Asymptote: the Vector Graphics

Language
For version 2.85

symptote
This file documents Asymptote, version 2.85.
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io
Copyright c 2004-23 Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under
the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License (see the file LICENSE in
the top-level source directory).
 i

Table of Contents

1 Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 UNIX binary distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 MacOS X binary distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Microsoft Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.4 Configuring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.5 Search paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.6 Compiling from UNIX source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.7 Editing modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.8 Git . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.9 Uninstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3 Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.1 Drawing in batch mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.2 Drawing in interactive mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.3 Figure size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.4 Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.5 Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 Drawing commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.1 draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2 fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.3 clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.4 label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

5 Bezier curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

6 Programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.1 Data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.2 Paths and guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
6.3 Pens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
6.4 Transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
6.5 Frames and pictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
6.6 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
6.7 Variable initializers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
6.8 Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
6.9 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.9.1 Arithmetic & logical operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.9.2 Self & prefix operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.9.3 User-defined operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
 ii

6.10 Implicit scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

6.11 Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
6.11.1 Default arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.11.2 Named arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.11.3 Rest arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
6.11.4 Mathematical functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
6.12 Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
6.12.1 Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
6.13 Casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.14 Import . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.15 Static . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

7 LaTeX usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

8 Base modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.1 plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.2 simplex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.3 math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
8.4 interpolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.5 geometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.6 trembling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.7 stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.8 patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8.9 markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
8.10 map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
8.11 tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
8.12 binarytree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
8.13 drawtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.14 syzygy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.15 feynman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.16 roundedpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
8.17 animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
8.18 embed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
8.19 slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.20 MetaPost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.21 babel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.22 labelpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.23 labelpath3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.24 annotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
8.25 CAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.26 graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
8.27 palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
8.28 three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
8.29 obj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.30 graph3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.31 grid3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
8.32 solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
 iii

8.33 tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

8.34 flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.35 contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.36 contour3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.37 smoothcontour3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.38 slopefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.39 ode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

9 Command-line options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

10 Interactive mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

11 Graphical User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

11.1 GUI installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
11.2 GUI usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

12 Command-Line Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

13 Language server protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

14 PostScript to Asymptote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

15 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

16 Debugger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

17 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
 1

1 Description
Asymptote is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language that provides a mathematical
coordinate-based framework for technical drawing. Labels and equations are typeset with
LaTeX, for overall document consistency, yielding the same high-quality level of typesetting
that LaTeX provides for scientific text. By default it produces PostScript output, but it
can also generate OpenGL, PDF, SVG, WebGL, V3D, and PRC vector graphics, along with any
format that the ImageMagick package can produce. You can even try it out in your Web
browser without installing it, using the Asymptote Web Application
http://asymptote.ualberta.ca
It is also possible to send remote commands to this server via the curl utility (see
Chapter 12 [Command-Line Interface], page 174).
A major advantage of Asymptote over other graphics packages is that it is a high-level
programming language, as opposed to just a graphics program: it can therefore exploit the
best features of the script (command-driven) and graphical-user-interface (GUI) methods
for producing figures. The rudimentary GUI xasy included with the package allows one
to move script-generated objects around. To make Asymptote accessible to the average
user, this GUI is currently being developed into a full-fledged interface that can generate
objects directly. However, the script portion of the language is now ready for general use by
users who are willing to learn a few simple Asymptote graphics commands (see Chapter 4
[Drawing commands], page 14).
Asymptote is mathematically oriented (e.g. one can use complex multiplication to rotate
a vector) and uses LaTeX to do the typesetting of labels. This is an important feature for
scientific applications. It was inspired by an earlier drawing program (with a weaker syntax
and capabilities) called MetaPost.
The Asymptote vector graphics language provides:
• a standard for typesetting mathematical figures, just as TEX/LaTeX is the de-facto
standard for typesetting equations.
• LaTeX typesetting of labels, for overall document consistency;
• the ability to generate and embed 3D vector WebGL graphics within HTML files;
• the ability to generate and embed 3D vector PRC graphics within PDF files;
• a natural coordinate-based framework for technical drawing, inspired by MetaPost,
with a much cleaner, powerful C++-like programming syntax;
• compilation of figures into virtual machine code for speed, without sacrificing
portability;
• the power of a script-based language coupled to the convenience of a GUI;
• customization using its own C++-like graphics programming language;
• sensible defaults for graphical features, with the ability to override;
• a high-level mathematically oriented interface to the PostScript language for vector
graphics, including affine transforms and complex variables;
• functions that can create new (anonymous) functions;
• deferred drawing that uses the simplex method to solve overall size constraint issues
between fixed-sized objects (labels and arrowheads) and objects that should scale with
figure size;
Chapter 1: Description 2

Many of the features of Asymptote are written in the Asymptote language itself. While
the stock version of Asymptote is designed for mathematics typesetting needs, one can write
Asymptote modules that tailor it to specific applications; for example, a scientific graphing
module is available (see Section 8.26 [graph], page 98). Examples of Asymptote code and
output, including animations, are available at
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/gallery/
Clicking on an example file name in this manual, like Pythagoras, will display the PDF
output, whereas clicking on its .asy extension will show the corresponding Asymptote code
in a separate window.
Links to many external resources, including an excellent user-written Asymptote tutorial
can be found at
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/links.html
A quick reference card for Asymptote is available at
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/asyRefCard.pdf
 3

2 Installation
After following the instructions for your specific distribution, please see also Section 2.4
[Configuring], page 4.
We recommend subscribing to new release announcements at
https://sourceforge.net/projects/asymptote
Users may also wish to monitor the Asymptote forum:
https://sourceforge.net/p/asymptote/discussion/409349

2.1 UNIX binary distributions

We release both tgz and RPM binary distributions of Asymptote. The root user can install
the Linux x86_64 tgz distribution of version x.xx of Asymptote with the commands:
tar -C / -zxf asymptote-x.xx.x86_64.tgz
texhash
The texhash command, which installs LaTeX style files, is optional. The executable
file will be /usr/local/bin/asy) and example code will be installed by default in
/usr/local/share/doc/asymptote/examples.
Fedora users can easily install a recent version of Asymptote with the command
dnf --enablerepo=rawhide install asymptote
To install the latest version of Asymptote on a Debian-based distribution (e.g. Ubuntu,
Mepis, Linspire) follow the instructions for compiling from UNIX source (see Section 2.6
[Compiling from UNIX source], page 6). Alternatively, Debian users can install one of
Hubert Chan’s prebuilt Asymptote binaries from
http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/a/asymptote

2.2 MacOS X binary distributions

MacOS X users can either compile the UNIX source code (see Section 2.6 [Compiling from
UNIX source], page 6) or install the Asymptote binary available at
https://www.macports.org/
or at
https://brew.sh/
Note that many MacOS X (and FreeBSD) systems lack the GNU readline library. For full
interactive functionality, GNU readline version 4.3 or later must be installed.

2.3 Microsoft Windows

Users of the Microsoft Windows operating system can install the self-extracting Asymptote
executable asymptote-x.xx-setup.exe, where x.xx denotes the latest version.
A working TEX implementation (we recommend https://www.tug.org/texlive or
http://www.miktex.org) will be required to typeset labels. You will also need to install
GPL Ghostscript version 9.56 or later from https://www.ghostscript.com/.
To view PostScript output, you can install the program Sumatra PDF available from
https://www.sumatrapdfreader.org/.
Chapter 2: Installation 4

The ImageMagick package from https://www.imagemagick.org/script/

binary-releases.php
is required to support output formats other than HTML, PDF, SVG, and PNG (see [convert],
page 169). The Python 3 interpreter from https://www.python.org is only required if you
wish to try out the graphical user interface (see Chapter 11 [GUI], page 173).
Example code will be installed by default in the examples subdirectory of the installation
directory (by default, C:\Program Files\Asymptote).

2.4 Configuring
In interactive mode, or when given the -V option (the default when running Asymptote on
a single file under MSDOS), Asymptote will automatically invoke your PostScript viewer
(evince under UNIX) to display graphical output. The PostScript viewer should be capable
of automatically redrawing whenever the output file is updated. The UNIX PostScript
viewer gv supports this (via a SIGHUP signal). Users of ggv will need to enable Watch file
under Edit/PostScript Viewer Preferences.
Configuration variables are most easily set as Asymptote variables in an optional
configuration file config.asy (see [configuration file], page 169). For example, the setting
pdfviewer specifies the location of the PDF viewer. Here are the default values of several
important configuration variables under UNIX:
import settings;
pdfviewer="acroread";
htmlviewer="google-chrome";
psviewer="evince";
display="display";
animate="animate";
gs="gs";
libgs="";
Under MSDOS, the viewer settings htmlviewer, pdfviewer, psviewer, display, and
animate default to the string cmd, requesting the application normally associated with
each file type. The (installation-dependent) default values of gs and libgs are determined
automatically from the Microsoft Windows registry. The gs setting specifies the location
of the PostScript processor Ghostscript, available from https://www.ghostscript.
com/.
The configuration variable htmlviewer specifies the browser to use to display 3D WebGL
output. The default setting is google-chrome under UNIX and cmd under Microsoft
Windows. Note that Internet Explorer does not support WebGL; Microsoft Windows
users should set their default html browser to chrome or microsoft-edge. By default,
2D and 3D HTML images expand to the enclosing canvas; this can be disabled by setting the
configuration variable absolute to true.
On UNIX systems, to support automatic document reloading of PDF files in Adobe Reader,
we recommend copying the file reload.js from the Asymptote system directory (by default,
/usr/local/share/asymptote under UNIX to ~/.adobe/Acrobat/x.x/JavaScripts/,
where x.x represents the appropriate Adobe Reader version number. The automatic
document reload feature must then be explicitly enabled by putting
import settings;
Chapter 2: Installation 5

pdfreload=true;
pdfreloadOptions="-tempFile";
in the Asymptote configuration file. This reload feature is not useful under MSDOS since the
document cannot be updated anyway on that operating system until it is first closed by
Adobe Reader.
The configuration variable dir can be used to adjust the search path (see Section 2.5
[Search paths], page 6).
By default, Asymptote attempts to center the figure on the page, assuming that the paper
type is letter. The default paper type may be changed to a4 with the configuration variable
papertype. Alignment to other paper sizes can be obtained by setting the configuration
variables paperwidth and paperheight.
These additional configuration variables normally do not require adjustment:
config
texpath
texcommand
dvips
dvisvgm
convert
asygl

Warnings (such as "unbounded" and "offaxis") may be enabled or disabled with the
functions
warn(string s);
nowarn(string s);
or by directly modifying the string array settings.suppress, which lists all disabled
warnings.
Configuration variables may also be set or overwritten with a command-line option:
asy -psviewer=evince -V venn
Alternatively, system environment versions of the above configuration variables may be
set in the conventional way. The corresponding environment variable name is obtained by
converting the configuration variable name to upper case and prepending ASYMPTOTE_: for
example, to set the environment variable
ASYMPTOTE_PAPERTYPE="a4";
under Microsoft Windows XP:
1. Click on the Start button;
2. Right-click on My Computer;
3. Choose View system information;
4. Click the Advanced tab;
5. Click the Environment Variables button.
Chapter 2: Installation 6

2.5 Search paths

In looking for Asymptote files, asy will search the following paths, in the order listed:
1. The current directory;
2. A list of one or more directories specified by the configuration variable dir or
environment variable ASYMPTOTE_DIR (separated by : under UNIX and ; under
MSDOS);
3. The directory specified by the environment variable ASYMPTOTE_HOME; if this variable is
not set, the directory .asy in the user’s home directory (%USERPROFILE%\.asy under
MSDOS) is used;
4. The Asymptote system directory (by default, /usr/local/share/asymptote under
UNIX and C:\Program Files\Asymptote under MSDOS).
5. The Asymptote examples directory (by default, /usr/local/share/doc/asymptote/examples
under UNIX and C:\Program Files\Asymptote\examples under MSDOS).

2.6 Compiling from UNIX source

To compile and install a UNIX executable from the source release asymptote-x.xx.src.tgz
in the subdirectory x.xx under
https://sourceforge.net/projects/asymptote/files/
execute the commands:
gunzip asymptote-x.xx.src.tgz
tar -xf asymptote-x.xx.src.tar
cd asymptote-x.xx
By default the system version of the Boehm garbage collector will be used; if it is old we
recommend first putting https://github.com/ivmai/bdwgc/releases/download/v8.0.
4/gc-8.0.4.tar.gz https://www.ivmaisoft.com/_bin/atomic_ops/libatomic_ops-7.
6.10.tar.gz in the Asymptote source directory.
On UNIX platforms (other than MacOS X), we recommend using version 3.2.1 of the
freeglut library. To compile freeglut, download
https://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/freeglut/freeglut-3.2.1.tar.
gz
and type (as the root user):
gunzip freeglut-3.2.1.tar.gz
tar -xf freeglut-3.2.1.tar
cd freeglut-3.2.1
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-fcommon .
make
make install
Then compile Asymptote with the commands
./configure
make all
make install
Chapter 2: Installation 7

Be sure to use GNU make (on non-GNU systems this command may be called gmake). To
build the documentation, you may need to install the texinfo-tex package. If you get
errors from a broken texinfo or pdftex installation, simply put
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/asymptote.pdf
in the directory doc and repeat the command make all.
For a (default) system-wide installation, the last command should be done as the root user.
To install without root privileges, change the ./configure command to
./configure --prefix=$HOME/asymptote
One can disable use of the Boehm garbage collector by configuring with ./configure
--disable-gc. For a list of other configuration options, say ./configure --help. For
example, under MacOS X, one can tell configure to use the clang compilers and look for
header files and libraries in nonstandard locations:
./configure CC=clang CXX=clang++ CPPFLAGS=-I/opt/local/include LDFLAGS=-L/opt/local/lib
If you are compiling Asymptote with gcc, you will need a relatively recent version (e.g.
3.4.4 or later). For full interactive functionality, you will need version 4.3 or later of the GNU
readline library. The file gcc3.3.2curses.patch in the patches directory can be used
to patch the broken curses.h header file (or a local copy thereof in the current directory) on
some AIX and IRIX systems.
The FFTW library is only required if you want Asymptote to be able to take Fourier
transforms of data (say, to compute an audio power spectrum). The GSL library is only
required if you require the special functions that it supports.
If you don’t want to install Asymptote system wide, just make sure the compiled binary
asy and GUI script xasy are in your path and set the configuration variable dir to point
to the directory base (in the top level directory of the Asymptote source code).

2.7 Editing modes

Users of emacs can edit Asymptote code with the mode asy-mode, after enabling it by
putting the following lines in their .emacs initialization file, replacing ASYDIR with the
location of the Asymptote system directory (by default, /usr/local/share/asymptote or
C:\Program Files\Asymptote under MSDOS):
(add-to-list 'load-path "ASYDIR")
(autoload 'asy-mode "asy-mode.el" "Asymptote major mode." t)
(autoload 'lasy-mode "asy-mode.el" "hybrid Asymptote/Latex major mode." t)
(autoload 'asy-insinuate-latex "asy-mode.el" "Asymptote insinuate LaTeX." t)
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.asy$" . asy-mode))

Particularly useful key bindings in this mode are C-c C-c, which compiles and displays the
current buffer, and the key binding C-c ?, which shows the available function prototypes
for the command at the cursor. For full functionality you should also install the Apache
Software Foundation package two-mode-mode:
https://www.dedasys.com/freesoftware/files/two-mode-mode.el
Once installed, you can use the hybrid mode lasy-mode to edit a LaTeX file containing
embedded Asymptote code (see Chapter 7 [LaTeX usage], page 85). This mode can
Chapter 2: Installation 8

be enabled within latex-mode with the key sequence M-x lasy-mode <RET>. On UNIX
systems, additional keywords will be generated from all asy files in the space-separated
list of directories specified by the environment variable ASYMPTOTE_SITEDIR. Further
documentation of asy-mode is available within emacs by pressing the sequence keys C-h f
asy-mode <RET>.
Fans of vim can customize vim for Asymptote with
cp /usr/local/share/asymptote/asy.vim ~/.vim/syntax/asy.vim
and add the following to their ~/.vimrc file:
augroup filetypedetect
au BufNewFile,BufRead *.asy setf asy
augroup END
filetype plugin on
If any of these directories or files don’t exist, just create them. To set vim up to run the
current asymptote script using :make just add to ~/.vim/ftplugin/asy.vim:
setlocal makeprg=asy\ %
setlocal errorformat=%f:\ %l.%c:\ %m
Syntax highlighting support for the KDE editor Kate can be enabled by running
asy-kate.sh in the /usr/local/share/asymptote directory and putting the generated
asymptote.xml file in ~/.local/share/org.kde.syntax-highlighting/syntax/.

2.8 Git
The following commands are needed to install the latest development version of Asymptote
using git:
git clone https://github.com/vectorgraphics/asymptote

cd asymptote
./autogen.sh
./configure
make all
make install
To compile without optimization, use the command make CFLAGS=-g. On Ubuntu systems,
you may need to first install the required dependencies:
apt-get build-dep asymptote

2.9 Uninstall
To uninstall a Linux x86_64 binary distribution, use the commands
tar -zxvf asymptote-x.xx.x86_64.tgz | xargs --replace=% rm /%
texhash
To uninstall all Asymptote files installed from a source distribution, use the command
make uninstall
 9

3 Tutorial
A concise introduction to Asymptote is given here. For a more thorough introduction, see
the excellent Asymptote tutorial written by Charles Staats:
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/asymptote_tutorial.pdf
Another Asymptote tutorial is available as a wiki, with images rendered by an online
Asymptote engine:
https://www.artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/?title=Asymptote_(Vector_Graphics_Language)

3.1 Drawing in batch mode

To draw a line from coordinate (0,0) to coordinate (100,100), create a text file test.asy
containing
draw((0,0)--(100,100));
Then execute the command
asy -V test
Alternatively, MSDOS users can drag and drop test.asy onto the Desktop asy icon (or make
Asymptote the default application for the extension asy).
This method, known as batch mode, outputs a PostScript file test.eps. If you prefer PDF
output, use the command line
asy -V -f pdf test
In either case, the -V option opens up a viewer window so you can immediately view the
result:

Here, the -- connector joins the two points (0,0) and (100,100) with a line segment.

3.2 Drawing in interactive mode

Another method is interactive mode, where Asymptote reads individual commands as they
are entered by the user. To try this out, enter Asymptote’s interactive mode by clicking on
the Asymptote icon or typing the command asy. Then type
draw((0,0)--(100,100));
followed by Enter, to obtain the above image. At this point you can type further draw
commands, which will be added to the displayed figure, erase to clear the canvas,
input test;
Chapter 3: Tutorial 10

to execute all of the commands contained in the file test.asy, or quit to exit interactive
mode. You can use the arrow keys in interactive mode to edit previous lines. The tab key
will automatically complete unambiguous words; otherwise, hitting tab again will show the
possible choices. Further commands specific to interactive mode are described in Chapter 10
[Interactive mode], page 171.

3.3 Figure size

In Asymptote, coordinates like (0,0) and (100,100), called pairs, are expressed in
PostScript "big points" (1 bp = 1/72 inch) and the default line width is 0.5bp. However,
it is often inconvenient to work directly in PostScript coordinates. The next example
produces identical output to the previous example, by scaling the line (0,0)--(1,1) to fit
a rectangle of width 100.5 bp and height 100.5 bp (the extra 0.5bp accounts for the line
width):
size(100.5,100.5);
draw((0,0)--(1,1));

One can also specify the size in pt (1 pt = 1/72.27 inch), cm, mm, or inches. Two nonzero
size arguments (or a single size argument) restrict the size in both directions, preserving
the aspect ratio. If 0 is given as a size argument, no restriction is made in that direction;
the overall scaling will be determined by the other direction (see [size], page 48):
size(0,100.5);
draw((0,0)--(2,1),Arrow);

To connect several points and create a cyclic path, use the cycle keyword:
size(3cm);
draw((0,0)--(1,0)--(1,1)--(0,1)--cycle);
Chapter 3: Tutorial 11

For convenience, the path (0,0)--(1,0)--(1,1)--(0,1)--cycle may be replaced with

the predefined variable unitsquare, or equivalently, box((0,0),(1,1)).

To make the user coordinates represent multiples of exactly 1cm:

unitsize(1cm);
draw(unitsquare);

3.4 Labels
Adding labels is easy in Asymptote; one specifies the label as a double-quoted LaTeX string,
a coordinate, and an optional alignment direction:

size(3cm);
draw(unitsquare);
label("$A$",(0,0),SW);
label("$B$",(1,0),SE);
label("$C$",(1,1),NE);
label("$D$",(0,1),NW);

D C

A B

Asymptote uses the standard compass directions E=(1,0), N=(0,1), NE=unit(N+E), and
ENE=unit(E+NE), etc., which along with the directions up, down, right, and left are
defined as pairs in the Asymptote base module plain (a user who has a local variable
named E may access the compass direction E by prefixing it with the name of the module
where it is defined: plain.E).

