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NAME

       metafile - graphics command interface, similar to plot(5)

DESCRIPTION

       The  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.

       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.

       "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.

       The metafile commands are as follows:

       F  end of file:  no arguments.
          When end of file is reached, all processing stops.

       E  end of page:  no arguments.
          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.

       P  pause:  arguments specify the message to be printed.
          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.

       D  draw global:  no arguments.
          This global forces flushing of output and updating of device.

       I  include file:  arg0 TRUE if standard file.
          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.

       S  set:  arg0 specifies what to set (from meta.h):
          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.
          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.

       U  unset:  arg0 specifies what to unset (from meta.h):
          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.
          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.

       R  reset:  arg0 specifies what to reset (from meta.h):
          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.
          The  reset  command  returns a variable to its default setting.  The
          reset all command returns all variables to their initial state.

       O  open segment:  arguments specify segment name.
          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.

       C  close segment:  no arguments.
          The   current   segment   is  closed,  which  completes  its  usable
          definition.

       l  line segment:  fields of arg0 are:
          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.

       r  rectangle fill:  fields of arg0 are:
          100:  toggle:  OR fill, XOR fill.
          014:  pattern:  choice of 4 (see set).
          003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
          Fills the given extent with the  specified  pattern.   Toggle  (XOR)
          fill allows the reversal of previous fills to an area.

       t  triangle fill:  fields of arg0 are:
          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.
          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.

       p  polygon fill:  fields of arg0 are:
          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.
          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.

       m  matrix string:  fields of arg0 are:
          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.
          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.

       v  vector string:  fields of arg0 are:
          060:  orientation:  right, up, left, down.
          014:  thickness:  0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
          003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
          The  string  specified  following  the  command  will be made to fit
          within the given extent.

       s  print segment:  fields of arg0 are:
          060:  orientation:  right, up, left, down.
          014:  thickness:  0, 12, 24, 48, 96 units.
          003:  color:  black, red, green, blue.
          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.

       The  metafile  has  two basic formats.  The first format is meant to be
       user readable, and has the form:

           c arg0 xmin ymin xmax ymax ‘args

       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 (’#’).

       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).

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.

BUGS

       The command for line segment (’l’) is awkward at best.

AUTHOR

       Greg Ward

SEE ALSO

       cv(1), meta(3), pexpand(1), primout(3), psort(1)