MP(1) MP(1) NAME mp, MetaPost - system for drawing pictures SYNOPSIS mp [ -I ] [ -T ] [ first-line ] DESCRIPTION Mp interprets the MetaPost language and produces PostScript pictures. The MetaPost language is similar to Knuth's Meta- font with additional features for including tex(1) or troff(1) commands and accessing features of PostScript not found in Metafont. The -T flag selects troff instead of tex. An argument given on the command line behaves as the first input line. That can be either a (possibly truncated) file name or a sequence MetaPost commands starting with `\' and including an `input' command. Thus `mp figs' processes the file `figs.mp'. The basename of `figs' becomes the jobname, and is used in forming output file names. If no file is named, the jobname becomes `mpout'. The default `.mp' extension can be overridden by specifying an extension explicitly. There is normally one output file for each picture gener- ated, and the output files are named jobname.nnn, where nnn is a number passed to the `beginfig' macro. The output file name is jobname.ps if this number is negative. The output files can be used as figures in a TeX document by including \special{psfile=jobname.nnn} in the TeX document. Alternatively, one can `\input epsf.tex' and then use the macro \epsfbox{jobname.nnn} to produce a box of the appropriate size containing the figure. btex TeX commands etex This causes mp to generate a MetaPost picture expres- sion that corresponds to the TeX commands. If the TeX commands generate more than one line of text, it must be in a `\vbox' or a minipage environment. verbatimtex TeX commands etex This is ignored by mp except that the TeX commands are passed on to TeX. When using LaTeX instead of TeX the input file must start with a `verbatimtex' block that gives the `\documentstyle' and `\begin{document}' com- mands. MP(1) MP(1) Since most TeX fonts have to be downloaded as bitmaps, the `btex' feature works best when the output of `mp' is to be included in a TeX document so that dvips(1) can download the fonts. For self-contained PostScript output that can be used directly or included in a troff document, start your MetaPost input file with the command `prologues:=1' and stick to standard PostScript fonts. TeX and MetaPost use the names in the third column of the file `/usr/lib/mp/trfonts.map'. MetaPost output can be included in a troff document via the mpictures(6) macro package. In this case mp should be invoked with the -T flag so that the commands between `btex' and `etex' or between `verbatimtex' and `etex' are inter- preted as troff instead of TeX. (This automatically sets `prologues:=1' ). Here is a list of the environment variables affect the behavior of mp: MPINPUTS Search path for `\input' files. It should be colon-separated, and start with dot. Default: `.:/usr/lib/mp' MFINPUTS Auxiliary search path for `\input' files with `.mf' extensions. Default: `.:/usr/lib/mf' TEXFONTS Search path for font metric files. Default: `.:/usr/lib/tex/fonts/tfm' MPXCOMMAND The name of a shell script that converts embed- ded typesetting commands to a form that mp understands. Defaults: `/usr/lib/mp/bin/makempx' for tex and `/usr/lib/mp/bin/troffmpx' for troff TEX The version of TeX to use when processing `btex' and `verbatimtex' commands. Default: `tex' TROFF The troff pipeline for `btex' and `verbatimtex' commands. Default: eqn -d\$\$ | troff -Tpost MPMEMS Search path for `.mem' files. Default: `.:/usr/lib/mp' MPPOOL Search path for strings. Default: `.:/usr/lib/mp' MPEDITOR A command for invoking an editor with `%s' in place of the file name and `%d' in place of the line number. Default: `/bin/ed %s' TEXVFONTS Search path for virtual fonts. Default: `/usr/lib/tex/fonts/psvf' A `.mem' file is a binary file that permits fast loading of fonts and macro packages. Mp reads the default unless another `.mem' file is specified at the start of the first line with an `&' just before it. There is also an that sim- ulates plain Metafont so that mp can read `.mf' fonts. (Plain Metafont is described in The METAFONTbook). MP(1) MP(1) Experts can create `.mem' files be invoking mp with the -I switch and giving macro definitions followed by a `dump' command. The MetaPost language is similar to Metafont, but the manual A User's Manual for MetaPost assumes no knowledge of Meta- font. MetaPost does not have bitmap output commands or Metafont's online display mechanism. Use dvips(1) and psi(9.1) to see the results before printing. FILES macros, `.mem' files, and tables for handling included tex and troff Directory for programs that handle included tex and troff. table of corresponding font names for troff, PostScript, and TeX The TeX input file where the `\epsfbox' macro is defined TeX input for a document that describes the MetaPost language The source file for the figures used in More information on using MetaPost with troff. SEE ALSO tex(1), lp(1), psi(9.1), Donald E. Knuth, The METAFONTbook, Addison Wesley, 1986, John D. Hobby, A User's Manual for MetaPost AT&T Bell Labs Computing Science Technical Report 162, 1991.