3.5 Paths
This example draws a path that approximates a quarter circle, terminated with an
arrowhead:

size(100,0);
draw((1,0){up}..{left}(0,1),Arrow);
Chapter 3: Tutorial 12

Here the directions up and left in braces specify the outgoing and incoming directions at
the points (1,0) and (0,1), respectively.
In general, a path is specified as a list of points (or other paths) interconnected with --,
which denotes a straight line segment, or .., which denotes a cubic spline (see Chapter 5
[Bezier curves], page 22). Specifying a final ..cycle creates a cyclic path that connects
smoothly back to the initial node, as in this approximation (accurate to within 0.06%) of a
unit circle:
path unitcircle=E..N..W..S..cycle;
An Asymptote path, being connected, is equivalent to a PostScript subpath. The ^^
binary operator, which requests that the pen be moved (without drawing or affecting
endpoint curvatures) from the final point of the left-hand path to the initial point of
the right-hand path, may be used to group several Asymptote paths into a path[] array
(equivalent to a PostScript path):
size(0,100);
path unitcircle=E..N..W..S..cycle;
path g=scale(2)*unitcircle;
filldraw(unitcircle^^g,evenodd+yellow,black);

The PostScript even-odd fill rule here specifies that only the region bounded between the
two unit circles is filled (see [fillrule], page 42). In this example, the same effect can be
achieved by using the default zero winding number fill rule, if one is careful to alternate the
orientation of the paths:
filldraw(unitcircle^^reverse(g),yellow,black);
The ^^ operator is used by the box(triple, triple) function in the module three to
construct the edges of a cube unitbox without retracing steps (see Section 8.28 [three],
page 133):
import three;
Chapter 3: Tutorial 13

currentprojection=orthographic(5,4,2,center=true);

size(5cm);
size3(3cm,5cm,8cm);

draw(unitbox);

dot(unitbox,red);

label("$O$",(0,0,0),NW);
label("(1,0,0)",(1,0,0),S);
label("(0,1,0)",(0,1,0),E);
label("(0,0,1)",(0,0,1),Z);

See section Section 8.26 [graph], page 98, (or the online Asymptote gallery and external
links posted at https://asymptote.sourceforge.io) for further examples, including two-
dimensional and interactive three-dimensional scientific graphs. Additional examples have
been posted by Philippe Ivaldi at https://web.archive.org/web/20201130113133/
http://www.piprime.fr/asymptote.
 14

4 Drawing commands
All of Asymptote’s graphical capabilities are based on four primitive commands. The three
PostScript drawing commands draw, fill, and clip add objects to a picture in the order
in which they are executed, with the most recently drawn object appearing on top. The
labeling command label can be used to add text labels and external EPS images, which
will appear on top of the PostScript objects (since this is normally what one wants), but
again in the relative order in which they were executed. After drawing objects on a picture,
the picture can be output with the shipout function (see [shipout], page 49).
If you wish to draw PostScript objects on top of labels (or verbatim tex commands;
see [tex], page 53), the layer command may be used to start a new PostScript/LaTeX
layer:
void layer(picture pic=currentpicture);
The layer function gives one full control over the order in which objects are drawn.
Layers are drawn sequentially, with the most recent layer appearing on top. Within each
layer, labels, images, and verbatim tex commands are always drawn after the PostScript
objects in that layer.
A page break can be generated with the command
void newpage(picture pic=currentpicture);
While some of these drawing commands take many options, they all have sensible default
values (for example, the picture argument defaults to currentpicture).

4.1 draw
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", path g,
align align=NoAlign, pen p=currentpen,
arrowbar arrow=None, arrowbar bar=None, margin margin=NoMargin,
Label legend="", marker marker=nomarker);
Draw the path g on the picture pic using pen p for drawing, with optional drawing
attributes (Label L, explicit label alignment align, arrows and bars arrow and bar, margins
margin, legend, and markers marker). Only one parameter, the path, is required. For
convenience, the arguments arrow and bar may be specified in either order. The argument
legend is a Label to use in constructing an optional legend entry.
Bars are useful for indicating dimensions. The possible values of bar are None, BeginBar,
EndBar (or equivalently Bar), and Bars (which draws a bar at both ends of the path). Each
of these bar specifiers (except for None) will accept an optional real argument that denotes
the length of the bar in PostScript coordinates. The default bar length is barsize(pen).
The possible values of arrow are None, Blank (which draws no arrows or path),
BeginArrow, MidArrow, EndArrow (or equivalently Arrow), and Arrows (which draws an
arrow at both ends of the path). All of the arrow specifiers except for None and Blank may
be given the optional arguments arrowhead arrowhead (one of the predefined arrowhead
styles DefaultHead, SimpleHead, HookHead, TeXHead), real size (arrowhead size in
PostScript coordinates), real angle (arrowhead angle in degrees), filltype filltype
(one of FillDraw, Fill, NoFill, UnFill, Draw) and (except for MidArrow and Arrows)
a real position (in the sense of point(path p, real t)) along the path where the tip
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 15

of the arrow should be placed. The default arrowhead size when drawn with a pen p is
arrowsize(p). There are also arrow versions with slightly modified default values of size
and angle suitable for curved arrows: BeginArcArrow, EndArcArrow (or equivalently
ArcArrow), MidArcArrow, and ArcArrows.
Margins can be used to shrink the visible portion of a path by labelmargin(p)
to avoid overlap with other drawn objects. Typical values of margin are NoMargin,
BeginMargin, EndMargin (or equivalently Margin), and Margins (which leaves a margin
at both ends of the path). One may use Margin(real begin, real end=begin) to
specify the size of the beginning and ending margin, respectively, in multiples of
the units labelmargin(p) used for aligning labels. Alternatively, BeginPenMargin,
EndPenMargin (or equivalently PenMargin), PenMargins, PenMargin(real begin, real
end=begin) specify a margin in units of the pen line width, taking account of the pen line
width when drawing the path or arrow. For example, use DotMargin, an abbreviation
for PenMargin(-0.5*dotfactor,0.5*dotfactor), to draw from the usual beginning
point just up to the boundary of an end dot of width dotfactor*linewidth(p). The
qualifiers BeginDotMargin, EndDotMargin, and DotMargins work similarly. The qualifier
TrueMargin(real begin, real end=begin) allows one to specify a margin directly in
PostScript units, independent of the pen line width.
The use of arrows, bars, and margins is illustrated by the examples Pythagoras.asy
and sqrtx01.asy.
The legend for a picture pic can be fit and aligned to a frame with the routine:
frame legend(picture pic=currentpicture, int perline=1,
real xmargin=legendmargin, real ymargin=xmargin,
real linelength=legendlinelength,
real hskip=legendhskip, real vskip=legendvskip,
real maxwidth=0, real maxheight=0,
bool hstretch=false, bool vstretch=false, pen p=currentpen);
Here xmargin and ymargin specify the surrounding x and y margins, perline specifies
the number of entries per line (default 1; 0 means choose this number automatically),
linelength specifies the length of the path lines, hskip and vskip specify the line skip
(as a multiple of the legend entry size), maxwidth and maxheight specify optional upper
limits on the width and height of the resulting legend (0 means unlimited), hstretch and
vstretch allow the legend to stretch horizontally or vertically, and p specifies the pen used
to draw the bounding box. The legend frame can then be added and aligned about a point
on a picture dest using add or attach (see [add about], page 51).
To draw a dot, simply draw a path containing a single point. The dot command defined
in the module plain draws a dot having a diameter equal to an explicit pen line width or
the default line width magnified by dotfactor (6 by default), using the specified filltype
(see [filltype], page 50) or dotfilltype (Fill by default):
void dot(frame f, pair z, pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, pair z, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, pair z, align align=NoAlign,
string format=defaultformat, pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, Label[] L=new Label[], pair[] z,
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 16

align align=NoAlign, string format=defaultformat, pen p=currentpen,

filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, path[] g, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
If the variable Label is given as the Label argument to the third routine, the format
argument will be used to format a string based on the dot location (here defaultformat is
"$%.4g$"). The fourth routine draws a dot at every point of a pair array z. One can also
draw a dot at every node of a path:
void dot(picture pic=currentpicture, Label[] L=new Label[],
explicit path g, align align=RightSide, string format=defaultformat,
pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=dotfilltype);
See [pathmarkers], page 108, and Section 8.9 [markers], page 92, for more general
methods for marking path nodes.
To draw a fixed-sized object (in PostScript coordinates) about the user coordinate
origin, use the routine
void draw(pair origin, picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", path g,
align align=NoAlign, pen p=currentpen, arrowbar arrow=None,
arrowbar bar=None, margin margin=NoMargin, Label legend="",
marker marker=nomarker);

4.2 fill
void fill(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, pen p=currentpen);
Fill the interior region bounded by the cyclic path g on the picture pic, using the pen
p.
There is also a convenient filldraw command, which fills the path and then draws in
the boundary. One can specify separate pens for each operation:
void filldraw(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, pen fillpen=currentpen,
pen drawpen=currentpen);
This fixed-size version of fill allows one to fill an object described in PostScript
coordinates about the user coordinate origin:
void fill(pair origin, picture pic=currentpicture, path g, pen p=currentpen);
This is just a convenient abbreviation for the commands:
picture opic;
fill(opic,g,p);
add(pic,opic,origin);
The routine
void filloutside(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, pen p=currentpen);
fills the region exterior to the path g, out to the current boundary of picture pic.
Lattice gradient shading varying smoothly over a two-dimensional array of pens p, using
fill rule fillrule, can be produced with
void latticeshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 17

pen fillrule=currentpen, pen[][] p)

If stroke=true, the region filled is the same as the region that would be drawn by
draw(pic,g,zerowinding); in this case the path g need not be cyclic. The pens in p
must belong to the same color space. One can use the functions rgb(pen) or cmyk(pen) to
promote pens to a higher color space, as illustrated in the example file latticeshading.asy.
Axial gradient shading varying smoothly from pena to penb in the direction of the line
segment a--b can be achieved with
void axialshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
pen pena, pair a, bool extenda=true,
pen penb, pair b, bool extendb=true);
The boolean parameters extenda and extendb indicate whether the shading should extend
beyond the axis endpoints a and b. An example of axial shading is provided in the example
file axialshade.asy.
Radial gradient shading varying smoothly from pena on the circle with center a and
radius ra to penb on the circle with center b and radius rb is similar:
void radialshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
pen pena, pair a, real ra, bool extenda=true,
pen penb, pair b, real rb, bool extendb=true);
The boolean parameters extenda and extendb indicate whether the shading should extend
beyond the radii a and b. Illustrations of radial shading are provided in the example files
shade.asy, ring.asy, and shadestroke.asy.
Gouraud shading using fill rule fillrule and the vertex colors in the pen array p on a
triangular lattice defined by the vertices z and edge flags edges is implemented with
void gouraudshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
pen fillrule=currentpen, pen[] p, pair[] z,
int[] edges);
void gouraudshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
pen fillrule=currentpen, pen[] p, int[] edges);
In the second form, the elements of z are taken to be successive nodes of path g. The pens
in p must belong to the same color space. Illustrations of Gouraud shading are provided
in the example file Gouraud.asy. The edge flags used in Gouraud shading are documented
here:
https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/postscript/pdfs/
TN5600.SmoothShading.pdf
Tensor product shading using clipping path g, fill rule fillrule on patches bounded by
the n cyclic paths of length 4 in path array b, using the vertex colors specified in the n × 4
pen array p and internal control points in the n × 4 array z, is implemented with
void tensorshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path[] g, bool stroke=false,
pen fillrule=currentpen, pen[][] p, path[] b=g,
pair[][] z=new pair[][]);
If the array z is empty, Coons shading, in which the color control points are calculated
automatically, is used. The pens in p must belong to the same color space. A simpler
interface for the case of a single patch (n = 1) is also available:
void tensorshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, bool stroke=false,
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 18

pen fillrule=currentpen, pen[] p, path b=g,

pair[] z=new pair[]);
One can also smoothly shade the regions between consecutive paths of a sequence using
a given array of pens:
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, pen fillrule=currentpen, path[] g,
pen[] p);
Illustrations of tensor product and Coons shading are provided in the example files
tensor.asy, Coons.asy, BezierPatch.asy, and rainbow.asy.
More general shading possibilities are available using TEX engines that produce PDF
output (see [texengines], page 169): the routine
void functionshade(picture pic=currentpicture, path[] g, bool stroke=false,
pen fillrule=currentpen, string shader);
shades on picture pic the interior of path g according to fill rule fillrule using the
PostScript calculator routine specified by the string shader; this routine takes 2
arguments, each in [0,1], and returns colors(fillrule).length color components.
Function shading is illustrated in the example functionshading.asy.
The following routine uses evenodd clipping together with the ^^ operator to unfill a
region:
void unfill(picture pic=currentpicture, path g);

4.3 clip
void clip(picture pic=currentpicture, path g, stroke=false,
pen fillrule=currentpen);
Clip the current contents of picture pic to the region bounded by the path g, using fill
rule fillrule (see [fillrule], page 42). If stroke=true, the clipped portion is the same as
the region that would be drawn with draw(pic,g,zerowinding); in this case the path g
need not be cyclic. While clipping has no notion of depth (it transcends layers and even
pages), one can localize clipping to a temporary picture, which can then be added to pic.
For an illustration of picture clipping, see the first example in Chapter 7 [LaTeX usage],
page 85.

4.4 label
void label(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, pair position,
align align=NoAlign, pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=NoFill)
Draw Label L on picture pic using pen p. If align is NoAlign, the label will be centered
at user coordinate position; otherwise it will be aligned in the direction of align and
displaced from position by the PostScript offset align*labelmargin(p). The constant
Align can be used to align the bottom-left corner of the label at position. The Label L
can either be a string or the structure obtained by calling one of the functions
Label Label(string s="", pair position, align align=NoAlign,
pen p=nullpen, embed embed=Rotate, filltype filltype=NoFill);
Label Label(string s="", align align=NoAlign,
pen p=nullpen, embed embed=Rotate, filltype filltype=NoFill);
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 19

Label Label(Label L, pair position, align align=NoAlign,

pen p=nullpen, embed embed=L.embed, filltype filltype=NoFill);
Label Label(Label L, align align=NoAlign,
pen p=nullpen, embed embed=L.embed, filltype filltype=NoFill);
The text of a Label can be scaled, slanted, rotated, or shifted by multiplying
it on the left by an affine transform (see Section 6.4 [Transforms], page 46). For
example, rotate(45)*xscale(2)*L first scales L in the x direction and then rotates it
counterclockwise by 45 degrees. The final position of a Label can also be shifted by a
PostScript coordinate translation: shift(10,0)*L. An explicit pen specified within the
Label overrides other pen arguments. The embed argument determines how the Label
should transform with the embedding picture:
Shift only shift with embedding picture;
Rotate only shift and rotate with embedding picture (default);
Rotate(pair z)
rotate with (picture-transformed) vector z.
Slant only shift, rotate, slant, and reflect with embedding picture;
Scale shift, rotate, slant, reflect, and scale with embedding picture.
To add a label to a path, use
void label(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, path g, align align=NoAlign,
pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=NoFill);
By default the label will be positioned at the midpoint of the path. An alternative
label position (in the sense of point(path p, real t)) may be specified as a real value
for position in constructing the Label. The position Relative(real) specifies a location
relative to the total arclength of the path. These convenient abbreviations are predefined:
position BeginPoint=Relative(0);
position MidPoint=Relative(0.5);
position EndPoint=Relative(1);
Path labels are aligned in the direction align, which may be specified as an absolute
compass direction (pair) or a direction Relative(pair) measured relative to a north axis
in the local direction of the path. For convenience LeftSide, Center, and RightSide are
defined as Relative(W), Relative((0,0)), and Relative(E), respectively. Multiplying
LeftSide and RightSide on the left by a real scaling factor will move the label further
away from or closer to the path.
A label with a fixed-size arrow of length arrowlength pointing to b from direction dir
can be produced with the routine
void arrow(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", pair b, pair dir,
real length=arrowlength, align align=NoAlign,
pen p=currentpen, arrowbar arrow=Arrow, margin margin=EndMargin);
If no alignment is specified (either in the Label or as an explicit argument), the optional
Label will be aligned in the direction dir, using margin margin.
The function string graphic(string name, string options="") returns a string
that can be used to include an encapsulated PostScript (EPS) file. Here, name is the name
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 20

of the file to include and options is a string containing a comma-separated list of optional
bounding box (bb=llx lly urx ury), width (width=value), height (height=value),
rotation (angle=value), scaling (scale=factor), clipping (clip=bool), and draft mode
(draft=bool) parameters. The layer() function can be used to force future objects to be
drawn on top of the included image:

label(graphic("file.eps","width=1cm"),(0,0),NE);
layer();

The string baseline(string s, string template="\strut") function can be used to

enlarge the bounding box of labels to match a given template, so that their baselines will
be typeset on a horizontal line. See Pythagoras.asy for an example.

One can prevent labels from overwriting one another with the overwrite pen attribute
(see [overwrite], page 46).

The structure object defined in plain_Label.asy allows Labels and frames to be

treated in a uniform manner. A group of objects may be packed together into single frame
with the routine

frame pack(pair align=2S ... object inset[]);

To draw or fill a box (or ellipse or other path) around a Label and return the bounding
object, use one of the routines

object draw(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, envelope e,

real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
object draw(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, envelope e, pair position,
real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);

Here envelope is a boundary-drawing routine such as box, roundbox, or ellipse defined

in plain_boxes.asy (see [envelope], page 48).

The function path[] texpath(Label L) returns the path array that TEX would fill to
draw the Label L.

The string minipage(string s, width=100pt) function can be used to format string

s into a paragraph of width width. This example uses minipage, clip, and graphic to
produce a CD label:
Chapter 4: Drawing commands 21

Asymptote
The Vector Graphics Language
Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io

symptote

size(11.7cm,11.7cm);

asy(nativeformat(),"logo");

fill(unitcircle^^(scale(2/11.7)*unitcircle),
evenodd+rgb(124/255,205/255,124/255));
label(scale(1.1)*minipage(
"\centering\scriptsize \textbf{\LARGE {\tt Asymptote}\\
\smallskip
\small The Vector Graphics Language}\\
\smallskip
\textsc{Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince}
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io\\
",8cm),(0,0.6));
label(graphic("logo","height=7cm"),(0,-0.22));
clip(unitcircle^^(scale(2/11.7)*unitcircle),evenodd);
 22

5 Bezier curves
Each interior node of a cubic spline may be given a direction prefix or suffix {dir}:
the direction of the pair dir specifies the direction of the incoming or outgoing tangent,
respectively, to the curve at that node. Exterior nodes may be given direction specifiers
only on their interior side.
A cubic spline between the node z0 , with postcontrol point c0 , and the node z1 , with
precontrol point c1 , is computed as the Bezier curve

(1 − t)3 z0 + 3t(1 − t)2 c0 + 3t2 (1 − t)c1 + t3 z1 0 ≤ t ≤ 1.

As illustrated in the diagram below, the third-order midpoint (m5 ) constructed from
two endpoints z0 and z1 and two control points c0 and c1 , is the point corresponding to
t = 1/2 on the Bezier curve formed by the quadruple (z0 , c0 , c1 , z1 ). This allows one to
recursively construct the desired curve, by using the newly extracted third-order midpoint
as an endpoint and the respective second- and first-order midpoints as control points:

c0 m1 c1

m3 m5 m4

m0
m2

z0 z1

Here m0 , m1 and m2 are the first-order midpoints, m3 and m4 are the second-order
midpoints, and m5 is the third-order midpoint. The curve is then constructed by recursively
applying the algorithm to (z0 , m0 , m3 , m5 ) and (m5 , m4 , m2 , z1 ).
In fact, an analogous property holds for points located at any fraction t in [0, 1] of each
segment, not just for midpoints (t = 1/2).
The Bezier curve constructed in this manner has the following properties:
• It is entirely contained in the convex hull of the given four points.
• It starts heading from the first endpoint to the first control point and finishes heading
from the second control point to the second endpoint.
The user can specify explicit control points between two nodes like this:
draw((0,0)..controls (0,100) and (100,100)..(100,0));
However, it is usually more convenient to just use the .. operator, which tells
Asymptote to choose its own control points using the algorithms described in Donald
Knuth’s monograph, The MetaFontbook, Chapter 14. The user can still customize the
guide (or path) by specifying direction, tension, and curl values.
Chapter 5: Bezier curves 23

The higher the tension, the straighter the curve is, and the more it approximates a
straight line. One can change the spline tension from its default value of 1 to any real value
greater than or equal to 0.75 (cf. John D. Hobby, Discrete and Computational Geometry
1, 1986):
draw((100,0)..tension 2 ..(100,100)..(0,100));
draw((100,0)..tension 3 and 2 ..(100,100)..(0,100));
draw((100,0)..tension atleast 2 ..(100,100)..(0,100));
In these examples there is a space between 2 and ... This is needed as 2. is interpreted
as a numerical constant.
The curl parameter specifies the curvature at the endpoints of a path (0 means straight;
the default value of 1 means approximately circular):
draw((100,0){curl 0}..(100,100)..{curl 0}(0,100));
The MetaPost ... path connector, which requests, when possible, an inflection-free
curve confined to a triangle defined by the endpoints and directions, is implemented in
Asymptote as the convenient abbreviation :: for ..tension atleast 1 .. (the ellipsis ...
is used in Asymptote to indicate a variable number of arguments; see Section 6.11.3 [Rest
arguments], page 67). For example, compare
draw((0,0){up}..(100,25){right}..(200,0){down});

with
draw((0,0){up}::(100,25){right}::(200,0){down});

The --- connector is an abbreviation for ..tension atleast infinity.. and the &
connector concatenates two paths, after first stripping off the last node of the first path
(which normally should coincide with the first node of the second path).
 24

6 Programming
Here is a short introductory example to the Asymptote programming language that
highlights the similarity of its control structures with those of C, C++, and Java:
// This is a comment.

