.
060:  density:  10 cpi, 12 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi.
014:  size:  normal, double width, double height, double both.
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
The upper left corner of the extent is used to place the beginning of
the string specified after the command.
More sophisticated drivers will use the extent for clipping,
but the size of the characters will not be altered.
.TP
.B v
vector string:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
060:  orientation:  right, up, left, down.
014:  thickness:  0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
The string specified following the command will be made to fit
within the given extent.
.TP
.B s
print segment:  fields of arg0 are:
.nf
060:  orientation:  right, up, left, down.
014:  thickness:  0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
.fi
The segment whose name is specified in the arguments will be oriented
according to arg0 and made to fit in the given extent.
The thickness and color of the lines in the segment will be changed
also according to arg0.
In the case of area fill, it is the pattern rather than the width
which will change.
The segment must have been previously defined using the open segment
global.
Note that matrix strings will not transfer well since they cannot
be oriented or scaled.
.PP
The metafile has two basic formats.
The first format is meant to be user readable, and has the form:
.nf

    c arg0 xmin ymin xmax ymax `args

.fi
Where c is the single letter command, arg0 is the octal value for
arg0, xmin ymin xmax ymax are the extent (ranging from 0 to 16283),
and the optional args following the backquote are additional arguments,
terminated by a newline.
If the command is a global, the extent is not present.
If the global has no arg0, 0200 is appropriate.
Any global which has a following string must have a value for
arg0 (< 0200).
Comments are permitted on lines beginning with a pound sign ('#').
.PP
The second format is roughly equivalent, but packs the extrema into
two bytes each.
It takes between one quarter and one third as much space, and much
less processing to use this type of file, hence it is the default
format for all of the programs.
Conversion between formats is accomplished with cv(1).
.SH FILES
The standard location for metafiles used by the programs 
is /usr/lib/meta/, but can be changed by setting the environment
variable MDIR.
This is useful for systems where the owner does not have
access to the /usr/lib/ directory.  It also allows the user
to create his own metafiles for vector characters and other symbols.
.SH BUGS
The command for line segment ('l') is awkward at best.
.SH AUTHOR
Greg Ward
.SH "SEE ALSO"
cv(1), meta(3), pexpand(1), primout(3), psort(1)
Revision:	1.2
Committed:	Tue Dec 9 15:59:07 2003 UTC (21 years, 11 months ago) by greg
Branch:	MAIN
CVS Tags:	rad6R0, rad5R4, rad5R3, rad5R2, rad5R1, rad5R0, rad4R2P2, rad4R2P1, rad4R2, rad4R1, rad4R0, rad3R9, rad3R8, rad3R7P2, rad3R7P1, rad3R6P1, rad3R6, HEAD
Changes since 1.1:	+1 -1 lines
Log Message:	Fixed RCSid specification
#	Content
1	.\" RCSid "$Id$"
2	.TH METAFILE 5 10/23/98 RADIANCE
3	.SH NAME
4	metafile - graphics command interface, similar to plot(5)
5	.SH DESCRIPTION
6	The
7	.I metafile
8	graphics format was designed with the primary
9	goal of serving as a temporary file for routines which
10	output to dot-matrix and other line-at-a-time devices.
11	As a result, all of the "primitives" are completely self-contained
12	to facilitate sorting.
13	.PP
14	A primitive is a command which can itself be plotted.
15	Into this catagory fall line segments, rectangle and triangle fills,
16	matrix and vector strings.
17	Every primitive has a zeroeth argument which contains bundled attribute
18	information, and an extent.
19	The extent gives the x and y minimum and maximum values which enclose
20	the primitive.
21	The extent is used in sorting, and typically also in describing
22	the primitive.
23	For example, a line segment will be described completely by its
24	enclosing rectangle and attributes including specification
25	of which diagonal the segment falls on.
26	Other primitives will have additional arguments, such as vector string,
27	which must specify the string to be output within its extent.
28	.PP
29	"Global" commands separate the primitives
30	and allow functions which affect all commands.
31	These are commands such as end of page, pause, open and close segment,
32	set, unset and reset, and a special global, end of file.
33	The end of file command is included to facilitate finding the end of
34	file on systems which do not keep track exactly.
35	Global commands sometimes have arguments.
36	The open command, for instance, specifies the name of the segment.
37	Global commands never have extents.
38	.PP
39	The metafile commands are as follows:
40	.TP 3
41	.B F
42	end of file: no arguments.
