Name

Synopsis

Description

interprets the language and produces PostScript pictures. The language is similar to Knuth's with additional features for including tex(1) or troff(1) commands and accessing features of PostScript not found in .

Like and , is normally used with a large body of precompiled macros. This version of looks at its command line to see what name it was called under. Both inimpost and virmpost are symlinks to the mpost executable. When called as inimpost (or when the --ini option is given) it can be used to precompile macros into a .mem file. When called as virmpost it will use the plain mem. When called under any other name, will use that name as the name of the mem to use. For example, when called as mpost the mpost mem is used, which is identical to the plain mem. Other mems than plain are rarely used.

The commands given on the command line to the MP program are passed to it as the first input line. (But it is often easier to type extended arguments as the first input line, since UNIX shells tend to gobble up or misinterpret 's favorite symbols, like semicolons, unless you quote them.) The first line should begin with a filename, a \controlsequence, or a &memname.

The normal usage is to say mp figs to process 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 extension, .mp, can be overridden by specifying an extension explicitly.

There is normally one output file for each picture generated, and the output files are named jobname . nnn , where nnn is a number passed to the beginfig macro. The output file name can also be jobname . ps if this number is negative.

The output files can be used as figures in a document by including

btex TeX commands etex

This causes mp to generate a picture expression that corresponds to the commands. If the 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 commands are passed on to . When using X instead of the input file must start with a verbatimtex block that gives the \documentstyle and \begin{document} commands. You can use the `%&' construct in the first verbatimtex block to ensure that the correct format is used to process the commands.

output can be included in a troff document via the -m pictures 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 interpreted as troff instead of . (This automatically sets prologues:=1 ).

Options

--mem mem

Use mem as the name of the mem to be used, instead of the name by which was called or a %& line.

--help

Print help message and exit.

--ini

Be inimpost, for dumping bases; this is implicitly true if the program is called as inimpost.

--interaction mode

Sets the interaction mode. The mode can be one of batchmode, nonstopmode, scrollmode, and errorstopmode. The meaning of these modes is the same as that of the corresponding commands.

--kpathsea-debug bitmask

Sets path searching debugging flags according to the bitmask. See the Kpathsea manual for details.

--progname name

Pretend to be program name. This affects both the format used and the search paths.

-T

Produce TROFF output.

--translate-file tcxname

Use the tcxname translation table.

--troff

As -T.

--version

Print version information and exit.

Environment

If the environment variable TEXMFOUTPUT is set, attempts to put its output files in it, if they cannot be put in the current directory.

Here is a list of the environment variables affect the behavior of mp:

MPINPUTS

Search path for input files.

MFINPUTS

Auxiliary search path for input files with .mf extensions.

MPSUPPORT

Directory for various tables for handling included tex and troff.

MPXCOMMAND

The name of a shell script that converts embedded typesetting commands to a form that understands. Defaults: makempx for tex and troffmpx for troff.

TEX

The version of - or X - to use when processing btex and verbatimtex commands. Default tex. This version of allows you to use a `%&format' line instead.

TROFF

The troff pipeline for btex and verbatimtex commands. Default eqn -d\$\$ | troff

MPEDIT

A command template for invoking an editor.

A .mem file is a binary file that permits fast loading of macro packages. mpost reads the default plain.mem unless another .mem file is specified at the start of the first line with an & just before it. There is also an that simulates plain so that mpost can read .mf fonts. (Plain is described in The book).

Experts can create .mem files be invoking inimpost and giving macro definitions followed by a dump command.

The language is similar to , but the manual A User's Manual for assumes no knowledge of . does not have bitmap output commands or 's online display mechanism.

Files

mpost.pool

Encoded text of 's messages.

*.mem

Predigested mem files.

plain.mp

The standard mem file.

mfplain.mp

The -compatible mem file. This is loaded when virmp is invoked via a symbolic link as mfmp.

$TEXMFMAIN/metapost/base/*.mp

The standard macros included in the original distribution.

$TEXMFMAIN/metapost/support/*

Various tables for handling included tex and troff.

$TEXMFMAIN/metapost/support/trfonts.map

Table of corresponding font names for troff and PostScript.

psfonts.map

Table of corresponding font names for tex and PostScript.

$TEXMFMAIN/doc/metapost/examples.mp

The source file for a few sample figures that are part of a X document $TEXMFMAIN/doc/metapost/mpintro.tex that describes the system in a little more detail.

Suggested Reading

See Also

Authors

Ulrik Vieth adapted to take advantage of the advanced path searching features in more recent versions of web2c and worked towards fully integrating into the canonical Unix distribution. He also updated and extended this manual page.

Trivia

Table of Contents

• Name
• Synopsis
• Description
• Options
• Environment
• Files
• Suggested Reading
• See Also
• Authors
• Trivia