// Declaration: Declare x to be a real variable;

real x;

// Assignment: Assign the real variable x the value 1.

x=1.0;

// Conditional: Test if x equals 1 or not.

if(x == 1.0) {
write("x equals 1.0");
} else {
write("x is not equal to 1.0");
}

// Loop: iterate 10 times

for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
write(i);
}

Asymptote supports while, do, break, and continue statements just as in C/C++. It
also supports the Java-style shorthand for iterating over all elements of an array:
// Iterate over an array
int[] array={1,1,2,3,5};
for(int k : array) {
write(k);
}
In addition, it supports many features beyond the ones found in those languages.

6.1 Data types

Asymptote supports the following data types (in addition to user-defined types):
void The void type is used only by functions that take or return no arguments.
bool a boolean type that can only take on the values true or false. For example:
bool b=true;
defines a boolean variable b and initializes it to the value true. If no initializer
is given:
bool b;
the value false is assumed.
Chapter 6: Programming 25

bool3 an extended boolean type that can take on the values true, default, or false.
A bool3 type can be cast to or from a bool. The default initializer for bool3 is
default.
int an integer type; if no initializer is given, the implicit value 0 is assumed. The
minimum allowed value of an integer is intMin and the maximum value is
intMax.
real a real number; this should be set to the highest-precision native floating-point
type on the architecture. The implicit initializer for reals is 0.0. Real numbers
have precision realEpsilon, with realDigits significant digits. The smallest
positive real number is realMin and the largest positive real number is realMax.
The variables inf and nan, along with the function bool isnan(real x) are
useful when floating-point exceptions are masked with the -mask command-line
option (the default in interactive mode).
pair complex number, that is, an ordered pair of real components (x,y). The real
and imaginary parts of a pair z can read as z.x and z.y. We say that x and y
are virtual members of the data element pair; they cannot be directly modified,
however. The implicit initializer for pairs is (0.0,0.0).
There are a number of ways to take the complex conjugate of a pair:
pair z=(3,4);
z=(z.x,-z.y);
z=z.x-I*z.y;
z=conj(z);
Here I is the pair (0,1). A number of built-in functions are defined for pairs:
pair conj(pair z)
returns the conjugate of z;
real length(pair z)
returns the complex modulus |z| of its argument z. For example,
pair z=(3,4);
length(z);
returns the result 5. A synonym for length(pair) is abs(pair).
The function abs2(pair z) returns |z|2 ;
real angle(pair z, bool warn=true)
returns the angle of z in radians in the interval [-pi,pi] or 0 if warn
is false and z=(0,0) (rather than producing an error);
real degrees(pair z, bool warn=true)
returns the angle of z in degrees in the interval [0,360) or 0 if warn
is false and z=(0,0) (rather than producing an error);
pair unit(pair z)
returns a unit vector in the direction of the pair z;
pair expi(real angle)
returns a unit vector in the direction angle measured in radians;
Chapter 6: Programming 26

pair dir(real degrees)

returns a unit vector in the direction degrees measured in degrees;
real xpart(pair z)
returns z.x;
real ypart(pair z)
returns z.y;
pair realmult(pair z, pair w)
returns the element-by-element product (z.x*w.x,z.y*w.y);
real dot(explicit pair z, explicit pair w)
returns the dot product z.x*w.x+z.y*w.y;
real cross(explicit pair z, explicit pair w)
returns the 2D scalar product z.x*w.y-z.y*w.x;
real orient(pair a, pair b, pair c);
returns a positive (negative) value if a--b--c--cycle is oriented
counterclockwise (clockwise) or zero if all three points are colinear.
Equivalently, a positive (negative) value is returned if c lies to the
left (right) of the line through a and b or zero if c lies on this line.
The value returned can be expressed in terms of the 2D scalar cross
product as cross(a-c,b-c), which is the determinant
|a.x a.y 1|
|b.x b.y 1|
|c.x c.y 1|
real incircle(pair a, pair b, pair c, pair d);
returns a positive (negative) value if d lies inside (outside) the circle
passing through the counterclockwise-oriented points a,b,c or zero
if d lies on the this circle. The value returned is the determinant
|a.x a.y a.x^2+a.y^2 1|
|b.x b.y b.x^2+b.y^2 1|
|c.x c.y c.x^2+c.y^2 1|
|d.x d.y d.x^2+d.y^2 1|
pair minbound(pair z, pair w)
returns (min(z.x,w.x),min(z.y,w.y));
pair maxbound(pair z, pair w)
returns (max(z.x,w.x),max(z.y,w.y)).
triple an ordered triple of real components (x,y,z) used for three-dimensional
drawings. The respective components of a triple v can read as v.x, v.y, and
v.z. The implicit initializer for triples is (0.0,0.0,0.0).
Here are the built-in functions for triples:
real length(triple v)
returns the length |v| of its argument v. A synonym for
length(triple) is abs(triple). The function abs2(triple v)
returns |v|2 ;
Chapter 6: Programming 27

real polar(triple v, bool warn=true)

returns the colatitude of v measured from the z axis in radians or
0 if warn is false and v=O (rather than producing an error);
real azimuth(triple v, bool warn=true)
returns the longitude of v measured from the x axis in radians or 0
if warn is false and v.x=v.y=0 (rather than producing an error);
real colatitude(triple v, bool warn=true)
returns the colatitude of v measured from the z axis in degrees or
0 if warn is false and v=O (rather than producing an error);
real latitude(triple v, bool warn=true)
returns the latitude of v measured from the xy plane in degrees or
0 if warn is false and v=O (rather than producing an error);
real longitude(triple v, bool warn=true)
returns the longitude of v measured from the x axis in degrees or 0
if warn is false and v.x=v.y=0 (rather than producing an error);
triple unit(triple v)
returns a unit triple in the direction of the triple v;
triple expi(real polar, real azimuth)
returns a unit triple in the direction (polar,azimuth) measured
in radians;
triple dir(real colatitude, real longitude)
returns a unit triple in the direction (colatitude,longitude)
measured in degrees;
real xpart(triple v)
returns v.x;
real ypart(triple v)
returns v.y;
real zpart(triple v)
returns v.z;
real dot(triple u, triple v)
returns the dot product u.x*v.x+u.y*v.y+u.z*v.z;
triple cross(triple u, triple v)
returns the cross product
(u.y*v.z-u.z*v.y,u.z*v.x-u.x*v.z,u.x*v.y-v.x*u.y);
triple minbound(triple u, triple v)
returns (min(u.x,v.x),min(u.y,v.y),min(u.z,v.z));
triple maxbound(triple u, triple v)
returns (max(u.x,v.x),max(u.y,v.y),max(u.z,v.z)).
string a character string, implemented using the STL string class.
Chapter 6: Programming 28

Strings delimited by double quotes (") are subject to the following mappings
to allow the use of double quotes in TEX (e.g. for using the babel package, see
Section 8.21 [babel], page 97):
• \" maps to "
• \\ maps to \\
Strings delimited by single quotes (') have the same mappings as character
strings in ANSI C:
• \’ maps to ’
• \" maps to "
• \? maps to ?
• \\ maps to backslash
• \a maps to alert
• \b maps to backspace
• \f maps to form feed
• \n maps to newline
• \r maps to carriage return
• \t maps to tab
• \v maps to vertical tab
• \0-\377 map to corresponding octal byte
• \x0-\xFF map to corresponding hexadecimal byte
The implicit initializer for strings is the empty string "". Strings may be
concatenated with the + operator. In the following string functions, position 0
denotes the start of the string:
int length(string s)
returns the length of the string s;
int find(string s, string t, int pos=0)
returns the position of the first occurrence of string t in string s at
or after position pos, or -1 if t is not a substring of s;
int rfind(string s, string t, int pos=-1)
returns the position of the last occurrence of string t in string s at
or before position pos (if pos=-1, at the end of the string s), or -1
if t is not a substring of s;
string insert(string s, int pos, string t)
returns the string formed by inserting string t at position pos in s;
string erase(string s, int pos, int n)
returns the string formed by erasing the string of length n (if n=-1,
to the end of the string s) at position pos in s;
string substr(string s, int pos, int n=-1)
returns the substring of s starting at position pos and of length n
(if n=-1, until the end of the string s);
Chapter 6: Programming 29

string reverse(string s)
returns the string formed by reversing string s;
string replace(string s, string before, string after)
returns a string with all occurrences of the string before in the
string s changed to the string after;
string replace(string s, string[][] table)
returns a string constructed by translating in string s all
occurrences of the string before in an array table of string pairs
{before,after} to the corresponding string after;
string[] split(string s, string delimiter="")
returns an array of strings obtained by splitting s into substrings
delimited by delimiter (an empty delimiter signifies a space, but
with duplicate delimiters discarded);
string[] array(string s)
returns an array of strings obtained by splitting s into individual
characters. The inverse operation is provided by operator
+(...string[] a).
string format(string s, int n, string locale="")
returns a string containing n formatted according to the C-style
format string s using locale locale (or the current locale if an
empty string is specified), following the behaviour of the C function
fprintf), except that only one data field is allowed.
string format(string s=defaultformat, bool forcemath=false, string
s=defaultseparator, real x, string locale="")
returns a string containing x formatted according to the C-style
format string s using locale locale (or the current locale if an
empty string is specified), following the behaviour of the C function
fprintf), except that only one data field is allowed, trailing zeros
are removed by default (unless # is specified), and if s specifies
math mode or forcemath=true, TEX is used to typeset scientific
notation using the defaultseparator="\!\times\!";;
int hex(string s);
casts a hexadecimal string s to an integer;
int ascii(string s);
returns the ASCII code for the first character of string s;
string string(real x, int digits=realDigits)
casts x to a string using precision digits and the C locale;
string locale(string s="")
sets the locale to the given string, if nonempty, and returns the
current locale;
string time(string format="%a %b %d %T %Z %Y")
returns the current time formatted by the ANSI C routine strftime
according to the string format using the current locale. Thus
Chapter 6: Programming 30

time();
time("%a %b %d %H:%M:%S %Z %Y");
are equivalent ways of returning the current time in the default
format used by the UNIX date command;
int seconds(string t="", string format="")
returns the time measured in seconds after the Epoch (Thu Jan
01 00:00:00 UTC 1970) as determined by the ANSI C routine
strptime according to the string format using the current locale,
or the current time if t is the empty string. Note that the "%Z"
extension to the POSIX strptime specification is ignored by the
current GNU C Library. If an error occurs, the value -1 is returned.
Here are some examples:
seconds("Mar 02 11:12:36 AM PST 2007","%b %d %r PST %Y");
seconds(time("%b %d %r %z %Y"),"%b %d %r %z %Y");
seconds(time("%b %d %r %Z %Y"),"%b %d %r "+time("%Z")+" %Y");
1+(seconds()-seconds("Jan 1","%b %d"))/(24*60*60);
The last example returns today’s ordinal date, measured from the
beginning of the year.
string time(int seconds, string format="%a %b %d %T %Z %Y")
returns the time corresponding to seconds seconds after the Epoch
(Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 UTC 1970) formatted by the ANSI C routine
strftime according to the string format using the current locale.
For example, to return the date corresponding to 24 hours ago:
time(seconds()-24*60*60);
int system(string s)
int system(string[] s)
if the setting safe is false, call the arbitrary system command s;
void asy(string format, bool overwrite=false ... string[] s)
conditionally process each file name in array s in a new
environment, using format format, overwriting the output file
only if overwrite is true;
void abort(string s="")
aborts execution (with a non-zero return code in batch mode); if
string s is nonempty, a diagnostic message constructed from the
source file, line number, and s is printed;
void assert(bool b, string s="")
aborts execution with an error message constructed from s if
b=false;
void exit()
exits (with a zero error return code in batch mode);
void sleep(int seconds)
pauses for the given number of seconds;
Chapter 6: Programming 31

void usleep(int microseconds)

pauses for the given number of microseconds;
void beep()
produces a beep on the console;
As in C/C++, complicated types may be abbreviated with typedef (see the example in
Section 6.11 [Functions], page 64).

6.2 Paths and guides

path a cubic spline resolved into a fixed path. The implicit initializer for paths is
nullpath.
For example, the routine circle(pair c, real r), which returns a Bezier curve
approximating a circle of radius r centered on c, is based on unitcircle (see
[unitcircle], page 12):
path circle(pair c, real r)
{
return shift(c)*scale(r)*unitcircle;
}
If high accuracy is needed, a true circle may be produced with the routine
Circle defined in the module graph:
import graph;
path Circle(pair c, real r, int n=nCircle);
A circular arc consistent with circle centered on c with radius r from angle1
to angle2 degrees, drawing counterclockwise if angle2 >= angle1, can be
constructed with
path arc(pair c, real r, real angle1, real angle2);
One may also specify the direction explicitly:
path arc(pair c, real r, real angle1, real angle2, bool direction);
Here the direction can be specified as CCW (counter-clockwise) or CW
(clockwise). For convenience, an arc centered at c from pair z1 to z2
(assuming |z2-c|=|z1-c|) in the may also be constructed with
path arc(pair c, explicit pair z1, explicit pair z2,
bool direction=CCW)
If high accuracy is needed, true arcs may be produced with routines in the
module graph that produce Bezier curves with n control points:
import graph;
path Arc(pair c, real r, real angle1, real angle2, bool direction,
int n=nCircle);
path Arc(pair c, real r, real angle1, real angle2, int n=nCircle);
path Arc(pair c, explicit pair z1, explicit pair z2,
bool direction=CCW, int n=nCircle);
An ellipse can be drawn with the routine
path ellipse(pair c, real a, real b)
Chapter 6: Programming 32

{
return shift(c)*scale(a,b)*unitcircle;
}
A brace can be constructed between pairs a and b with
path brace(pair a, pair b, real amplitude=bracedefaultratio*length(b-a));
This example illustrates the use of all five guide connectors discussed in
Chapter 3 [Tutorial], page 9, and Chapter 5 [Bezier curves], page 22:
size(300,0);
pair[] z=new pair[10];

z[0]=(0,100); z[1]=(50,0); z[2]=(180,0);

for(int n=3; n <= 9; ++n)

z[n]=z[n-3]+(200,0);

path p=z[0]..z[1]---z[2]::{up}z[3]
&z[3]..z[4]--z[5]::{up}z[6]
&z[6]::z[7]---z[8]..{up}z[9];

draw(p,grey+linewidth(4mm));

dot(z);

Here are some useful functions for paths:

int length(path p);
This is the number of (linear or cubic) segments in path p. If p is
cyclic, this is the same as the number of nodes in p.
int size(path p);
This is the number of nodes in the path p. If p is cyclic, this is the
same as length(p).
bool cyclic(path p);
returns true iff path p is cyclic.
bool straight(path p, int i);
returns true iff the segment of path p between node i and node
i+1 is straight.
bool piecewisestraight(path p)
returns true iff the path p is piecewise straight.
Chapter 6: Programming 33

pair point(path p, int t);

If p is cyclic, return the coordinates of node t mod length(p).
Otherwise, return the coordinates of node t, unless t < 0 (in
which case point(0) is returned) or t > length(p) (in which case
point(length(p)) is returned).
pair point(path p, real t);
This returns the coordinates of the point between node floor(t)
and floor(t)+1 corresponding to the cubic spline parameter
t-floor(t) (see Chapter 5 [Bezier curves], page 22). If t lies
outside the range [0,length(p)], it is first reduced modulo
length(p) in the case where p is cyclic or else converted to the
corresponding endpoint of p.
pair dir(path p, int t, int sign=0, bool normalize=true);
If sign < 0, return the direction (as a pair) of the incoming tangent
to path p at node t; if sign > 0, return the direction of the outgoing
tangent. If sign=0, the mean of these two directions is returned.
pair dir(path p, real t, bool normalize=true);
returns the direction of the tangent to path p at the point between
node floor(t) and floor(t)+1 corresponding to the cubic spline
parameter t-floor(t) (see Chapter 5 [Bezier curves], page 22).
pair dir(path p)
returns dir(p,length(p)).
pair dir(path p, path q)
returns unit(dir(p)+dir(q)).
pair accel(path p, int t, int sign=0);
If sign < 0, return the acceleration of the incoming path p at node
t; if sign > 0, return the acceleration of the outgoing path. If
sign=0, the mean of these two accelerations is returned.
pair accel(path p, real t);
returns the acceleration of the path p at the point t.
real radius(path p, real t);
returns the radius of curvature of the path p at the point t.
pair precontrol(path p, int t);
returns the precontrol point of p at node t.
pair precontrol(path p, real t);
returns the effective precontrol point of p at parameter t.
pair postcontrol(path p, int t);
returns the postcontrol point of p at node t.
pair postcontrol(path p, real t);
returns the effective postcontrol point of p at parameter t.
Chapter 6: Programming 34

real arclength(path p);

returns the length (in user coordinates) of the piecewise linear or
cubic curve that path p represents.
real arctime(path p, real L);
returns the path "time", a real number between 0 and the length
of the path in the sense of point(path p, real t), at which the
cumulative arclength (measured from the beginning of the path)
equals L.
pair arcpoint(path p, real L);
returns point(p,arctime(p,L)).
real dirtime(path p, pair z);
returns the first "time", a real number between 0 and the length of
the path in the sense of point(path, real), at which the tangent
to the path has the direction of pair z, or -1 if this never happens.
real reltime(path p, real l);
returns the time on path p at the relative fraction l of its arclength.
pair relpoint(path p, real l);
returns the point on path p at the relative fraction l of its arclength.
pair midpoint(path p);
returns the point on path p at half of its arclength.
path reverse(path p);
returns a path running backwards along p.
path subpath(path p, int a, int b);
returns the subpath of p running from node a to node b. If a > b,
the direction of the subpath is reversed.
path subpath(path p, real a, real b);
returns the subpath of p running from path time a to path time b,
in the sense of point(path, real). If a > b, the direction of the
subpath is reversed.
real[] intersect(path p, path q, real fuzz=-1);
If p and q have at least one intersection point, return a real array
of length 2 containing the times representing the respective path
times along p and q, in the sense of point(path, real), for one
such intersection point (as chosen by the algorithm described on
page 137 of The MetaFontbook). The computations are performed
to the absolute error specified by fuzz, or if fuzz < 0, to machine
precision. If the paths do not intersect, return a real array of length
0.
real[][] intersections(path p, path q, real fuzz=-1);
Return all (unless there are infinitely many) intersection times of
paths p and q as a sorted array of real arrays of length 2 (see [sort],
page 73). The computations are performed to the absolute error
specified by fuzz, or if fuzz < 0, to machine precision.
Chapter 6: Programming 35

real[] intersections(path p, explicit pair a, explicit pair b, real

fuzz=-1);
Return all (unless there are infinitely many) intersection times of
path p with the (infinite) line through points a and b as a sorted
array. The intersections returned are guaranteed to be correct
to within the absolute error specified by fuzz, or if fuzz < 0, to
machine precision.
real[] times(path p, real x)
returns all intersection times of path p with the vertical line through
(x,0).
real[] times(path p, explicit pair z)
returns all intersection times of path p with the horizontal line
through (0,z.y).
real[] mintimes(path p)
returns an array of length 2 containing times at which path p
reaches its minimal horizontal and vertical extents, respectively.
real[] maxtimes(path p)
returns an array of length 2 containing times at which path p
reaches its maximal horizontal and vertical extents, respectively.
pair intersectionpoint(path p, path q, real fuzz=-1);
returns the intersection point point(p,intersect(p,q,fuzz)[0]).
pair[] intersectionpoints(path p, path q, real fuzz=-1);
returns an array containing all intersection points of the paths p
and q.
pair extension(pair P, pair Q, pair p, pair q);
returns the intersection point of the extensions of the line segments
P--Q and p--q, or if the lines are parallel, (infinity,infinity).
slice cut(path p, path knife, int n);
returns the portions of path p before and after the nth intersection
of p with path knife as a structure slice (if no intersection exist is
found, the entire path is considered to be ‘before’ the intersection):
struct slice {
path before,after;
}
The argument n is treated as modulo the number of intersections.
slice firstcut(path p, path knife);
equivalent to cut(p,knife,0); Note that firstcut.after plays
the role of the MetaPost cutbefore command.
slice lastcut(path p, path knife);
equivalent to cut(p,knife,-1); Note that lastcut.before plays
the role of the MetaPost cutafter command.
Chapter 6: Programming 36

path buildcycle(... path[] p);