43	.br
44	When end of file is reached, all processing stops.
45	.TP
46	.B E
47	end of page: no arguments.
48	.br
49	This causes the device to advance to the next screen or page.
50	If the output device is a terminal, it will beep and wait
51	for the user to hit return before clearing the screen.
52	.TP
53	.B P
54	pause: arguments specify the message to be printed.
55	.br
56	This causes output to be flushed and the controlling terminal
57	to be opened.
58	The user is then prompted with the specified string followed by
59	the message "- (hit return to continue)".
60	If no string is specified, the bell is sounded without a message.
61	After the user hits return, output continues.
62	This command is useful when the user is required for some part of
63	the output, such as changing paper or pens.
64	.TP
65	.B D
66	draw global: no arguments.
67	.br
68	This global forces flushing of output and updating of device.
69	.TP
70	.B I
71	include file: arg0 TRUE if standard file.
72	.br
73	The include global causes the contents of the named file to be
74	substituted in the include command's location.
75	If arg0 is 1 (TRUE), a standard location is searched if the
76	file is not found in the working directory.
77	If arg0 is 0 (FALSE), the file must be in the working directory.
78	Include files can be nested to the number of allowed open files.
79	.TP
80	.B S
81	set: arg0 specifies what to set (from meta.h):
82	.nf
83	SALL: place context mark on current settings.
84	SPAT0: set pattern 0 to the specified value.
85	SPAT1: set pattern 1 to the specified value.
86	SPAT2: set pattern 2 to the specified value.
87	SPAT3: set pattern 3 to the specified value.
88	.fi
89	The set command is used to globally affect certain attributes.
90	The zeroeth argument specifies the variable to set, and the
91	arguments following specify the value.
92	Pattern values can have two forms.
93	The first form begins with the letter 'P', immediately followed
94	by an integer between 0 and 11.
95	This selects one from the following patterns: solid,
96	thick \\\\\\, thin \\\\\\, mixed \\\\\\,
97	thick ///, thin ///, mixed ///, crisscross, web.
98	The default pattern settings are: 0=P0, 1=P1, 2=P2, 3=P3.
99	The second form gives the explicit values for a pattern.
100	The set all command makes a context mark with the current settings.
101	All settings which follow can be undone with the unset all command.
102	.TP
103	.B U
104	unset: arg0 specifies what to unset (from meta.h):
105	.nf
106	SALL: return to previous context.
107	SPAT0: set pattern 0 to the previous value.
108	SPAT1: set pattern 1 to the previous value.
109	SPAT2: set pattern 2 to the previous value.
110	SPAT3: set pattern 3 to the previous value.
111	.fi
112	The unset command returns a variable to its previous value.
113	The unset all command returns the settings to the values they had in
114	the previous context.
115	If no context has been marked by set all, variables are returned to
116	their default values.
117	.TP
118	.B R
119	reset: arg0 specifies what to reset (from meta.h):
120	.nf
121	SALL: reset all variables.
122	SPAT0: set pattern 0 to the default value.
123	SPAT1: set pattern 1 to the default value.
124	SPAT2: set pattern 2 to the default value.
125	SPAT3: set pattern 3 to the default value.
126	.fi
127	The reset command returns a variable to its default setting.
128	The reset all command returns all variables to their initial state.
129	.TP
130	.B O
131	open segment: arguments specify segment name.
132	.br
133	The commands following up to a C (close segment) are not to be output,
134	but are to be stored in the named segment.
135	Segment names can contain any ascii character (except newline)
136	in any sequence of reasonable length.
137	Segment definitions are local to the enclosing segment.
138	Side effects should
139	be avoided in segments by balancing calls to set and unset.
140	A segment cannot reference itself.
141	.TP
142	.B C
143	close segment: no arguments.
144	.br
145	The current segment is closed, which completes its usable definition.
146	.TP
147	.B l
148	line segment: fields of arg0 are:
149	.nf
150	100: orientation: positive slope, negative slope.
151	060: type: solid, dashed, dotted, dotted-dashed.
152	014: width: 0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
153	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
154	.fi
155	.TP
156	.B r
157	rectangle fill: fields of arg0 are:
158	.nf
159	100: toggle: OR fill, XOR fill.
160	014: pattern: choice of 4 (see set).