This returns the path surrounding a region bounded by a list of two
or more consecutively intersecting paths, following the behaviour
of the MetaPost buildcycle command.
pair min(path p);
returns the pair (left,bottom) for the path bounding box of path p.
pair max(path p);
returns the pair (right,top) for the path bounding box of path p.
int windingnumber(path p, pair z);
returns the winding number of the cyclic path p relative to the point
z. The winding number is positive if the path encircles z in the
counterclockwise direction. If z lies on p the constant undefined
(defined to be the largest odd integer) is returned.
bool interior(int windingnumber, pen fillrule)
returns true if windingnumber corresponds to an interior point
according to fillrule.
bool inside(path p, pair z, pen fillrule=currentpen);
returns true iff the point z lies inside or on the edge of the region
bounded by the cyclic path p according to the fill rule fillrule
(see [fillrule], page 42).
int inside(path p, path q, pen fillrule=currentpen);
returns 1 if the cyclic path p strictly contains q according to the
fill rule fillrule (see [fillrule], page 42), -1 if the cyclic path q
strictly contains p, and 0 otherwise.
pair inside(path p, pen fillrule=currentpen);
returns an arbitrary point strictly inside a cyclic path p according
to the fill rule fillrule (see [fillrule], page 42).
path[] strokepath(path g, pen p=currentpen);
returns the path array that PostScript would fill in drawing path
g with pen p.
guide an unresolved cubic spline (list of cubic-spline nodes and control points). The
implicit initializer for a guide is nullpath; this is useful for building up a guide
within a loop.
A guide is similar to a path except that the computation of the cubic spline is
deferred until drawing time (when it is resolved into a path); this allows two
guides with free endpoint conditions to be joined together smoothly. The solid
curve in the following example is built up incrementally as a guide, but only
resolved at drawing time; the dashed curve is incrementally resolved at each
iteration, before the entire set of nodes (shown in red) is known:
size(200);

real mexican(real x) {return (1-8x^2)*exp(-(4x^2));}

Chapter 6: Programming 37

int n=30;
real a=1.5;
real width=2a/n;

guide hat;
path solved;

for(int i=0; i < n; ++i) {

real t=-a+i*width;
pair z=(t,mexican(t));
hat=hat..z;
solved=solved..z;
}

draw(hat);
dot(hat,red);
draw(solved,dashed);

We point out an efficiency distinction in the use of guides and paths:

guide g;
for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i)
g=g--(i,i);
path p=g;
runs in linear time, whereas
path p;
for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i)
p=p--(i,i);
runs in quadratic time, as the entire path up to that point is copied at each
step of the iteration.
The following routines can be used to examine the individual elements of a
guide without actually resolving the guide to a fixed path (except for internal
cycles, which are resolved):
int size(guide g);
Analogous to size(path p).
Chapter 6: Programming 38

int length(guide g);

Analogous to length(path p).
bool cyclic(path p);
Analogous to cyclic(path p).
pair point(guide g, int t);
Analogous to point(path p, int t).
guide reverse(guide g);
Analogous to reverse(path p). If g is cyclic and also contains a
secondary cycle, it is first solved to a path, then reversed. If g is
not cyclic but contains an internal cycle, only the internal cycle is
solved before reversal. If there are no internal cycles, the guide is
reversed but not solved to a path.
pair[] dirSpecifier(guide g, int i);
This returns a pair array of length 2 containing the outgoing (in
element 0) and incoming (in element 1) direction specifiers (or
(0,0) if none specified) for the segment of guide g between nodes
i and i+1.
pair[] controlSpecifier(guide g, int i);
If the segment of guide g between nodes i and i+1 has explicit
outgoing and incoming control points, they are returned as elements
0 and 1, respectively, of a two-element array. Otherwise, an empty
array is returned.
tensionSpecifier tensionSpecifier(guide g, int i);
This returns the tension specifier for the segment of guide g
between nodes i and i+1. The individual components of the
tensionSpecifier type can be accessed as the virtual members
in, out, and atLeast.
real[] curlSpecifier(guide g);
This returns an array containing the initial curl specifier (in element
0) and final curl specifier (in element 1) for guide g.
As a technical detail we note that a direction specifier given to nullpath
modifies the node on the other side: the guides
a..{up}nullpath..b;
c..nullpath{up}..d;
e..{up}nullpath{down}..f;
are respectively equivalent to
a..nullpath..{up}b;
c{up}..nullpath..d;
e{down}..nullpath..{up}f;

6.3 Pens
In Asymptote, pens provide a context for the four basic drawing commands (see Chapter 4
[Drawing commands], page 14). They are used to specify the following drawing attributes:
Chapter 6: Programming 39

color, line type, line width, line cap, line join, fill rule, text alignment, font, font size,
pattern, overwrite mode, and calligraphic transforms on the pen nib. The default pen used
by the drawing routines is called currentpen. This provides the same functionality as the
MetaPost command pickup. The implicit initializer for pens is defaultpen.
Pens may be added together with the nonassociative binary operator +. This will add
the colors of the two pens. All other non-default attributes of the rightmost pen will
override those of the leftmost pen. Thus, one can obtain a yellow dashed pen by saying
dashed+red+green or red+green+dashed or red+dashed+green. The binary operator *
can be used to scale the color of a pen by a real number, until it saturates with one or more
color components equal to 1.
• Colors are specified using one of the following colorspaces:
pen gray(real g);
This produces a grayscale color, where the intensity g lies in the interval
[0,1], with 0.0 denoting black and 1.0 denoting white.
pen rgb(real r, real g, real b);
This produces an RGB color, where each of the red, green, and blue
intensities r, g, b, lies in the interval [0,1].
pen RGB(int r, int g, int b);
This produces an RGB color, where each of the red, green, and blue
intensities r, g, b, lies in the interval [0,255].
pen cmyk(real c, real m, real y, real k);
This produces a CMYK color, where each of the cyan, magenta, yellow,
and black intensities c, m, y, k, lies in the interval [0,1].
pen invisible;
This special pen writes in invisible ink, but adjusts the bounding box
as if something had been drawn (like the \phantom command in TEX).
The function bool invisible(pen) can be used to test whether a pen is
invisible.
The default color is black; this may be changed with the routine defaultpen(pen).
The function colorspace(pen p) returns the colorspace of pen p as a string ("gray",
"rgb", "cmyk", or "").
The function real[] colors(pen) returns the color components of a pen. The
functions pen gray(pen), pen rgb(pen), and pen cmyk(pen) return new pens
obtained by converting their arguments to the respective color spaces. The function
colorless(pen=currentpen) returns a copy of its argument with the color attributes
stripped (to avoid color mixing).
A 6-character RGB hexadecimal string can be converted to a pen with the routine
pen rgb(string s);
A pen can be converted to a hexadecimal string with
• string hex(pen p);
Various shades and mixtures of the grayscale primary colors black and white, RGB
primary colors red, green, and blue, and RGB secondary colors cyan, magenta,
Chapter 6: Programming 40

and yellow are defined as named colors, along with the CMYK primary colors Cyan,
Magenta, Yellow, and Black, in the module plain:

palered palecyan black

lightred lightcyan white
mediumred mediumcyan
red cyan orange
heavyred heavycyan fuchsia
brown deepcyan
darkbrown darkcyan chartreuse
springgreen
palegreen pink
lightgreen lightmagenta purple
mediumgreen mediummagenta royalblue
green magenta
heavygreen heavymagenta Cyan
deepgreen deepmagenta Magenta
darkgreen darkmagenta Yellow
Black
paleblue paleyellow
lightblue lightyellow cmyk(red)
mediumblue mediumyellow cmyk(blue)
blue yellow cmyk(green)
heavyblue lightolive
deepblue olive
darkblue darkolive
palegray
lightgray
mediumgray
gray
heavygray
deepgray
darkgray

The standard 140 RGB X11 colors can be imported with the command
import x11colors;
and the standard 68 CMYK TEX colors can be imported with the command
import texcolors;
Note that there is some overlap between these two standards and the definitions of
some colors (e.g. Green) actually disagree.
Asymptote also comes with a asycolors.sty LaTeX package that defines to LaTeX
CMYK versions of Asymptote’s predefined colors, so that they can be used directly
within LaTeX strings. Normally, such colors are passed to LaTeX via a pen argument;
however, to change the color of only a portion of a string, say for a slide presentation,
(see Section 8.19 [slide], page 97) it may be desirable to specify the color directly to
LaTeX. This file can be passed to LaTeX with the Asymptote command
usepackage("asycolors");
The structure hsv defined in plain_pens.asy may be used to convert between HSV
and RGB spaces, where the hue h is an angle in [0, 360) and the saturation s and value
v lie in [0,1]:
pen p=hsv(180,0.5,0.75);
Chapter 6: Programming 41

write(p); // ([default], red=0.375, green=0.75, blue=0.75)

hsv q=p;
write(q.h,q.s,q.v); // 180 0.5 0.75
• Line types are specified with the function pen linetype(real[] a, real offset=0,
bool scale=true, bool adjust=true), where a is an array of real array numbers.
The optional parameter offset specifies where in the pattern to begin. The first
number specifies how far (if scale is true, in units of the pen line width; otherwise in
PostScript units) to draw with the pen on, the second number specifies how far to
draw with the pen off, and so on. If adjust is true, these spacings are automatically
adjusted by Asymptote to fit the arclength of the path. Here are the predefined line
types:
pen solid=linetype(new real[]);
pen dotted=linetype(new real[] {0,4});
pen dashed=linetype(new real[] {8,8});
pen longdashed=linetype(new real[] {24,8});
pen dashdotted=linetype(new real[] {8,8,0,8});
pen longdashdotted=linetype(new real[] {24,8,0,8});
pen Dotted(pen p=currentpen) {return linetype(new real[] {0,3})+2*linewidth(p);}
pen Dotted=Dotted();

The default line type is solid; this may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The
line type of a pen can be determined with the functions real[] linetype(pen
p=currentpen), real offset(pen p), bool scale(pen p), and bool adjust(pen p).
• The pen line width is specified in PostScript units with pen linewidth(real). The
default line width is 0.5 bp; this value may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The line
width of a pen is returned by real linewidth(pen p=currentpen). For convenience,
in the module plain_pens we define
void defaultpen(real w) {defaultpen(linewidth(w));}
pen operator +(pen p, real w) {return p+linewidth(w);}
pen operator +(real w, pen p) {return linewidth(w)+p;}
so that one may set the line width like this:
defaultpen(2);
pen p=red+0.5;
• A pen with a specific PostScript line cap is returned on calling linecap with an
integer argument:
pen squarecap=linecap(0);
pen roundcap=linecap(1);
pen extendcap=linecap(2);
Chapter 6: Programming 42

The default line cap, roundcap, may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The line cap
of a pen is returned by int linecap(pen p=currentpen).
• A pen with a specific PostScript join style is returned on calling linejoin with an
integer argument:
pen miterjoin=linejoin(0);
pen roundjoin=linejoin(1);
pen beveljoin=linejoin(2);
The default join style, roundjoin, may be changed with defaultpen(pen).The join
style of a pen is returned by int linejoin(pen p=currentpen).
• A pen with a specific PostScript miter limit is returned by calling miterlimit(real).
The default miterlimit, 10.0, may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The miter limit
of a pen is returned by real miterlimit(pen p=currentpen).
• A pen with a specific PostScript fill rule is returned on calling fillrule with an
integer argument:
pen zerowinding=fillrule(0);
pen evenodd=fillrule(1);
The fill rule, which identifies the algorithm used to determine the insideness of a path or
array of paths, only affects the clip, fill, and inside functions. For the zerowinding
fill rule, a point z is outside the region bounded by a path if the number of upward
intersections of the path with the horizontal line z--z+infinity minus the number
of downward intersections is zero. For the evenodd fill rule, z is considered to be
outside the region if the total number of such intersections is even. The default fill
rule, zerowinding, may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The fill rule of a pen is
returned by int fillrule(pen p=currentpen).
• A pen with a specific text alignment setting is returned on calling basealign with an
integer argument:
pen nobasealign=basealign(0);
pen basealign=basealign(1);
The default setting, nobasealign,which may be changed with defaultpen(pen),
causes the label alignment routines to use the full label bounding box for alignment.
In contrast, basealign requests that the TEX baseline be respected. The base align
setting of a pen is returned by int basealign(pen p=currentpen).
• The font size is specified in TEX points (1 pt = 1/72.27 inches) with the function pen
fontsize(real size, real lineskip=1.2*size). The default font size, 12pt, may
be changed with defaultpen(pen). Nonstandard font sizes may require inserting
import fontsize;
at the beginning of the file (this requires the type1cm package available from
http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/type1cm/
and included in recent LaTeX distributions). The font size and line skip of a pen
can be examined with the routines real fontsize(pen p=currentpen) and real
lineskip(pen p=currentpen), respectively.
• A pen using a specific LATEX NFSS font is returned by calling the function pen
font(string encoding, string family, string series, string shape). The
Chapter 6: Programming 43

default setting, font("OT1","cmr","m","n"), corresponds to 12pt Computer Modern

Roman; this may be changed with defaultpen(pen). The font setting of a pen is
returned by string font(pen p=currentpen).
Alternatively, one may select a fixed-size TEX font (on which fontsize has no effect)
like "cmr12" (12pt Computer Modern Roman) or "pcrr" (Courier) using the function
pen font(string name). An optional size argument can also be given to scale the font
to the requested size: pen font(string name, real size).
A nonstandard font command can be generated with pen fontcommand(string).
A convenient interface to the following standard PostScript fonts is also provided:
pen AvantGarde(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen Bookman(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen Courier(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen Helvetica(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen NewCenturySchoolBook(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen Palatino(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen TimesRoman(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen ZapfChancery(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen Symbol(string series="m", string shape="n");
pen ZapfDingbats(string series="m", string shape="n");
• Starting with the 2018/04/01 release, LATEX takes UTF-8 as the new default input
encoding. However, you can still set different input encoding (so as the font, font
encoding or even language context). Here is an example for cp1251 and Russian
language in Cyrillic script (font encoding T2A):
texpreamble("\usepackage[math]{anttor}");
texpreamble("\usepackage[T2A]{fontenc}");
texpreamble("\usepackage[cp1251]{inputenc}");
texpreamble("\usepackage[russian]{babel}");
Support for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean fonts is provided by the CJK package:
https://ctan.org/pkg/cjk
The following commands enable the CJK song family (within a label, you can also
temporarily switch to another family, say kai, by prepending "\CJKfamily{kai}" to
the label string):
texpreamble("\usepackage{CJK}
\AtBeginDocument{\begin{CJK*}{GBK}{song}}
\AtEndDocument{\clearpage\end{CJK*}}");
• The transparency of a pen can be changed with the command:
pen opacity(real opacity=1, string blend="Compatible");
The opacity can be varied from 0 (fully transparent) to the default value of 1 (opaque),
and blend specifies one of the following foreground–background blending operations:
"Compatible","Normal","Multiply","Screen","Overlay","SoftLight",
"HardLight","ColorDodge","ColorBurn","Darken","Lighten","Difference",
"Exclusion","Hue","Saturation","Color","Luminosity",
as described in https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/devnet/pdf/pdfs/
PDF32000_2008.pdf. Since PostScript does not support transparency, this feature is
Chapter 6: Programming 44

only effective with the -f pdf output format option; other formats can be produced
from the resulting PDF file with the ImageMagick convert program. Labels are always
drawn with an opacity of 1. A simple example of transparent filling is provided in the
example file transparency.asy.
• PostScript commands within a picture may be used to create a tiling pattern,
identified by the string name, for fill and draw operations by adding it to the global
PostScript frame currentpatterns, with optional left-bottom margin lb and right-
top margin rt.
import patterns;
void add(string name, picture pic, pair lb=0, pair rt=0);
To fill or draw using pattern name, use the pen pattern("name"). For example,
rectangular tilings can be constructed using the routines picture tile(real
Hx=5mm, real Hy=0, pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=NoFill), picture
checker(real Hx=5mm, real Hy=0, pen p=currentpen), and picture brick(real
Hx=5mm, real Hy=0, pen p=currentpen) defined in module patterns:
size(0,90);
import patterns;

add("tile",tile());
add("filledtilewithmargin",tile(6mm,4mm,red,Fill),(1mm,1mm),(1mm,1mm));
add("checker",checker());
add("brick",brick());

real s=2.5;
filldraw(unitcircle,pattern("tile"));
filldraw(shift(s,0)*unitcircle,pattern("filledtilewithmargin"));
filldraw(shift(2s,0)*unitcircle,pattern("checker"));
filldraw(shift(3s,0)*unitcircle,pattern("brick"));

Hatch patterns can be generated with the routines picture hatch(real H=5mm,
pair dir=NE, pen p=currentpen), picture crosshatch(real H=5mm, pen
p=currentpen):
size(0,100);
import patterns;

add("hatch",hatch());
add("hatchback",hatch(NW));
add("crosshatch",crosshatch(3mm));
Chapter 6: Programming 45

real s=1.25;
filldraw(unitsquare,pattern("hatch"));
filldraw(shift(s,0)*unitsquare,pattern("hatchback"));
filldraw(shift(2s,0)*unitsquare,pattern("crosshatch"));

You may need to turn off aliasing in your PostScript viewer for patterns to appear
correctly. Custom patterns can easily be constructed, following the examples in module
patterns. The tiled pattern can even incorporate shading (see [gradient shading],
page 16), as illustrated in this example (not included in the manual because not all
printers support PostScript 3):
size(0,100);
import patterns;

real d=4mm;
picture tiling;
path square=scale(d)*unitsquare;
axialshade(tiling,square,white,(0,0),black,(d,d));
fill(tiling,shift(d,d)*square,blue);
add("shadedtiling",tiling);

filldraw(unitcircle,pattern("shadedtiling"));

• One can specify a custom pen nib as an arbitrary polygonal path with pen
makepen(path); this path represents the mark to be drawn for paths containing a
single point. This pen nib path can be recovered from a pen with path nib(pen).
Unlike in MetaPost, the path need not be convex:
size(200);
pen convex=makepen(scale(10)*polygon(8))+grey;
draw((1,0.4),convex);
draw((0,0)---(1,1)..(2,0)--cycle,convex);

pen nonconvex=scale(10)*
makepen((0,0)--(0.25,-1)--(0.5,0.25)--(1,0)--(0.5,1.25)--cycle)+red;
draw((0.5,-1.5),nonconvex);
draw((0,-1.5)..(1,-0.5)..(2,-1.5),nonconvex);
Chapter 6: Programming 46

The value nullpath represents a circular pen nib (the default); an elliptical pen can
be achieved simply by multiplying the pen by a transform: yscale(2)*currentpen.
• One can prevent labels from overwriting one another by using the pen attribute
overwrite, which takes a single argument:
Allow Allow labels to overwrite one another. This is the default behaviour (unless
overridden with defaultpen(pen).
Suppress Suppress, with a warning, each label that would overwrite another label.
SuppressQuiet
Suppress, without warning, each label that would overwrite another label.
Move Move a label that would overwrite another out of the way and issue
a warning. As this adjustment is during the final output phase (in
PostScript coordinates) it could result in a larger figure than requested.
MoveQuiet
Move a label that would overwrite another out of the way, without
warning. As this adjustment is during the final output phase (in
PostScript coordinates) it could result in a larger figure than requested.
The routine defaultpen() returns the current default pen attributes. Calling the routine
resetdefaultpen() resets all pen default attributes to their initial values.

6.4 Transforms
Asymptote makes extensive use of affine transforms. A pair (x,y) is transformed by the
transform t=(t.x,t.y,t.xx,t.xy,t.yx,t.yy) to (x',y'), where
x' = t.x + t.xx * x + t.xy * y
y' = t.y + t.yx * x + t.yy * y
This is equivalent to the PostScript transformation [t.xx t.yx t.xy t.yy t.x t.y].
Transforms can be applied to pairs, guides, paths, pens, strings, transforms, frames, and
pictures by multiplication (via the binary operator *) on the left (see [circle], page 31, for
an example). Transforms can be composed with one another and inverted with the function
Chapter 6: Programming 47

transform inverse(transform t); they can also be raised to any integer power with the
^ operator.
The built-in transforms are:
transform identity;
the identity transform;
transform shift(pair z);
translates by the pair z;
transform shift(real x, real y);
translates by the pair (x,y);
transform xscale(real x);
scales by x in the x direction;
transform yscale(real y);
scales by y in the y direction;
transform scale(real s);
scale by s in both x and y directions;
transform scale(real x, real y);
scale by x in the x direction and by y in the y direction;
transform slant(real s);
maps (x,y) –> (x+s*y,y);
transform rotate(real angle, pair z=(0,0));
rotates by angle in degrees about z;
transform reflect(pair a, pair b);
reflects about the line a--b.
transform zeroTransform;
the zero transform;
The implicit initializer for transforms is identity(). The routines shift(transform
t) and shiftless(transform t) return the transforms (t.x,t.y,0,0,0,0) and
(0,0,t.xx,t.xy,t.yx,t.yy) respectively. The function bool isometry(transform t)
can be used to test if t is an isometry (preserves distance).

6.5 Frames and pictures

frame Frames are canvases for drawing in PostScript coordinates. While working
with frames directly is occasionally necessary for constructing deferred
drawing routines, pictures are usually more convenient to work with. The
implicit initializer for frames is newframe. The function bool empty(frame f)
returns true only if the frame f is empty. A frame may be erased with the
erase(frame) routine. The functions pair min(frame) and pair max(frame)
return the (left,bottom) and (right,top) coordinates of the frame bounding
box, respectively. The contents of frame src may be appended to frame dest
with the command
void add(frame dest, frame src);
Chapter 6: Programming 48

or prepended with
void prepend(frame dest, frame src);
A frame obtained by aligning frame f in the direction align, in a manner
analogous to the align argument of label (see Section 4.4 [label], page 18), is
returned by
frame align(frame f, pair align);
To draw or fill a box or ellipse around a label or frame and return the boundary
as a path, use one of the predefined envelope routines
path box(frame f, Label L="", real xmargin=0,
real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
path roundbox(frame f, Label L="", real xmargin=0,
real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
path ellipse(frame f, Label L="", real xmargin=0,
real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
picture Pictures are high-level structures (see Section 6.8 [Structures], page 57) defined
in the module plain that provide canvases for drawing in user coordinates. The
default picture is called currentpicture. A new picture can be created like
this:
picture pic;
Anonymous pictures can be made by the expression new picture.
The size routine specifies the dimensions of the desired picture:
void size(picture pic=currentpicture, real x, real y=x,
bool keepAspect=Aspect);
If the x and y sizes are both 0, user coordinates will be interpreted as
PostScript coordinates. In this case, the transform mapping pic to the final
output frame is identity().
If exactly one of x or y is 0, no size restriction is imposed in that direction; it
will be scaled the same as the other direction.
If keepAspect is set to Aspect or true, the picture will be scaled with its aspect
ratio preserved such that the final width is no more than x and the final height
is no more than y.
If keepAspect is set to IgnoreAspect or false, the picture will be scaled in
both directions so that the final width is x and the height is y.
To make the user coordinates of picture pic represent multiples of x units in
the x direction and y units in the y direction, use
void unitsize(picture pic=currentpicture, real x, real y=x);
When nonzero, these x and y values override the corresponding size parameters
of picture pic.
The routine
void size(picture pic=currentpicture, real xsize, real ysize,
Chapter 6: Programming 49

pair min, pair max);

forces the final picture scaling to map the user coordinates box(min,max) to a
region of width xsize and height ysize (when these parameters are nonzero).
Alternatively, calling the routine
transform fixedscaling(picture pic=currentpicture, pair min,
pair max, pen p=nullpen, bool warn=false);
will cause picture pic to use a fixed scaling to map user coordinates in
box(min,max) to the (already specified) picture size, taking account of the
width of pen p. A warning will be issued if the final picture exceeds the
specified size.
A picture pic can be fit to a frame and output to a file prefix.format using
image format format by calling the shipout function:
void shipout(string prefix=defaultfilename, picture pic=currentpicture,
orientation orientation=orientation,
string format="", bool wait=false, bool view=true,
string options="", string script="",
light light=currentlight, projection P=currentprojection)
The default output format, PostScript, may be changed with the -f or -tex
command-line options. The options, script, and projection parameters are
only relevant for 3D pictures. If defaultfilename is an empty string, the prefix
outprefix() will be used.
A shipout() command is added implicitly at file exit if no previous shipout
commands have been executed. The default page orientation is Portrait; this
may be modified by changing the variable orientation. To output in landscape
mode, simply set the variable orientation=Landscape or issue the command
shipout(Landscape);
To rotate the page by −90 degrees, use the orientation Seascape. The
orientation UpsideDown rotates the page by 180 degrees.
A picture pic can be explicitly fit to a frame by calling
frame pic.fit(real xsize=pic.xsize, real ysize=pic.ysize,
bool keepAspect=pic.keepAspect);
The default size and aspect ratio settings are those given to the size command
(which default to 0, 0, and true, respectively). The transformation that would
currently be used to fit a picture pic to a frame is returned by the member
function pic.calculateTransform().
In certain cases (e.g. 2D graphs) where only an approximate size estimate for
pic is available, the picture fitting routine
frame pic.scale(real xsize=this.xsize, real ysize=this.ysize,
bool keepAspect=this.keepAspect);
(which scales the resulting frame, including labels and fixed-size objects) will
enforce perfect compliance with the requested size specification, but should not
normally be required.
To draw a bounding box with margins around a picture, fit the picture to a
frame using the function
Chapter 6: Programming 50

frame bbox(picture pic=currentpicture, real xmargin=0,

real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill);
Here filltype specifies one of the following fill types:
FillDraw Fill the interior and draw the boundary.
FillDraw(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen fillpen=nullpen,
pen drawpen=nullpen) If fillpen is nullpen, fill with the drawing
pen; otherwise fill with pen fillpen. If drawpen is nullpen, draw
the boundary with fillpen; otherwise with drawpen. An optional
margin of xmargin and ymargin can be specified.
Fill Fill the interior.
Fill(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=nullpen)
If p is nullpen, fill with the drawing pen; otherwise fill with pen p.
An optional margin of xmargin and ymargin can be specified.
NoFill Do not fill.
Draw Draw only the boundary.
Draw(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen p=nullpen)
If p is nullpen, draw the boundary with the drawing pen; otherwise
draw with pen p. An optional margin of xmargin and ymargin can
be specified.
UnFill Clip the region.
UnFill(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin)
Clip the region and surrounding margins xmargin and ymargin.
RadialShade(pen penc, pen penr)
Fill varying radially from penc at the center of the bounding box
to penr at the edge.
RadialShadeDraw(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin, pen penc,
pen penr, pen drawpen=nullpen) Fill with RadialShade and draw
the boundary.
For example, to draw a bounding box around a picture with a 0.25 cm margin
and output the resulting frame, use the command:
shipout(bbox(0.25cm));
A picture may be fit to a frame with the background color pen p, using the
function bbox(p,Fill).
To pad a picture to a precise size in both directions, fit the picture to a frame
using the function
frame pad(picture pic=currentpicture, real xsize=pic.xsize,
real ysize=pic.ysize, filltype filltype=NoFill);
The functions
pair min(picture pic, user=false);
Chapter 6: Programming 51

pair max(picture pic, user=false);

pair size(picture pic, user=false);
calculate the bounds that picture pic would have if it were currently fit to a
frame using its default size specification. If user is false the returned value is
in PostScript coordinates, otherwise it is in user coordinates.
The function
pair point(picture pic=currentpicture, pair dir, bool user=true);
is a convenient way of determining the point on the bounding box of pic in the
direction dir relative to its center, ignoring the contributions from fixed-size
objects (such as labels and arrowheads). If user is true the returned value is
in user coordinates, otherwise it is in PostScript coordinates.
The function
pair truepoint(picture pic=currentpicture, pair dir, bool user=true);
is identical to point, except that it also accounts for fixed-size objects, using
the scaling transform that picture pic would have if currently fit to a frame
using its default size specification. If user is true the returned value is in user
coordinates, otherwise it is in PostScript coordinates.
Sometimes it is useful to draw objects on separate pictures and add one picture
to another using the add function:
void add(picture src, bool group=true,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
void add(picture dest, picture src, bool group=true,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
The first example adds src to currentpicture; the second one adds src to
dest. The group option specifies whether or not the graphical user interface
should treat all of the elements of src as a single entity (see Chapter 11 [GUI],
page 173), filltype requests optional background filling or clipping, and above
specifies whether to add src above or below existing objects.
There are also routines to add a picture or frame src specified in postscript
coordinates to another picture dest (or currentpicture) about the user
coordinate position:
void add(picture src, pair position, bool group=true,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
void add(picture dest, picture src, pair position,
bool group=true, filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
void add(picture dest=currentpicture, frame src, pair position=0,
bool group=true, filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
void add(picture dest=currentpicture, frame src, pair position,
pair align, bool group=true, filltype filltype=NoFill,
bool above=true);
The optional align argument in the last form specifies a direction to use for
aligning the frame, in a manner analogous to the align argument of label (see
Section 4.4 [label], page 18). However, one key difference is that when align
is not specified, labels are centered, whereas frames and pictures are aligned so
Chapter 6: Programming 52

that their origin is at position. Illustrations of frame alignment can be found

in the examples [errorbars], page 109, and [image], page 129. If you want to
align three or more subpictures, group them two at a time:
picture pic1;
real size=50;
size(pic1,size);
fill(pic1,(0,0)--(50,100)--(100,0)--cycle,red);

picture pic2;
size(pic2,size);
fill(pic2,unitcircle,green);

picture pic3;
size(pic3,size);
fill(pic3,unitsquare,blue);

picture pic;
add(pic,pic1.fit(),(0,0),N);
add(pic,pic2.fit(),(0,0),10S);

add(pic.fit(),(0,0),N);
add(pic3.fit(),(0,0),10S);

Alternatively, one can use attach to automatically increase the size of picture
dest to accommodate adding a frame src about the user coordinate position:

void attach(picture dest=currentpicture, frame src,

pair position=0, bool group=true,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);
void attach(picture dest=currentpicture, frame src,
pair position, pair align, bool group=true,
Chapter 6: Programming 53

filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=true);

To erase the contents of a picture (but not the size specification), use the
function
void erase(picture pic=currentpicture);
To save a snapshot of currentpicture, currentpen, and currentprojection,
use the function save().
To restore a snapshot of currentpicture, currentpen, and
currentprojection, use the function restore().
Many further examples of picture and frame operations are provided in the base
module plain.
It is possible to insert verbatim PostScript commands in a picture with one
of the routines
void postscript(picture pic=currentpicture, string s);
void postscript(picture pic=currentpicture, string s, pair min,
pair max)
Here min and max can be used to specify explicit bounds associated with the
resulting PostScript code.
Verbatim TEX commands can be inserted in the intermediate LaTeX output file
with one of the functions
void tex(picture pic=currentpicture, string s);
void tex(picture pic=currentpicture, string s, pair min, pair max)
Here min and max can be used to specify explicit bounds associated with the
resulting TEX code.
To issue a global TEX command (such as a TEX macro definition) in the TEX
preamble (valid for the remainder of the top-level module) use:
void texpreamble(string s);
The TEX environment can be reset to its initial state, clearing all macro
definitions, with the function
void texreset();
The routine
void usepackage(string s, string options="");
provides a convenient abbreviation for
texpreamble("\usepackage["+options+"]{"+s+"}");
that can be used for importing LaTeX packages.

6.6 Files
Asymptote can read and write text files (including comma-separated value) files and
portable XDR (External Data Representation) binary files.
An input file can be opened with
input(string name="", bool check=true, string comment="#", string mode="");
reading is then done by assignment:
file fin=input("test.txt");
Chapter 6: Programming 54

real a=fin;
If the optional boolean argument check is false, no check will be made that the file
exists. If the file does not exist or is not readable, the function bool error(file) will
return true. The first character of the string comment specifies a comment character. If
this character is encountered in a data file, the remainder of the line is ignored. When
reading strings, a comment character followed immediately by another comment character
is treated as a single literal comment character. If Asymptote is compiled with support for
libcurl, name can be a URL.
Unless the -noglobalread command-line option is specified, one can change the current
working directory for read operations to the contents of the string s with the function
string cd(string s), which returns the new working directory. If string s is empty, the
path is reset to the value it had at program startup.
When reading pairs, the enclosing parenthesis are optional. Strings are also read by
assignment, by reading characters up to but not including a newline. In addition, Asymptote
provides the function string getc(file) to read the next character (treating the comment
character as an ordinary character) and return it as a string.
A file named name can be open for output with
file output(string name="", bool update=false, string comment="#", string mode="");
If update=false, any existing data in the file will be erased and only write operations can
be used on the file. If update=true, any existing data will be preserved, the position will
be set to the end-of-file, and both reading and writing operations will be enabled. For
security reasons, writing to files in directories other than the current directory is allowed
only if the -globalwrite (or -nosafe) command-line option is specified. Reading from files
in other directories is allowed unless the -noglobalread command-line option is specified.
The function string mktemp(string s) may be used to create and return the name of a
unique temporary file in the current directory based on the string s.
There are two special files: stdin, which reads from the keyboard, and stdout, which
writes to the terminal. The implicit initializer for files is null.
Data of a built-in type T can be written to an output file by calling one of the functions
write(string s="", T x, suffix suffix=endl ... T[]);
write(file file, string s="", T x, suffix suffix=none ... T[]);
write(file file=stdout, string s="", explicit T[] x ... T[][]);
write(file file=stdout, T[][]);
write(file file=stdout, T[][][]);
write(suffix suffix=endl);
write(file file, suffix suffix=none);
If file is not specified, stdout is used and terminated by default with a newline.
If specified, the optional identifying string s is written before the data x. An arbitrary
number of data values may be listed when writing scalars or one-dimensional arrays. The
suffix may be one of the following: none (do nothing), flush (output buffered data), endl
(terminate with a newline and flush), newl (terminate with a newline), DOSendl (terminate
with a DOS newline and flush), DOSnewl (terminate with a DOS newline), tab (terminate
with a tab), or comma (terminate with a comma). Here are some simple examples of data
output:
file fout=output("test.txt");
Chapter 6: Programming 55

write(fout,1); // Writes "1"

write(fout); // Writes a new line
write(fout,"List: ",1,2,3); // Writes "List: 1 2 3"
A file may be opened with mode="xdr", to read or write double precision (64-bit)
reals and single precision (32-bit) integers in Sun Microsystem’s XDR (External Data
Representation) portable binary format (available on all UNIX platforms). Alternatively,
a file may also be opened with mode="binary" to read or write double precision reals and
single precision integers in the native (nonportable) machine binary format, or to read the
entire file into a string. The virtual member functions file singlereal(bool b=true)
and file singleint(bool b=true) be used to change the precision of real and integer
I/O operations, respectively, for an XDR or binary file f. Similarly, the function file
signedint(bool b=true) can be used to modify the signedness of integer reads and writes
for an XDR or binary file f.
The virtual members name, mode, singlereal, singleint, and signedint may be used
to query the respective parameters for a given file.
One can test a file for end-of-file with the boolean function eof(file), end-of-line
with eol(file), and for I/O errors with error(file). One can flush the output buffers
with flush(file), clear a previous I/O error with clear(file), and close the file with
close(file). The function int precision(file file=stdout, int digits=0) sets the
number of digits of output precision for file to digits, provided digits is nonzero, and
returns the previous precision setting. The function int tell(file) returns the current
position in a file relative to the beginning. The routine seek(file file, int pos) can
be used to change this position, where a negative value for the position pos is interpreted
as relative to the end-of-file. For example, one can rewind a file file with the command
seek(file,0) and position to the final character in the file with seek(file,-1). The
command seekeof(file) sets the position to the end of the file.
Assigning settings.scroll=n for a positive integer n requests a pause after every n
output lines to stdout. One may then press Enter to continue to the next n output lines,
s followed by Enter to scroll without further interruption, or q followed by Enter to quit
the current output operation. If n is negative, the output scrolls a page at a time (i.e. by
one less than the current number of display lines). The default value, settings.scroll=0,
specifies continuous scrolling.
The routines
string getstring(string name="", string default="", string prompt="",
bool store=true);
int getint(string name="", int default=0, string prompt="",
bool store=true);
real getreal(string name="", real default=0, string prompt="",
bool store=true);
pair getpair(string name="", pair default=0, string prompt="",
bool store=true);
triple gettriple(string name="", triple default=(0,0,0), string prompt="",
bool store=true);
defined in the module plain may be used to prompt for a value from stdin using the GNU
readline library. If store=true, the history of values for name is stored in the file ".asy_
Chapter 6: Programming 56

history_"+name (see [history], page 171). The most recent value in the history will be
used to provide a default value for subsequent runs. The default value (initially default)
is displayed after prompt. These functions are based on the internal routines
string readline(string prompt="", string name="", bool tabcompletion=false);
void saveline(string name, string value, bool store=true);
Here, readline prompts the user with the default value formatted according to prompt,
while saveline is used to save the string value in a local history named name, optionally
storing the local history in a file ".asy_history_"+name.
The routine history(string name, int n=1) can be used to look up the n most recent
values (or all values up to historylines if n=0) entered for string name. The routine
history(int n=0) returns the interactive history. For example,
write(output("transcript.asy"),history());
outputs the interactive history to the file transcript.asy.
The function int delete(string s) deletes the file named by the string s. Unless the
-globalwrite (or -nosafe) option is enabled, the file must reside in the current directory.
The function int rename(string from, string to) may be used to rename file from to
file to. Unless the -globalwrite (or -nosafe) option is enabled, this operation is restricted
to the current directory. The functions
int convert(string args="", string file="", string format="");
int animate(string args="", string file="", string format="");
call the ImageMagick commands convert and animate, respectively, with the arguments
args and the file name constructed from the strings file and format.

6.7 Variable initializers

A variable can be assigned a value when it is declared, as in int x=3; where the variable x
is assigned the value 3. As well as literal constants such as 3, arbitary expressions can be
used as initializers, as in real x=2*sin(pi/2);.
A variable is not added to the namespace until after the initializer is evaluated, so for
example, in
int x=2;
int x=5*x;
the x in the initializer on the second line refers to the variable x declared on the first line.
The second line, then, declares a variable x shadowing the original x and initializes it to
the value 10.
Variables of most types can be declared without an explicit initializer and they will be
initialized by the default initializer of that type:
• Variables of the numeric types int, real, and pair are all initialized to zero; variables
of type triple are initialized to O=(0,0,0).
• boolean variables are initialized to false.
• string variables are initialized to the empty string.
• transform variables are initialized to the identity transformation.
• path and guide variables are initialized to nullpath.
Chapter 6: Programming 57

• pen variables are initialized to the default pen.

• frame and picture variables are initialized to empty frames and pictures, respectively.
• file variables are initialized to null.
The default initializers for user-defined array, structure, and function types are explained
in their respective sections. Some types, such as code, do not have default initializers. When
a variable of such a type is introduced, the user must initialize it by explicitly giving it a
value.
The default initializer for any type T can be redeclared by defining the function T
operator init(). For instance, int variables are usually initialized to zero, but in
int operator init() {
return 3;
}
int y;
the variable y is initialized to 3. This example was given for illustrative purposes; redeclaring
the initializers of built-in types is not recommended. Typically, operator init is used to
define sensible defaults for user-defined types.
The special type var may be used to infer the type of a variable from its initializer. If
the initializer is an expression of a unique type, then the variable will be defined with that
type. For instance,
var x=5;
var y=4.3;
var reddash=red+dashed;
is equivalent to
int x=5;
real y=4.3;
pen reddash=red+dashed;
var may also be used with the extended for loop syntax.
int[] a = {1,2,3};
for (var x : a)
write(x);

6.8 Structures
Users may also define their own data types as structures, along with user-defined operators,
much as in C++. By default, structure members are public (may be read and modified
anywhere in the code), but may be optionally declared restricted (readable anywhere
but writeable only inside the structure where they are defined) or private (readable and
writable only inside the structure). In a structure definition, the keyword this can be used
as an expression to refer to the enclosing structure. Any code at the top-level scope within
the structure is executed on initialization.
Variables hold references to structures. That is, in the example:
struct T {
int x;
}
Chapter 6: Programming 58

T foo;
T bar=foo;
bar.x=5;
The variable foo holds a reference to an instance of the structure T. When bar is
assigned the value of foo, it too now holds a reference to the same instance as foo does.
The assignment bar.x=5 changes the value of the field x in that instance, so that foo.x
will also be equal to 5.
The expression new T creates a new instance of the structure T and returns a reference
to that instance. In creating the new instance, any code in the body of the record definition
is executed. For example:
int Tcount=0;
struct T {
int x;
++Tcount;
}

T foo=new T;
T foo;
Here, new T produces a new instance of the class, which causes Tcount to be incremented,
tracking the number of instances produced. The declarations T foo=new T and T foo are
equivalent: the second form implicitly creates a new instance of T. That is, after the
definition of a structure T, a variable of type T is initialized to a new instance (new T) by
default. During the definition of the structure, however, variables of type T are initialized
to null by default. This special behaviour is to avoid infinite recursion of creating new
instances in code such as
struct tree {
int value;
tree left;
tree right;
}
The expression null can be cast to any structure type to yield a null reference, a reference
that does not actually refer to any instance of the structure. Trying to use a field of a null
reference will cause an error.
The function bool alias(T,T) checks to see if two structure references refer to the same
instance of the structure (or both to null). In the example at the beginning of this section,
alias(foo,bar) would return true, but alias(foo,new T) would return false, as new T
creates a new instance of the structure T. The boolean operators == and != are by default
equivalent to alias and !alias respectively, but may be overwritten for a particular type
(for example, to do a deep comparison).
Here is a simple example that illustrates the use of structures:
struct S {
real a=1;
real f(real a) {return a+this.a;}
}
Chapter 6: Programming 59

S s; // Initializes s with new S;

write(s.f(2)); // Outputs 3

S operator + (S s1, S s2)

{
S result;
result.a=s1.a+s2.a;
return result;
}

write((s+s).f(0)); // Outputs 2

It is often convenient to have functions that construct new instances of a structure. Say
we have a Person structure:
struct Person {
string firstname;
string lastname;
}

Person joe;
joe.firstname="Joe";
joe.lastname="Jones";
Creating a new Person is a chore; it takes three lines to create a new instance and to
initialize its fields (that’s still considerably less effort than creating a new person in real life,
though).
We can reduce the work by defining a constructor function Person(string,string):
struct Person {
string firstname;
string lastname;

static Person Person(string firstname, string lastname) {

Person p=new Person;
p.firstname=firstname;
p.lastname=lastname;
return p;
}
}

Person joe=Person.Person("Joe", "Jones");

While it is now easier than before to create a new instance, we still have to refer to the
constructor by the qualified name Person.Person. If we add the line
from Person unravel Person;
Chapter 6: Programming 60

immediately after the structure definition, then the constructor can be used without
qualification: Person joe=Person("Joe", "Jones");.
The constructor is now easy to use, but it is quite a hassle to define. If you write a lot of
constructors, you will find that you are repeating a lot of code in each of them. Fortunately,
your friendly neighbourhood Asymptote developers have devised a way to automate much
of the process.
If, in the body of a structure, Asymptote encounters the definition of a function of
the form void operator init(args), it implicitly defines a constructor function of the
arguments args that uses the void operator init function to initialize a new instance
of the structure. That is, it essentially defines the following constructor (assuming the
structure is called Foo):
static Foo Foo(args) {
Foo instance=new Foo;
instance.operator init(args);
return instance;
}
This constructor is also implicitly copied to the enclosing scope after the end of the
structure definition, so that it can used subsequently without qualifying it by the structure
name. Our Person example can thus be implemented as:
struct Person {
string firstname;
string lastname;

void operator init(string firstname, string lastname) {

this.firstname=firstname;
this.lastname=lastname;
}
}

Person joe=Person("Joe", "Jones");

The use of operator init to implicitly define constructors should not be confused with
its use to define default values for variables (see Section 6.7 [Variable initializers], page 56).
Indeed, in the first case, the return type of the operator init must be void while in the
second, it must be the (non-void) type of the variable.
The function cputime() returns a structure cputime with cumulative CPU times broken
down into the fields parent.user, parent.system, child.user, and child.system,
along with the cumulative wall clock time in parent.clock, all measured in seconds. For
convenience, the incremental fields change.user, change.system, and change.clock
indicate the change in the corresponding fields since the last call to cputime(). The
function
void write(file file=stdout, string s="", cputime c,
string format=cputimeformat, suffix suffix=none);
displays the incremental user cputime followed by “u”, the incremental system cputime
followed by “s”, the total user cputime followed by “U”, and the total system cputime
followed by “S”.
Chapter 6: Programming 61

Much like in C++, casting (see Section 6.13 [Casts], page 79) provides for an elegant
implementation of structure inheritance, including virtual functions:
struct parent {
real x;
void operator init(int x) {this.x=x;}
void virtual(int) {write(0);}
void f() {virtual(1);}
}

void write(parent p) {write(p.x);}

struct child {
parent parent;
real y=3;
void operator init(int x) {parent.operator init(x);}
void virtual(int x) {write(x);}
parent.virtual=virtual;
void f()=parent.f;
}

parent operator cast(child child) {return child.parent;}

parent p=parent(1);
child c=child(2);

write(c); // Outputs 2;

p.f(); // Outputs 0;
c.f(); // Outputs 1;

write(c.parent.x); // Outputs 2;
write(c.y); // Outputs 3;
For further examples of structures, see Legend and picture in the Asymptote base
module plain.