161	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
162	.fi
163	Fills the given extent with the specified pattern.
164	Toggle (XOR) fill allows the reversal of previous fills to an area.
165	.TP
166	.B t
167	triangle fill: fields of arg0 are:
168	.nf
169	100: toggle: OR fill, XOR fill.
170	060: orientation: right (& down), up, left, down.
171	014: pattern: choice of 4 (see set).
172	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
173	.fi
174	Fills the given half-rectangle with the specified pattern.
175	A triangle is oriented to the right if the the area between the
176	positive-sloped diagonal and the lower right corner of the
177	extent is filled.
178	Rotating this triangle ccw successively yields up, left and down
179	triangles.
180	Toggle (XOR) fill allows the reversal of previous fills to an area.
181	.TP
182	.B p
183	polygon fill: fields of arg0 are:
184	.nf
185	100: border: no border, line border.
186	060: orientation: right (& down), up, left, down.
187	014: pattern: choice of 4 (see set).
188	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
189	.fi
190	The argument string gives a blank separated list of the polygon
191	vertices in the form: "x0 y0 x1 y1 x2 y2 ... ".
192	The coordinates must be integers ranging between 0 and 16383.
193	The bounding box and orientation will be used to fit the original polygon
194	into a scaled and rotated position.
195	The last vertex will be connected to the first, and the polygon
196	will be filled in with the specified pattern.
197	If a border is requested, one will be drawn of solid black zero width
198	lines.
199	All polygon fills will toggle, therefore other polygon and toggled
200	triangle and rectangle fills will affect the final appearance of the
201	image.
202	For example, a polygon drawn inside another polygon of the same
203	pattern will make a hole.
204	.TP
205	.B m
206	matrix string: fields of arg0 are:
207	.nf
208	100: strike: single, double.
209	060: density: 10 cpi, 12 cpi, 17 cpi, 20 cpi.
210	014: size: normal, double width, double height, double both.
211	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
212	.fi
213	The upper left corner of the extent is used to place the beginning of
214	the string specified after the command.
215	More sophisticated drivers will use the extent for clipping,
216	but the size of the characters will not be altered.
217	.TP
218	.B v
219	vector string: fields of arg0 are:
220	.nf
221	060: orientation: right, up, left, down.
222	014: thickness: 0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
223	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
224	.fi
225	The string specified following the command will be made to fit
226	within the given extent.
227	.TP
228	.B s
229	print segment: fields of arg0 are:
230	.nf
231	060: orientation: right, up, left, down.
232	014: thickness: 0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
233	003: color: black, red, green, blue.
234	.fi
235	The segment whose name is specified in the arguments will be oriented
236	according to arg0 and made to fit in the given extent.
237	The thickness and color of the lines in the segment will be changed
238	also according to arg0.
239	In the case of area fill, it is the pattern rather than the width
240	which will change.
241	The segment must have been previously defined using the open segment
242	global.
243	Note that matrix strings will not transfer well since they cannot
244	be oriented or scaled.
245	.PP
246	The metafile has two basic formats.
247	The first format is meant to be user readable, and has the form:
248	.nf
249
250	c arg0 xmin ymin xmax ymax `args
251
252	.fi
253	Where c is the single letter command, arg0 is the octal value for
254	arg0, xmin ymin xmax ymax are the extent (ranging from 0 to 16283),
255	and the optional args following the backquote are additional arguments,
256	terminated by a newline.
257	If the command is a global, the extent is not present.
258	If the global has no arg0, 0200 is appropriate.
259	Any global which has a following string must have a value for
260	arg0 (< 0200).
261	Comments are permitted on lines beginning with a pound sign ('#').
262	.PP
263	The second format is roughly equivalent, but packs the extrema into
264	two bytes each.
265	It takes between one quarter and one third as much space, and much
266	less processing to use this type of file, hence it is the default
267	format for all of the programs.
268	Conversion between formats is accomplished with cv(1).
269	.SH FILES
270	The standard location for metafiles used by the programs
271	is /usr/lib/meta/, but can be changed by setting the environment
272	variable MDIR.
273	This is useful for systems where the owner does not have
274	access to the /usr/lib/ directory. It also allows the user
275	to create his own metafiles for vector characters and other symbols.
276	.SH BUGS
277	The command for line segment ('l') is awkward at best.
278	.SH AUTHOR
279	Greg Ward
280	.SH "SEE ALSO"
281	cv(1), meta(3), pexpand(1), primout(3), psort(1)