6.9 Operators
6.9.1 Arithmetic & logical operators
Asymptote uses the standard binary arithmetic operators. However, when one integer is
divided by another, both arguments are converted to real values before dividing and a real
quotient is returned (since this is typically what is intended; otherwise one can use the
function int quotient(int x, int y), which returns greatest integer less than or equal to
x/y). In all other cases both operands are promoted to the same type, which will also be
the type of the result:
+ addition
Chapter 6: Programming 62

- subtraction

* multiplication

/ division

# integer division; equivalent to quotient(x,y). Noting that the Python3

community adopted our comment symbol (//) for integer division, we decided
to reciprocate and use their comment symbol for integer division in Asymptote!

% modulo; the result always has the same sign as the divisor. In particular, this
makes q*(p # q)+p % q == p for all integers p and nonzero integers q.

^ power; if the exponent (second argument) is an int, recursive multiplication is

used; otherwise, logarithms and exponentials are used (** is a synonym for ^).

The usual boolean operators are also defined:

== equals

!= not equals

< less than

<= less than or equals

>= greater than or equals

> greater than

&& and (with conditional evaluation of right-hand argument)

& and

|| or (with conditional evaluation of right-hand argument)

| or

^ xor

! not

Asymptote also supports the C-like conditional syntax:

bool positive=(pi > 0) ? true : false;
The function T interp(T a, T b, real t) returns (1-t)*a+t*b for nonintegral built-in
arithmetic types T. If a and b are pens, they are first promoted to the same color space.
Asymptote also defines bitwise functions int AND(int,int), int OR(int,int),
int XOR(int,int), int NOT(int), int CLZ(int) (count leading zeros), int CTZ(int)
(count trailing zeros), int popcount(int) (count bits populated by ones), and int
bitreverse(int a, int bits) (reverse bits within a word of length bits).
Chapter 6: Programming 63

6.9.2 Self & prefix operators

As in C, each of the arithmetic operators +, -, *, /, #, %, and ^ can be used as a self
operator. The prefix operators ++ (increment by one) and -- (decrement by one) are also
defined. For example,
int i=1;
i += 2;
int j=++i;
is equivalent to the code
int i=1;
i=i+2;
int j=i=i+1;
However, postfix operators like i++ and i-- are not defined (because of the inherent
ambiguities that would arise with the -- path-joining operator). In the rare instances where
i++ and i-- are really needed, one can substitute the expressions (++i-1) and (--i+1),
respectively.

6.9.3 User-defined operators

The following symbols may be used with operator to define or redefine operators on
structures and built-in types:
- + * / % ^ ! < > == != <= >= & | ^^ .. :: -- --- ++
<< >> $ $$ @ @@ <>
The operators on the second line have precedence one higher than the boolean operators <,
>, <=, and >=.
Guide operators like .. may be overloaded, say, to write a user function that produces
a new guide from a given guide:
guide dots(... guide[] g)=operator ..;

guide operator ..(... guide[] g) {

guide G;
if(g.length > 0) {
write(g[0]);
G=g[0];
}
for(int i=1; i < g.length; ++i) {
write(g[i]);
write();
G=dots(G,g[i]);
}
return G;
}

guide g=(0,0){up}..{SW}(100,100){NE}..{curl 3}(50,50)..(10,10);

write("g=",g);
Chapter 6: Programming 64

6.10 Implicit scaling

If a numeric literal is in front of certain types of expressions, then the two are multiplied:
int x=2;
real y=2.0;
real cm=72/2.540005;

write(3x);
write(2.5x);
write(3y);
write(-1.602e-19 y);
write(0.5(x,y));
write(2x^2);
write(3x+2y);
write(3(x+2y));
write(3sin(x));
write(3(sin(x))^2);
write(10cm);
This produces the output
6
5
6
-3.204e-19
(1,1)
8
10
18
2.72789228047704
2.48046543129542
283.464008929116

6.11 Functions
Asymptote functions are treated as variables with a signature (non-function variables have
null signatures). Variables with the same name are allowed, so long as they have distinct
signatures.
Function arguments are passed by value. To pass an argument by reference, simply
enclose it in a structure (see Section 6.8 [Structures], page 57).
Here are some significant features of Asymptote functions:
1. Variables with signatures (functions) and without signatures (nonfunction variables)
are distinct:
int x, x();
x=5;
x=new int() {return 17;};
x=x(); // calls x() and puts the result, 17, in the scalar x
Chapter 6: Programming 65

2. Traditional function definitions are allowed:

int sqr(int x)
{
return x*x;
}
sqr=null; // but the function is still just a variable.
3. Casting can be used to resolve ambiguities:
int a, a(), b, b(); // Valid: creates four variables.
a=b; // Invalid: assignment is ambiguous.
a=(int) b; // Valid: resolves ambiguity.
(int) (a=b); // Valid: resolves ambiguity.
(int) a=b; // Invalid: cast expressions cannot be L-values.

int c();
c=a; // Valid: only one possible assignment.
4. Anonymous (so-called "high-order") functions are also allowed:
typedef int intop(int);
intop adder(int m)
{
return new int(int n) {return m+n;};
}
intop addby7=adder(7);
write(addby7(1)); // Writes 8.
5. One may redefine a function f, even for calls to f in previously declared functions, by
assigning another (anonymous or named) function to it. However, if f is overloaded
by a new function definition, previous calls will still access the original version of f, as
illustrated in this example:
void f() {
write("hi");
}

void g() {
f();
}

g(); // writes "hi"

f=new void() {write("bye");};

g(); // writes "bye"

void f() {write("overloaded");};

f(); // writes "overloaded"

g(); // writes "bye"
Chapter 6: Programming 66

6. Anonymous functions can be used to redefine a function variable that has been declared
(and implicitly initialized to the null function) but not yet explicitly defined:
void f(bool b);

void g(bool b) {
if(b) f(b);
else write(b);
}

f=new void(bool b) {
write(b);
g(false);
};

g(true); // Writes true, then writes false.

Asymptote is the only language we know of that treats functions as variables, but allows
overloading by distinguishing variables based on their signatures.
Functions are allowed to call themselves recursively. As in C++, infinite nested recursion
will generate a stack overflow (reported as a segmentation fault, unless a fully working
version of the GNU library libsigsegv (e.g. 2.4 or later) is installed at configuration time).

6.11.1 Default arguments

Asymptote supports a more flexible mechanism for default function arguments than C++:
they may appear anywhere in the function prototype. Because certain data types are
implicitly cast to more sophisticated types (see Section 6.13 [Casts], page 79) one can
often avoid ambiguities by ordering function arguments from the simplest to the most
complicated. For example, given
real f(int a=1, real b=0) {return a+b;}
then f(1) returns 1.0, but f(1.0) returns 2.0.
The value of a default argument is determined by evaluating the given Asymptote
expression in the scope where the called function is defined.

6.11.2 Named arguments

It is sometimes difficult to remember the order in which arguments appear in a function
declaration. Named (keyword) arguments make calling functions with multiple arguments
easier. Unlike in the C and C++ languages, an assignment in a function argument is
interpreted as an assignment to a parameter of the same name in the function signature,
not within the local scope. The command-line option -d may be used to check Asymptote
code for cases where a named argument may be mistaken for a local assignment.
When matching arguments to signatures, first all of the keywords are matched, then
the arguments without names are matched against the unmatched formals as usual. For
example,
int f(int x, int y) {
return 10x+y;
}
Chapter 6: Programming 67

write(f(4,x=3));
outputs 34, as x is already matched when we try to match the unnamed argument 4, so it
gets matched to the next item, y.
For the rare occasions where it is desirable to assign a value to local variable within a func-
tion argument (generally not a good programming practice), simply enclose the assignment
in parentheses. For example, given the definition of f in the previous example,
int x;
write(f(4,(x=3)));
is equivalent to the statements
int x;
x=3;
write(f(4,3));
and outputs 43.
Parameters can be specified as “keyword-only” by putting keyword immediately before
the parameter name, as in int f(int keyword x) or int f(int keyword x=77). This forces
the caller of the function to use a named argument to give a value for this parameter. That
is, f(x=42) is legal, but f(25) is not. Keyword-only parameters must be listed after normal
parameters in a function definition.
As a technical detail, we point out that, since variables of the same name but different
signatures are allowed in the same scope, the code
int f(int x, int x()) {
return x+x();
}
int seven() {return 7;}
is legal in Asymptote, with f(2,seven) returning 9. A named argument matches the
first unmatched formal of the same name, so f(x=2,x=seven) is an equivalent call, but
f(x=seven,2) is not, as the first argument is matched to the first formal, and int ()
cannot be implicitly cast to int. Default arguments do not affect which formal a named
argument is matched to, so if f were defined as
int f(int x=3, int x()) {
return x+x();
}
then f(x=seven) would be illegal, even though f(seven) obviously would be allowed.

6.11.3 Rest arguments

Rest arguments allow one to write functions that take a variable number of arguments:
// This function sums its arguments.
int sum(... int[] nums) {
int total=0;
for(int i=0; i < nums.length; ++i)
total += nums[i];
return total;
}
Chapter 6: Programming 68

sum(1,2,3,4); // returns 10
sum(); // returns 0

// This function subtracts subsequent arguments from the first.

int subtract(int start ... int[] subs) {
for(int i=0; i < subs.length; ++i)
start -= subs[i];
return start;
}

subtract(10,1,2); // returns 7
subtract(10); // returns 10
subtract(); // illegal
Putting an argument into a rest array is called packing. One can give an explicit list of
arguments for the rest argument, so subtract could alternatively be implemented as
int subtract(int start ... int[] subs) {
return start - sum(... subs);
}
One can even combine normal arguments with rest arguments:
sum(1,2,3 ... new int[] {4,5,6}); // returns 21
This builds a new six-element array that is passed to sum as nums. The opposite operation,
unpacking, is not allowed:
subtract(... new int[] {10, 1, 2});
is illegal, as the start formal is not matched.
If no arguments are packed, then a zero-length array (as opposed to null) is bound to
the rest parameter. Note that default arguments are ignored for rest formals and the rest
argument is not bound to a keyword.
In some cases, keyword-only parameters are helpful to avoid arguments intended for the
rest parameter to be assigned to other parameters. For example, here the use of keyword
is to avoid pnorm(1.0,2.0,0.3) matching 1.0 to p.
real pnorm(real keyword p=2.0 ... real[] v)
{
return sum(v^p)^(1/p);
}
The overloading resolution in Asymptote is similar to the function matching rules used
in C++. Every argument match is given a score. Exact matches score better than matches
with casting, and matches with formals (regardless of casting) score better than packing an
argument into the rest array. A candidate is maximal if all of the arguments score as well
in it as with any other candidate. If there is one unique maximal candidate, it is chosen;
otherwise, there is an ambiguity error.
int f(path g);
int f(guide g);
f((0,0)--(100,100)); // matches the second; the argument is a guide
Chapter 6: Programming 69

int g(int x, real y);

int g(real x, int x);

g(3,4); // ambiguous; the first candidate is better for the first argument,
// but the second candidate is better for the second argument

int h(... int[] rest);

int h(real x ... int[] rest);

h(1,2); // the second definition matches, even though there is a cast,

// because casting is preferred over packing

int i(int x ... int[] rest);

int i(real x, real y ... int[] rest);

i(3,4); // ambiguous; the first candidate is better for the first argument,
// but the second candidate is better for the second one

6.11.4 Mathematical functions

Asymptote has built-in versions of the standard libm mathematical real(real) functions
sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, exp, log, pow10, log10, sinh, cosh, tanh, asinh,
acosh, atanh, sqrt, cbrt, fabs, expm1, log1p, as well as the identity function identity.
Asymptote also defines the order n Bessel functions of the first kind Jn(int n, real) and
second kind Yn(int n, real), as well as the gamma function gamma, the error function erf,
and the complementary error function erfc. The standard real(real, real) functions atan2,
hypot, fmod, remainder are also included.
The functions degrees(real radians) and radians(real degrees) can be used to
convert between radians and degrees. The function Degrees(real radians) returns the
angle in degrees in the interval [0,360). For convenience, Asymptote defines variants Sin,
Cos, Tan, aSin, aCos, and aTan of the standard trigonometric functions that use degrees
rather than radians. We also define complex versions of the sqrt, sin, cos, exp, log, and
gamma functions.
The functions floor, ceil, and round differ from their usual definitions in that they
all return an int value rather than a real (since that is normally what one wants). The
functions Floor, Ceil, and Round are respectively similar, except that if the result cannot
be converted to a valid int, they return intMax for positive arguments and intMin for
negative arguments, rather than generating an integer overflow. We also define a function
sgn, which returns the sign of its real argument as an integer (-1, 0, or 1).
There is an abs(int) function, as well as an abs(real) function (equivalent to
fabs(real)), an abs(pair) function (equivalent to length(pair)).
Random numbers can be seeded with srand(int) and generated with the int rand()
function, which returns a random integer between 0 and the integer randMax. The
unitrand() function returns a random number uniformly distributed in the interval [0,1].
A Gaussian random number generator Gaussrand and a collection of statistics routines,
including histogram, are provided in the module stats. The functions factorial(int
Chapter 6: Programming 70

n), which returns n!, and choose(int n, int k), which returns n!/(k!(n − k)!), are also
defined.
When configured with the GNU Scientific Library (GSL), available from https://
www.gnu.org/software/gsl/, Asymptote contains an internal module gsl that
defines the airy functions Ai(real), Bi(real), Ai_deriv(real), Bi_deriv(real),
zero_Ai(int), zero_Bi(int), zero_Ai_deriv(int), zero_Bi_deriv(int), the Bessel
functions I(int, real), K(int, real), j(int, real), y(int, real), i_scaled(int,
real), k_scaled(int, real), J(real, real), Y(real, real), I(real, real), K(real,
real), zero_J(real, int), the elliptic functions F(real, real), E(real, real),
and P(real, real), the Jacobi elliptic functions real[] sncndn(real,real), the
exponential/trigonometric integrals Ei, Si, and Ci, the Legendre polynomials Pl(int,
real), and the Riemann zeta function zeta(real). For example, to compute the sine
integral Si of 1.0:
import gsl;
write(Si(1.0));
Asymptote also provides a few general purpose numerical routines:
real newton(int iterations=100, real f(real), real fprime(real), real x,
bool verbose=false);
Use Newton-Raphson iteration to solve for a root of a real-valued differentiable
function f, given its derivative fprime and an initial guess x. Diagnostics
for each iteration are printed if verbose=true. If the iteration fails after the
maximum allowed number of loops (iterations), realMax is returned.
real newton(int iterations=100, real f(real), real fprime(real), real x1,
real x2, bool verbose=false);
Use bracketed Newton-Raphson bisection to solve for a root of a real-valued
differentiable function f within an interval [x1,x2] (on which the endpoint values
of f have opposite signs), given its derivative fprime. Diagnostics for each
iteration are printed if verbose=true. If the iteration fails after the maximum
allowed number of loops (iterations), realMax is returned.
real simpson(real f(real), real a, real b, real acc=realEpsilon, real
dxmax=b-a)
returns the integral of f from a to b using adaptive Simpson integration.

6.12 Arrays
Appending [] to a built-in or user-defined type yields an array. The array element i of
an array A can be accessed as A[i]. By default, attempts to access or assign to an array
element using a negative index generates an error. Reading an array element with an index
beyond the length of the array also generates an error; however, assignment to an element
beyond the length of the array causes the array to be resized to accommodate the new
element. One can also index an array A with an integer array B: the array A[B] is formed
by indexing array A with successive elements of array B. A convenient Java-style shorthand
exists for iterating over all elements of an array; see [array iteration], page 24.
The declaration
real[] A;
Chapter 6: Programming 71

initializes A to be an empty (zero-length) array. Empty arrays should be distinguished from

null arrays. If we say
real[] A=null;
then A cannot be dereferenced at all (null arrays have no length and cannot be read from
or assigned to).
Arrays can be explicitly initialized like this:
real[] A={0,1,2};
Array assignment in Asymptote does a shallow copy: only the pointer is copied (if one
copy if modified, the other will be too). The copy function listed below provides a deep
copy of an array.
Every array A of type T[] has the virtual members
• int length,
• int cyclic,
• int[] keys,
• T push(T x),
• void append(T[] a),
• T pop(),
• void insert(int i ... T[] x),
• void delete(int i, int j=i),
• void delete(), and
• bool initialized(int n).
The member A.length evaluates to the length of the array. Setting A.cyclic=true
signifies that array indices should be reduced modulo the current array length. Reading
from or writing to a nonempty cyclic array never leads to out-of-bounds errors or array
resizing.
The member A.keys evaluates to an array of integers containing the indices of initialized
entries in the array in ascending order. Hence, for an array of length n with all entries
initialized, A.keys evaluates to {0,1,...,n-1}. A new keys array is produced each time
A.keys is evaluated.
The functions A.push and A.append append their arguments onto the end of the array,
while A.insert(int i ... T[] x) inserts x into the array at index i. For convenience
A.push returns the pushed item. The function A.pop() pops and returns the last element,
while A.delete(int i, int j=i) deletes elements with indices in the range [i,j], shifting
the position of all higher-indexed elements down. If no arguments are given, A.delete()
provides a convenient way of deleting all elements of A. The routine A.initialized(int
n) can be used to examine whether the element at index n is initialized. Like all Asymptote
functions, push, append, pop, insert, delete, and initialized can be "pulled off" of the
array and used on their own. For example,
int[] A={1};
A.push(2); // A now contains {1,2}.
A.append(A); // A now contains {1,2,1,2}.
int f(int)=A.push;
Chapter 6: Programming 72

f(3); // A now contains {1,2,1,2,3}.

int g()=A.pop;
write(g()); // Outputs 3.
A.delete(0); // A now contains {2,1,2}.
A.delete(0,1); // A now contains {2}.
A.insert(1,3); // A now contains {2,3}.
A.insert(1 ... A); // A now contains {2,2,3,3}
A.insert(2,4,5); // A now contains {2,2,4,5,3,3}.
The [] suffix can also appear after the variable name; this is sometimes convenient for
declaring a list of variables and arrays of the same type:
real a,A[];
This declares a to be real and implicitly declares A to be of type real[].
In the following list of built-in array functions, T represents a generic type. Note that
the internal functions alias, array, copy, concat, sequence, map, and transpose, which
depend on type T[], are defined only after the first declaration of a variable of type T[].
new T[] returns a new empty array of type T[];
new T[] {list}
returns a new array of type T[] initialized with list (a comma delimited list
of elements);
new T[n] returns a new array of n elements of type T[]. These n array elements are
not initialized unless they are arrays themselves (in which case they are each
initialized to empty arrays);
T[] array(int n, T value, int depth=intMax)
returns an array consisting of n copies of value. If value is itself an array,
a deep copy of value is made for each entry. If depth is specified, this deep
copying only recurses to the specified number of levels;
int[] sequence(int n)
if n >= 1 returns the array {0,1,...,n-1} (otherwise returns a null array);
int[] sequence(int n, int m)
if m >= n returns an array {n,n+1,...,m} (otherwise returns a null array);
int[] sequence(int n, int m, int skip)
if m >= n returns an array {n,n+1,...,m} skipping by skip (otherwise returns
a null array);
T[] sequence(T f(int), int n)
if n >= 1 returns the sequence {f_i :i=0,1,...n-1} given a function T f(int)
and integer int n (otherwise returns a null array);
T[] map(T f(T), T[] a)
returns the array obtained by applying the function f to each element
of the array a. This is equivalent to sequence(new T(int i) {return
f(a[i]);},a.length);
T2[] map(T2 f(T1), T1[] a)
constructed by calling mapArray("T1","T2"), returns the array obtained by
applying the function f to each element of the array a;
Chapter 6: Programming 73

int[] reverse(int n)
if n >= 1 returns the array {n-1,n-2,...,0} (otherwise returns a null array);
int[] complement(int[] a, int n)
returns the complement of the integer array a in {0,1,2,...,n-1}, so that
b[complement(a,b.length)] yields the complement of b[a];
real[] uniform(real a, real b, int n)
if n >= 1 returns a uniform partition of [a,b] into n subintervals (otherwise
returns a null array);
int find(bool[] a, int n=1)
returns the index of the nth true value in the boolean array a or -1 if not found.
If n is negative, search backwards from the end of the array for the -nth value;
int[] findall(bool[] a)
returns the indices of all true values in the boolean array a;
int search(T[] a, T key)
For built-in ordered types T, searches a sorted array a of n elements for k,
returning the index i if a[i] <= key < a[i+1], -1 if key is less than all elements
of a, or n-1 if key is greater than or equal to the last element of a;
int search(T[] a, T key, bool less(T i, T j))
searches an array a sorted in ascending order such that element i precedes
element j if less(i,j) is true;
T[] copy(T[] a)
returns a deep copy of the array a;
T[] concat(... T[][] a)
returns a new array formed by concatenating the given one-dimensional arrays
given as arguments;
bool alias(T[] a, T[] b)
returns true if the arrays a and b are identical;
T[] sort(T[] a)
For built-in ordered types T, returns a copy of a sorted in ascending order;
T[][] sort(T[][] a)
For built-in ordered types T, returns a copy of a with the rows sorted by the
first column, breaking ties with successively higher columns. For example:
string[][] a={{"bob","9"},{"alice","5"},{"pete","7"},
{"alice","4"}};
// Row sort (by column 0, using column 1 to break ties):
write(sort(a));
produces
alice 4
alice 5
bob 9
pete 7
Chapter 6: Programming 74

T[] sort(T[] a, bool less(T i, T j), bool stable=true)

returns a copy of a sorted in ascending order such that element i precedes
element j if less(i,j) is true, subject to (if stable is true) the stability
constraint that the original order of elements i and j is preserved if less(i,j)
and less(j,i) are both false;
T[][] transpose(T[][] a)
returns the transpose of a;
T[][][] transpose(T[][][] a, int[] perm)
returns the 3D transpose of a obtained by applying the permutation perm of
new int[]{0,1,2} to the indices of each entry;
T sum(T[] a)
for arithmetic types T, returns the sum of a. In the case where T is bool, the
number of true elements in a is returned;
T min(T[] a)
T min(T[][] a)
T min(T[][][] a)
for built-in ordered types T, returns the minimum element of a;
T max(T[] a)
T max(T[][] a)
T max(T[][][] a)
for built-in ordered types T, returns the maximum element of a;
T[] min(T[] a, T[] b)
for built-in ordered types T, and arrays a and b of the same length, returns an
array composed of the minimum of the corresponding elements of a and b;
T[] max(T[] a, T[] b)
for built-in ordered types T, and arrays a and b of the same length, returns an
array composed of the maximum of the corresponding elements of a and b;
pair[] pairs(real[] x, real[] y);
for arrays x and y of the same length, returns the pair array sequence(new
pair(int i) {return (x[i],y[i]);},x.length);
pair[] fft(pair[] a, int sign=1)
returns the unnormalized Fast Fourier Transform of a (if the optional FFTW
package is installed), using the given sign. Here is a simple example:
int n=4;
pair[] f=sequence(n);
write(f);
pair[] g=fft(f,-1);
write();
write(g);
f=fft(g,1);
write();
write(f/n);
Chapter 6: Programming 75

pair[][] fft(pair[][] a, int sign=1)

returns the unnormalized two-dimensional Fourier transform of a using the
given sign;

pair[][][] fft(pair[][][] a, int sign=1)

returns the unnormalized three-dimensional Fourier transform of a using the
given sign;

realschur schur(real[][] a)
returns a struct realschur containing a unitary matrix U and a quasitriangular
matrix T such that a=U*T*transpose(U);

schur schur(pair[][] a)
returns a struct schur containing a unitary matrix U and a triangular matrix
T such that a=U*T*conj(transpose(U));

real dot(real[] a, real[] b)

returns the dot product of the vectors a and b;

pair dot(pair[] a, pair[] b)

returns the complex dot product sum(a*conj(b)) of the vectors a and b;

real[] tridiagonal(real[] a, real[] b, real[] c, real[] f);

Solve the periodic tridiagonal problem Lx = f and return the solution x, where
f is an n vector and L is the n × n matrix
[ b[0] c[0] a[0] ]
[ a[1] b[1] c[1] ]
[ a[2] b[2] c[2] ]
[ ... ]
[ c[n-1] a[n-1] b[n-1] ]
For Dirichlet boundary conditions (denoted here by u[-1] and u[n]), replace
f[0] by f[0]-a[0]u[-1] and f[n-1]-c[n-1]u[n]; then set a[0]=c[n-1]=0;

real[] solve(real[][] a, real[] b, bool warn=true)

Solve the linear equation ax = b by LU decomposition and return the solution
x, where a is an n × n matrix and b is an array of length n. For example:
import math;
real[][] a={{1,-2,3,0},{4,-5,6,2},{-7,-8,10,5},{1,50,1,-2}};
real[] b={7,19,33,3};
real[] x=solve(a,b);
write(a); write();
write(b); write();
write(x); write();
write(a*x);
If a is a singular matrix and warn is false, return an empty array. If the matrix
a is tridiagonal, the routine tridiagonal provides a more efficient algorithm
(see [tridiagonal], page 75);
Chapter 6: Programming 76

real[][] solve(real[][] a, real[][] b, bool warn=true)

Solve the linear equation ax = b and return the solution x, where a is an n × n
matrix and b is an n × m matrix. If a is a singular matrix and warn is false,
return an empty matrix;
real[][] identity(int n);
returns the n × n identity matrix;
real[][] diagonal(... real[] a)
returns the diagonal matrix with diagonal entries given by a;
real[][] inverse(real[][] a)
returns the inverse of a square matrix a;
real[] quadraticroots(real a, real b, real c);
This numerically robust solver returns the real roots of the quadratic equation
ax2 + bx + c = 0, in ascending order. Multiple roots are listed separately;
pair[] quadraticroots(explicit pair a, explicit pair b, explicit pair c);
This numerically robust solver returns the complex roots of the quadratic
equation ax2 + bx + c = 0;
real[] cubicroots(real a, real b, real c, real d);
This numerically robust solver returns the real roots of the cubic equation
ax3 + bx2 + cx + d = 0. Multiple roots are listed separately.
Asymptote includes a full set of vectorized array instructions for arithmetic (including
self) and logical operations. These element-by-element instructions are implemented in C++
code for speed. Given
real[] a={1,2};
real[] b={3,2};
then a == b and a >= 2 both evaluate to the vector {false, true}. To test whether all
components of a and b agree, use the boolean function all(a == b). One can also use
conditionals like (a >= 2) ? a : b, which returns the array {3,2}, or write((a >= 2) ? a :
null, which returns the array {2}.
All of the standard built-in libm functions of signature real(real) also take a real array
as an argument, effectively like an implicit call to map.
As with other built-in types, arrays of the basic data types can be read in by assignment.
In this example, the code
file fin=input("test.txt");
real[] A=fin;
reads real values into A until the end-of-file is reached (or an I/O error occurs).
The virtual members dimension, line, csv, word, and read of a file are useful for reading
arrays. For example, if line mode is set with file line(bool b=true), then reading will
stop once the end of the line is reached instead:
file fin=input("test.txt");
real[] A=fin.line();
Since string reads by default read up to the end of line anyway, line mode normally
has no effect on string array reads. However, there is a white-space delimiter mode for
Chapter 6: Programming 77

reading strings, file word(bool b=true), which causes string reads to respect white-space
delimiters, instead of the default end-of-line delimiter:
file fin=input("test.txt").line().word();
real[] A=fin;
Another useful mode is comma-separated-value mode, file csv(bool b=true), which
causes reads to respect comma delimiters:
file fin=input("test.txt").csv();
real[] A=fin;
To restrict the number of values read, use the file dimension(int) function:
file fin=input("test.txt");
real[] A=fin.dimension(10);
This reads 10 values into A, unless end-of-file (or end-of-line in line mode) occurs first.
Attempting to read beyond the end of the file will produce a runtime error message.
Specifying a value of 0 for the integer limit is equivalent to the previous example of reading
until end-of-file (or end-of-line in line mode) is encountered.
Two- and three-dimensional arrays of the basic data types can be read in like this:
file fin=input("test.txt");
real[][] A=fin.dimension(2,3);
real[][][] B=fin.dimension(2,3,4);
Sometimes the array dimensions are stored with the data as integer fields at the beginning
of an array. Such 1, 2, or 3 dimensional arrays can be read in with the virtual member
functions read(1), read(2), or read(3), respectively:
file fin=input("test.txt");
real[] A=fin.read(1);
real[][] B=fin.read(2);
real[][][] C=fin.read(3);
One, two, and three-dimensional arrays of the basic data types can be output with the
functions write(file,T[]), write(file,T[][]), write(file,T[][][]), respectively.

6.12.1 Slices
Asymptote allows a section of an array to be addressed as a slice using a Python-like syntax.
If A is an array, the expression A[m:n] returns a new array consisting of the elements of A
with indices from m up to but not including n. For example,
int[] x={0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9};
int[] y=x[2:6]; // y={2,3,4,5};
int[] z=x[5:10]; // z={5,6,7,8,9};
If the left index is omitted, it is taken be 0. If the right index is omitted it is taken to be
the length of the array. If both are omitted, the slice then goes from the start of the array
to the end, producing a non-cyclic deep copy of the array. For example:
int[] x={0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9};
int[] y=x[:4]; // y={0,1,2,3}
int[] z=x[5:]; // z={5,6,7,8,9}
int[] w=x[:]; // w={0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9}, distinct from array x.
Chapter 6: Programming 78

If A is a non-cyclic array, it is illegal to use negative values for either of the indices.
If the indices exceed the length of the array, however, they are politely truncated to that
length.
For cyclic arrays, the slice A[m:n] still consists of the cells with indices in the set [m,n),
but now negative values and values beyond the length of the array are allowed. The indices
simply wrap around. For example:
int[] x={0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9};
x.cyclic=true;
int[] y=x[8:15]; // y={8,9,0,1,2,3,4}.
int[] z=x[-5:5]; // z={5,6,7,8,9,0,1,2,3,4}
int[] w=x[-3:17]; // w={7,8,9,0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0,1,2,3,4,5,6}
Notice that with cyclic arrays, it is possible to include the same element of the original
array multiple times within a slice. Regardless of the original array, arrays produced by
slices are always non-cyclic.
If the left and right indices of a slice are the same, the result is an empty array. If the
array being sliced is empty, the result is an empty array. Any slice with a left index greater
than its right index will yield an error.
Slices can also be assigned to, changing the value of the original array. If the array being
assigned to the slice has a different length than the slice itself, elements will be inserted or
removed from the array to accommodate it. For instance:
string[] toppings={"mayo", "salt", "ham", "lettuce"};
toppings[0:2]=new string[] {"mustard", "pepper"};
// Now toppings={"mustard", "pepper", "ham", "lettuce"}
toppings[2:3]=new string[] {"turkey", "bacon" };
// Now toppings={"mustard", "pepper", "turkey", "bacon", "lettuce"}
toppings[0:3]=new string[] {"tomato"};
// Now toppings={"tomato", "bacon", "lettuce"}
If an array is assigned to a slice of itself, a copy of the original array is assigned to the
slice. That is, code such as x[m:n]=x is equivalent to x[m:n]=copy(x). One can use the
shorthand x[m:m]=y to insert the contents of the array y into the array x starting at the
location just before x[m].
For a cyclic array, a slice is bridging if it addresses cells up to the end of the array and
then continues on to address cells at the start of the array. For instance, if A is a cyclic array
of length 10, A[8:12], A[-3:1], and A[5:25] are bridging slices whereas A[3:7], A[7:10],
A[-3:0] and A[103:107] are not. Bridging slices can only be assigned to if the number
of elements in the slice is exactly equal to the number of elements we are assigning to it.
Otherwise, there is no clear way to decide which of the new entries should be A[0] and an
error is reported. Non-bridging slices may be assigned an array of any length.
For a cyclic array A an expression of the form A[A.length:A.length] is equivalent to
the expression A[0:0] and so assigning to this slice will insert values at the start of the
array. A.append() can be used to insert values at the end of the array.
It is illegal to assign to a slice of a cyclic array that repeats any of the cells.
Chapter 6: Programming 79

6.13 Casts
Asymptote implicitly casts int to real, int to pair, real to pair, pair to path, pair
to guide, path to guide, guide to path, real to pen, pair[] to guide[], pair[] to
path[], path to path[], and guide to path[], along with various three-dimensional casts
defined in module three. Implicit casts are automatically attempted on assignment and
when trying to match function calls with possible function signatures. Implicit casting can
be inhibited by declaring individual arguments explicit in the function signature, say to
avoid an ambiguous function call in the following example, which outputs 0:
int f(pair a) {return 0;}
int f(explicit real x) {return 1;}

write(f(0));
Other conversions, say real to int or real to string, require an explicit cast:
int i=(int) 2.5;
string s=(string) 2.5;

real[] a={2.5,-3.5};
int[] b=(int []) a;
write(stdout,b); // Outputs 2,-3
In situations where casting from a string to a type T fails, an uninitialized variable is
returned; this condition can be detected with the function bool initialized(T);
int i=(int) "2.5";
assert(initialized(i),"Invalid cast.");

real x=(real) "2.5a";

assert(initialized(x),"Invalid cast.");
Casting to user-defined types is also possible using operator cast:
struct rpair {
real radius;
real angle;
}

pair operator cast(rpair x) {

return (x.radius*cos(x.angle),x.radius*sin(x.angle));
}

rpair x;
x.radius=1;
x.angle=pi/6;

write(x); // Outputs (0.866025403784439,0.5)

One must use care when defining new cast operators. Suppose that in some code one
wants all integers to represent multiples of 100. To convert them to reals, one would first
want to multiply them by 100. However, the straightforward implementation
real operator cast(int x) {return x*100;}
Chapter 6: Programming 80

is equivalent to an infinite recursion, since the result x*100 needs itself to be cast from an
integer to a real. Instead, we want to use the standard conversion of int to real:
real convert(int x) {return x*100;}
real operator cast(int x)=convert;
Explicit casts are implemented similarly, with operator ecast.

6.14 Import
While Asymptote provides many features by default, some applications require specialized
features contained in external Asymptote modules. For instance, the lines
access graph;
graph.axes();
draw x and y axes on a two-dimensional graph. Here, the command looks up the module
under the name graph in a global dictionary of modules and puts it in a new variable named
graph. The module is a structure, and we can refer to its fields as we usually would with a
structure.
Often, one wants to use module functions without having to specify the module name.
The code
from graph access axes;
adds the axes field of graph into the local name space, so that subsequently, one can just
write axes(). If the given name is overloaded, all types and variables of that name are
added. To add more than one name, just use a comma-separated list:
from graph access axes, xaxis, yaxis;
Wild card notation can be used to add all non-private fields and types of a module to the
local name space:
from graph access *;
Similarly, one can add the non-private fields and types of a structure to the local
environment with the unravel keyword:
struct matrix {
real a,b,c,d;
}

real det(matrix m) {
unravel m;
return a*d-b*c;
}
Alternatively, one can unravel selective fields:
real det(matrix m) {
from m unravel a,b,c as C,d;
return a*d-b*C;
}
The command
import graph;
Chapter 6: Programming 81

is a convenient abbreviation for the commands

access graph;
unravel graph;
That is, import graph first loads a module into a structure called graph and then adds
its non-private fields and types to the local environment. This way, if a member variable
(or function) is overwritten with a local variable (or function of the same signature), the
original one can still be accessed by qualifying it with the module name.
Wild card importing will work fine in most cases, but one does not usually know all of the
internal types and variables of a module, which can also change as the module writer adds
or changes features of the module. As such, it is prudent to add import commands at the
start of an Asymptote file, so that imported names won’t shadow locally defined functions.
Still, imported names may shadow other imported names, depending on the order in which
they were imported, and imported functions may cause overloading resolution problems if
they have the same name as local functions defined later.
To rename modules or fields when adding them to the local environment, use as:
access graph as graph2d;
from graph access xaxis as xline, yaxis as yline;
The command
import graph as graph2d;
is a convenient abbreviation for the commands
access graph as graph2d;
unravel graph2d;
Except for a few built-in modules, such as settings, all modules are implemented as
Asymptote files. When looking up a module that has not yet been loaded, Asymptote
searches the standard search paths (see Section 2.5 [Search paths], page 6) for the matching
file. The file corresponding to that name is read and the code within it is interpreted as the
body of a structure defining the module.
If the file name contains nonalphanumeric characters, enclose it with quotation marks:
access "/usr/local/share/asymptote/graph.asy" as graph;
from "/usr/local/share/asymptote/graph.asy" access axes;
import "/usr/local/share/asymptote/graph.asy" as graph;
If Asymptote is compiled with support for libcurl, the file name can even be a URL:
import "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vectorgraphics/asymptote/HEAD/doc/axis3.asy"
as axis3;
It is an error if modules import themselves (or each other in a cycle). The module name
to be imported must be known at compile time.
However, you can import an Asymptote module determined by the string s at runtime
like this:
eval("import "+s,true);
To conditionally execute an array of asy files, use
void asy(string format, bool overwrite ... string[] s);
The file will only be processed, using output format format, if overwrite is true or the
output file is missing.
Chapter 6: Programming 82

One can evaluate an Asymptote expression (without any return value, however)
contained in the string s with:
void eval(string s, bool embedded=false);
It is not necessary to terminate the string s with a semicolon. If embedded is true, the
string will be evaluated at the top level of the current environment. If embedded is false
(the default), the string will be evaluated in an independent environment, sharing the same
settings module (see [settings], page 169).
One can evaluate arbitrary Asymptote code (which may contain unescaped quotation
marks) with the command
void eval(code s, bool embedded=false);
Here code is a special type used with quote {} to enclose Asymptote code like this:
real a=1;
code s=quote {
write(a);
};
eval(s,true); // Outputs 1
One application of eval is the creation of parametrized Asymptote code, such as a map
from one type to another (see Section 8.10 [map], page 94).
To include the contents of an existing file graph verbatim (as if the contents of the file
were inserted at that point), use one of the forms:
include graph;
include "/usr/local/share/asymptote/graph.asy";
To list all global functions and variables defined in a module named by the contents of
the string s, use the function
void list(string s, bool imports=false);
Imported global functions and variables are also listed if imports is true.

6.15 Static
Static qualifiers allocate the memory address of a variable in a higher enclosing level.
For a function body, the variable is allocated in the block where the function is defined;
so in the code
struct s {
int count() {
static int c=0;
++c;
return c;
}
}
there is one instance of the variable c for each object s (as opposed to each call of count).
Similarly, in
int factorial(int n) {
int helper(int k) {
Chapter 6: Programming 83

static int x=1;

x *= k;
return k == 1 ? x : helper(k-1);
}
return helper(n);
}
there is one instance of x for every call to factorial (and not for every call to helper), so
this is a correct, but ugly, implementation of factorial.
Similarly, a static variable declared within a structure is allocated in the block where
the structure is defined. Thus,
struct A {
struct B {
static pair z;
}
}
creates one object z for each object of type A created.
In this example,
int pow(int n, int k) {
struct A {
static int x=1;
void helper() {
x *= n;
}
}
for(int i=0; i < k; ++i) {
A a;
a.helper();
}
return A.x;
}
there is one instance of x for each call to pow, so this is an ugly implementation of
exponentiation.
Loop constructs allocate a new frame in every iteration. This is so that higher-order
functions can refer to variables of a specific iteration of a loop:
void f();
for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
int x=i;
if(x==5) {
f=new void() {write(x);};
}
}
f();
Here, every iteration of the loop has its own variable x, so f() will write 5. If a variable
in a loop is declared static, it will be allocated where the enclosing function or structure
was defined (just as if it were declared static outside of the loop). For instance, in:
Chapter 6: Programming 84

void f() {
static int x;
for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
static int y;
}
}
both x and y will be allocated in the same place, which is also where f is allocated.
Statements may also be declared static, in which case they are run at the place where
the enclosing function or structure is defined. Declarations or statements not enclosed
in a function or structure definition are already at the top level, so static modifiers are
meaningless. A warning is given in such a case.
Since structures can have static fields, it is not always clear for a qualified name whether
the qualifier is a variable or a type. For instance, in:
struct A {
static int x;
}
pair A;

int y=A.x;
does the A in A.x refer to the structure or to the pair variable. It is the convention in
Asymptote that, if there is a non-function variable with the same name as the qualifier, the
qualifier refers to that variable, and not to the type. This is regardless of what fields the
variable actually possesses.
 85

7 LaTeX usage
Asymptote comes with a convenient LaTeX style file asymptote.sty (v1.36 or later required)
that makes LaTeX Asymptote-aware. Entering Asymptote code directly into the LaTeX
source file, at the point where it is needed, keeps figures organized and avoids the need to
invent new file names for each figure. Simply add the line \usepackage{asymptote} at the
beginning of your file and enclose your Asymptote code within a \begin{asy}...\end{asy}
environment. As with the LaTeX comment environment, the \end{asy} command must
appear on a line by itself, with no trailing commands/comments. A blank line is not
allowed after \begin{asy}.
The sample LaTeX file below, named latexusage.tex, can be run as follows:
latex latexusage
asy latexusage-*.asy
latex latexusage
or
pdflatex latexusage
asy latexusage-*.asy
pdflatex latexusage
To switch between using inline Asymptote code with latex and pdflatex you may first
need to remove the files latexusage-*.tex.
An even better method for processing a LaTeX file with embedded Asymptote code is to
use the latexmk utility from
http://mirror.ctan.org/support/latexmk/
after putting the contents of https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vectorgraphics/
asymptote/HEAD/doc/latexmkrc in a file latexmkrc in the same directory. The command
latexmk -pdf latexusage
will then call Asymptote automatically, recompiling only the figures that have changed.
Since each figure is compiled in a separate system process, this method also tends to use
less memory. To store the figures in a separate directory named asy, one can define
\def\asydir{asy}
in latexusage.tex and put the contents of https://raw.githubusercontent.com/
vectorgraphics/asymptote/HEAD/doc/latexmkrc_asydir in a file latexmkrc in the same
directory. External Asymptote code can be included with
\asyinclude[<options>]{<filename.asy>}
so that latexmk will recognize when the code is changed. Note that latexmk requires perl,
available from https://www.perl.org/.
One can specify width, height, keepAspect, viewportwidth, viewportheight, attach,
and inline. keyval-style options to the asy and asyinclude environments. Three-
dimensional PRC files may either be embedded within the page (the default) or attached as
annotated (but printable) attachments, using the attach option and the attachfile2 (or
older attachfile) LaTeX package. The inline option generates inline LaTeX code instead of
EPS or PDF files. This makes 2D LaTeX symbols visible to the \begin{asy}...\end{asy}
environment. In this mode, Asymptote correctly aligns 2D LaTeX symbols defined outside
Chapter 7: LaTeX usage 86

of \begin{asy}...\end{asy}, but treats their size as zero; an optional second string can
be given to Label to provide an estimate of the unknown label size.
Note that if the latex TEX engine is used with the inline option, labels might not show
up in DVI viewers that cannot handle raw PostScript code. One can use dvips/dvipdf
to produce PostScript/PDF output (we recommend using the modified version of dvipdf
in the Asymptote patches directory, which accepts the dvips -z hyperdvi option).
Here now is latexusage.tex:
\documentclass[12pt]{article}

% Use this form to include EPS (latex) or PDF (pdflatex) files:

%\usepackage{asymptote}

% Use this form with latex or pdflatex to include inline LaTeX code by default:
\usepackage[inline]{asymptote}

% Use this form with latex or pdflatex to create PDF attachments by default:
%\usepackage[attach]{asymptote}

% Enable this line to support the attach option:

%\usepackage[dvips]{attachfile2}

\begin{document}

% Optional subdirectory for latex files (no spaces):

\def\asylatexdir{}
% Optional subdirectory for asy files (no spaces):
\def\asydir{}

\begin{asydef}
// Global Asymptote definitions can be put here.
settings.prc=true;
import three;
usepackage("bm");
texpreamble("\def\V#1{\bm{#1}}");
// One can globally override the default toolbar settings here:
// settings.toolbar=true;
\end{asydef}

Here is a venn diagram produced with Asymptote, drawn to width 4cm:

\def\A{A}
\def\B{\V{B}}

%\begin{figure}
\begin{center}
\begin{asy}
Chapter 7: LaTeX usage 87

size(4cm,0);
pen colour1=red;
pen colour2=green;

pair z0=(0,0);
pair z1=(-1,0);
pair z2=(1,0);
real r=1.5;
path c1=circle(z1,r);
path c2=circle(z2,r);
fill(c1,colour1);
fill(c2,colour2);

picture intersection=new picture;

fill(intersection,c1,colour1+colour2);
clip(intersection,c2);

add(intersection);

draw(c1);
draw(c2);

//draw("$\A$",box,z1); // Requires [inline] package option.

//draw(Label("$\B$","$B$"),box,z2); // Requires [inline] package option.
draw("$A$",box,z1);
draw("$\V{B}$",box,z2);

pair z=(0,-2);
real m=3;
margin BigMargin=Margin(0,m*dot(unit(z1-z),unit(z0-z)));

draw(Label("$A\cap B$",0),conj(z)--z0,Arrow,BigMargin);
draw(Label("$A\cup B$",0),z--z0,Arrow,BigMargin);
draw(z--z1,Arrow,Margin(0,m));
draw(z--z2,Arrow,Margin(0,m));

shipout(bbox(0.25cm));
\end{asy}
%\caption{Venn diagram}\label{venn}
\end{center}
%\end{figure}

Each graph is drawn in its own environment. One can specify the width
and height to \LaTeX\ explicitly. This 3D example can be viewed
interactively either with Adobe Reader or Asymptote's fast OpenGL-based
renderer. To support {\tt latexmk}, 3D figures should specify
\verb+inline=true+. It is sometimes desirable to embed 3D files as annotated
Chapter 7: LaTeX usage 88

attachments; this requires the \verb+attach=true+ option as well as the

\verb+attachfile2+ \LaTeX\ package.
\begin{center}
\begin{asy}[height=4cm,inline=true,attach=false,viewportwidth=\linewidth]
currentprojection=orthographic(5,4,2);
draw(unitcube,blue);
label("$V-E+F=2$",(0,1,0.5),3Y,blue+fontsize(17pt));
\end{asy}
\end{center}

One can also scale the figure to the full line width:
\begin{center}
\begin{asy}[width=\the\linewidth,inline=true]
pair z0=(0,0);
pair z1=(2,0);
pair z2=(5,0);
pair zf=z1+0.75*(z2-z1);

draw(z1--z2);
dot(z1,red+0.15cm);
dot(z2,darkgreen+0.3cm);
label("$m$",z1,1.2N,red);
label("$M$",z2,1.5N,darkgreen);
label("$\hat{\ }$",zf,0.2*S,fontsize(24pt)+blue);

pair s=-0.2*I;
draw("$x$",z0+s--z1+s,N,red,Arrows,Bars,PenMargins);
s=-0.5*I;
draw("$\bar{x}$",z0+s--zf+s,blue,Arrows,Bars,PenMargins);
s=-0.95*I;
draw("$X$",z0+s--z2+s,darkgreen,Arrows,Bars,PenMargins);
\end{asy}
\end{center}
\end{document}
Chapter 7: LaTeX usage 89

Here is a venn diagram produced with Asymptote, drawn to width 4cm:

A∩B

A B

A∪B

Each graph is drawn in its own environment. One can specify the width
and height to LATEX explicitly. This 3D example can be viewed interactively
either with Adobe Reader or Asymptote’s fast OpenGL-based renderer. To
support latexmk, 3D figures should specify inline=true. It is sometimes
desirable to embed 3D files as annotated attachments; this requires the
attach=true option as well as the attachfile2 LATEX package.

One can also scale the figure to the full line width:

m M
x
ˆ
x̄

1
 90

8 Base modules
Asymptote currently ships with the following base modules:

8.1 plain
This is the default Asymptote base file, which defines key parts of the drawing language
(such as the picture structure).
By default, an implicit private import plain; occurs before translating a file and
before the first command given in interactive mode. This also applies when translating
files for module definitions (except when translating plain, of course). This means that the
types and functions defined in plain are accessible in almost all Asymptote code. Use the
-noautoplain command-line option to disable this feature.

8.2 simplex
This module solves the two-variable linear programming problem using the simplex method.
It is used by the module plain for automatic sizing of pictures.

8.3 math
This module extends Asymptote’s mathematical capabilities with useful functions such as
void drawline(picture pic=currentpicture, pair P, pair Q, pen p=currentpen);
draw the visible portion of the (infinite) line going through P and Q, without
altering the size of picture pic, using pen p.
real intersect(triple P, triple Q, triple n, triple Z);
returns the intersection time of the extension of the line segment PQ with the
plane perpendicular to n and passing through Z.
triple intersectionpoint(triple n0, triple P0, triple n1, triple P1);
Return any point on the intersection of the two planes with normals n0 and
n1 passing through points P0 and P1, respectively. If the planes are parallel,
return (infinity,infinity,infinity).
pair[] quarticroots(real a, real b, real c, real d, real e);
returns the four complex roots of the quartic equation ax4 +bx3 +cx2 +dx+e = 0.
real time(path g, real x, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)
returns the nth intersection time of path g with the vertical line through x.
real time(path g, explicit pair z, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)
returns the nth intersection time of path g with the horizontal line through
(0,z.y).
real value(path g, real x, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)
returns the nth y value of g at x.
real value(path g, explicit pair z, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)
returns the nth x value of g at y=z.y.
Chapter 8: Base modules 91

real slope(path g, real x, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)

returns the nth slope of g at x.
real slope(path g, explicit pair z, int n=0, real fuzz=-1)
returns the nth slope of g at y=z.y.
int[][] segment(bool[] b) returns the indices of consecutive true-element segments
of bool[] b.
real[] partialsum(real[] a)
returns the partial sums of a real array a.
real[] partialsum(real[] a, real[] dx)
returns the partial dx-weighted sums of a real array a.
bool increasing(real[] a, bool strict=false)
returns, if strict=false, whether i > j implies a[i] >= a[j], or if
strict=true, whether i > j implies implies a[i] > a[j].
int unique(real[] a, real x)
if the sorted array a does not contain x, insert it sequentially, returning the
index of x in the resulting array.
bool lexorder(pair a, pair b)
returns the strict lexicographical partial order of a and b.
bool lexorder(triple a, triple b)
returns the strict lexicographical partial order of a and b.

8.4 interpolate
This module implements Lagrange, Hermite, and standard cubic spline interpolation in
Asymptote, as illustrated in the example interpolate1.asy.

8.5 geometry
This module, written by Philippe Ivaldi, provides an extensive set of geometry routines,
including perpendicular symbols and a triangle structure. Link to the documentation for
the geometry module are posted here: https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/links.html,
including an extensive set of examples, https://web.archive.org/web/20201130113133/
http://www.piprime.fr/files/asymptote/geometry/, and an index:
https://web.archive.org/web/20201130113133/http://www.piprime.fr/
files/asymptote/geometry/modules/geometry.asy.index.type.html

8.6 trembling
This module, written by Philippe Ivaldi and illustrated in the example floatingdisk.asy,
allows one to draw wavy lines, as if drawn by hand.

8.7 stats
This module implements a Gaussian random number generator and a collection of statistics
routines, including histogram and leastsquares.
Chapter 8: Base modules 92

8.8 patterns
This module implements PostScript tiling patterns and includes several convenient pattern
generation routines.

8.9 markers
This module implements specialized routines for marking paths and angles. The principal
mark routine provided by this module is

markroutine markinterval(int n=1, frame f, bool rotated=false);

which centers n copies of frame f within uniformly space intervals in arclength along the
path, optionally rotated by the angle of the local tangent.

The marker (see [marker], page 109) routine can be used to construct new markers from
these predefined frames:

frame stickframe(int n=1, real size=0, pair space=0, real angle=0,

pair offset=0, pen p=currentpen);

frame circlebarframe(int n=1, real barsize=0,

real radius=0,real angle=0,
pair offset=0, pen p=currentpen,
filltype filltype=NoFill, bool above=false);

frame crossframe(int n=3, real size=0, pair space=0,

real angle=0, pair offset=0, pen p=currentpen);

frame tildeframe(int n=1, real size=0, pair space=0,

real angle=0, pair offset=0, pen p=currentpen);

For convenience, this module also constructs the markers StickIntervalMarker,

CrossIntervalMarker, CircleBarIntervalMarker, and TildeIntervalMarker from the
above frames. The example markers1.asy illustrates the use of these markers:
Chapter 8: Base modules 93

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14
a

a
15 16
a

a
a

17

This module also provides a routine for marking an angle AOB:

void markangle(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="",

int n=1, real radius=0, real space=0,
pair A, pair O, pair B, arrowbar arrow=None,
pen p=currentpen, margin margin=NoMargin,
marker marker=nomarker);

as illustrated in the example markers2.asy.

Chapter 8: Base modules 94

γ
C

−θ
θ F

D A B

8.10 map
This module creates a struct parameterized by the types specified in strings key and value,
mapping keys to values with a specified default:
import map;

mapTemplate(name="map",key="string",value="int",default="-1");

map M;

M.add("z",2);
M.add("a",3);
M.add("d",4);
write(M.lookup("a"));
write(M.lookup("y"));

8.11 tree
This module implements an example of a dynamic binary search tree.

8.12 binarytree
This module can be used to draw an arbitrary binary tree and includes an input routine for
the special case of a binary search tree, as illustrated in the example binarytreetest.asy:
import binarytree;

picture pic,pic2;

binarytree bt=binarytree(1,2,4,nil,5,nil,nil,0,nil,nil,3,6,nil,nil,7);
draw(pic,bt,condensed=false);

binarytree st=searchtree(10,5,2,1,3,4,7,6,8,9,15,13,12,11,14,17,16,18,19);
draw(pic2,st,blue,condensed=true);
Chapter 8: Base modules 95

add(pic.fit(),(0,0),10N);
add(pic2.fit(),(0,0),10S);

2 3

4 0 6 7

10

5 15

2 7 13 17

1 3 6 8 12 14 16 18

4 9 11 19

8.13 drawtree
This is a simple tree drawing module used by the example treetest.asy.

8.14 syzygy
This module automates the drawing of braids, relations, and syzygies, along with the
corresponding equations, as illustrated in the example knots.asy.

8.15 feynman
This module, contributed by Martin Wiebusch, is useful for drawing Feynman diagrams, as
illustrated by the examples eetomumu.asy and fermi.asy.
Chapter 8: Base modules 96

8.16 roundedpath
This module, contributed by Stefan Knorr, is useful for rounding the sharp corners of paths,
as illustrated in the example file roundpath.asy.

8.17 animation
This module allows one to generate animations, as illustrated by the files wheel.asy,
wavepacket.asy, and cube.asy in the animations subdirectory of the examples directory.
These animations use the ImageMagick convert program to merge multiple images into a
GIF or MPEG movie.
The related animate module, derived from the animation module, generates higher-
quality portable clickable PDF movies, with optional controls. This requires installing the
module
http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/animate/animate.sty
(version 2007/11/30 or later) in a new directory animate in the local LaTeX directory (for
example, in /usr/local/share/texmf/tex/latex/animate). On UNIX systems, one must
then execute the command texhash.
The example pdfmovie.asy in the animations directory, along with the slide
presentations slidemovies.asy and intro, illustrate the use of embedded PDF movies.
The examples inlinemovie.tex and inlinemovie3.tex show how to generate and embed
PDF movies directly within a LaTeX file (see Chapter 7 [LaTeX usage], page 85). The
member function
string pdf(fit fit=NoBox, real delay=animationdelay, string options="",
bool keep=settings.keep, bool multipage=true);
of the animate structure accepts any of the animate.sty options, as described here:
http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/animate/doc/animate.
pdf

8.18 embed
This module provides an interface to the LaTeX package (included with MikTeX)
http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/media9
for embedding movies, sounds, and 3D objects into a PDF document.
A more portable method for embedding movie files, which should work on any platform
and does not require the media9 package, is provided by using the external module instead
of embed.
Examples of the above two interfaces is provided in the file embeddedmovie.asy in the
animations subdirectory of the examples directory and in externalmovie.asy. For a
higher quality embedded movie generated directly by Asymptote, use the animate module
along with the animate.sty package to embed a portable PDF animation (see [animate],
page 96).
An example of embedding U3D code is provided in the file embeddedu3d.
Chapter 8: Base modules 97

8.19 slide
This module provides a simple yet high-quality facility for making presentation slides,
including portable embedded PDF animations (see the file slidemovies.asy). A simple
example is provided in slidedemo.asy.

8.20 MetaPost
This module provides some useful routines to help MetaPost users migrate old MetaPost
code to Asymptote. Further contributions here are welcome.
Unlike MetaPost, Asymptote does not implicitly solve linear equations and therefore
does not have the notion of a whatever unknown. The routine extension (see [extension],
page 35) provides a useful replacement for a common use of whatever: finding the
intersection point of the lines through P, Q and p, q. For less common occurrences of
whatever, one can use the built-in explicit linear equation solver solve instead.

8.21 babel
This module implements the LaTeX babel package in Asymptote. For example:
import babel;
babel("german");

8.22 labelpath
This module uses the PSTricks pstextpath macro to fit labels along a path (properly
kerned, as illustrated in the example file curvedlabel.asy), using the command
void labelpath(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, path g,
string justify=Centered, pen p=currentpen);
Here justify is one of LeftJustified, Centered, or RightJustified. The x component
of a shift transform applied to the Label is interpreted as a shift along the curve, whereas
the y component is interpreted as a shift away from the curve. All other Label transforms
are ignored. This module requires the latex tex engine and inherits the limitations of the
PSTricks \pstextpath macro.

8.23 labelpath3
This module, contributed by Jens Schwaiger, implements a 3D version of labelpath that
does not require the PSTricks package. An example is provided in curvedlabel3.asy.

8.24 annotate
This module supports PDF annotations for viewing with Adobe Reader, via the function
void annotate(picture pic=currentpicture, string title, string text,
pair position);
Annotations are illustrated in the example file annotation.asy. Currently, annotations are
only implemented for the latex (default) and tex TEX engines.
Chapter 8: Base modules 98

8.25 CAD
This module, contributed by Mark Henning, provides basic pen definitions and measurement
functions for simple 2D CAD drawings according to DIN 15. It is documented separately,
in the file CAD.pdf.

8.26 graph
This module implements two-dimensional linear and logarithmic graphs, including
automatic scale and tick selection (with the ability to override manually). A graph is a
guide (that can be drawn with the draw command, with an optional legend) constructed
with one of the following routines:
•
guide graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real f(real), real a, real b,
int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity,
interpolate join=operator --);
guide[] graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real f(real), real a, real b,
int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity, bool3 cond(real),
interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a graph using the scaling information for picture pic (see [automatic scaling],
page 115) of the function f on the interval [T(a),T(b)], sampling at n points evenly
spaced in [a,b], optionally restricted by the bool3 function cond on [a,b]. If cond is:
• true, the point is added to the existing guide;
• default, the point is added to a new guide;
• false, the point is omitted and a new guide is begun.
The points are connected using the interpolation specified by join:
• operator -- (linear interpolation; the abbreviation Straight is also accepted);
• operator .. (piecewise Bezier cubic spline interpolation; the abbreviation Spline
is also accepted);
• Hermite (standard cubic spline interpolation using boundary condition notaknot,
natural, periodic, clamped(real slopea, real slopeb)), or monotonic. The
abbreviation Hermite is equivalent to Hermite(notaknot) for nonperiodic data
and Hermite(periodic) for periodic data).
•
guide graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real x(real), real y(real),
real a, real b, int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity,
interpolate join=operator --);
guide[] graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real x(real), real y(real),
real a, real b, int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity,
bool3 cond(real), interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the parametrized
function (x(t),y(t)) for t in the interval [T(a),T(b)], sampling at n points evenly spaced
in [a,b], optionally restricted by the bool3 function cond on [a,b], using the given
interpolation type.
Chapter 8: Base modules 99

•
guide graph(picture pic=currentpicture, pair z(real), real a, real b,
int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity,
interpolate join=operator --);
guide[] graph(picture pic=currentpicture, pair z(real), real a, real b,
int n=ngraph, real T(real)=identity, bool3 cond(real),
interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the parametrized
function z(t) for t in the interval [T(a),T(b)], sampling at n points evenly spaced in [a,b],
optionally restricted by the bool3 function cond on [a,b], using the given interpolation
type.
•
guide graph(picture pic=currentpicture, pair[] z,
interpolate join=operator --);
guide[] graph(picture pic=currentpicture, pair[] z, bool3[] cond,
interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the elements of the
array z, optionally restricted to those indices for which the elements of the boolean
array cond are true, using the given interpolation type.
•
guide graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real[] x, real[] y,
interpolate join=operator --);
guide[] graph(picture pic=currentpicture, real[] x, real[] y,
bool3[] cond, interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the elements of the
arrays (x,y), optionally restricted to those indices for which the elements of the boolean
array cond are true, using the given interpolation type.
•
guide polargraph(picture pic=currentpicture, real f(real), real a,
real b, int n=ngraph, interpolate join=operator --);
Returns a polar-coordinate graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the
function f on the interval [a,b], sampling at n evenly spaced points, with the given
interpolation type.
•
guide polargraph(picture pic=currentpicture, real[] r, real[] theta,
interpolate join=operator--);
Returns a polar-coordinate graph using the scaling information for picture pic of the
elements of the arrays (r,theta), using the given interpolation type.

An axis can be drawn on a picture with one of the following commands:

•
void xaxis(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", axis axis=YZero,
Chapter 8: Base modules 100

real xmin=-infinity, real xmax=infinity, pen p=currentpen,

ticks ticks=NoTicks, arrowbar arrow=None, bool above=false);
Draw an x axis on picture pic from x=xmin to x=xmax using pen p, optionally labelling
it with Label L. The relative label location along the axis (a real number from [0,1])
defaults to 1 (see [Label], page 18), so that the label is drawn at the end of the axis.
An infinite value of xmin or xmax specifies that the corresponding axis limit will be
automatically determined from the picture limits. The optional arrow argument takes
the same values as in the draw command (see [arrows], page 14). The axis is drawn
before any existing objects in pic unless above=true. The axis placement is determined
by one of the following axis types:
YZero(bool extend=true)
Request an x axis at y=0 (or y=1 on a logarithmic axis) extending to the
full dimensions of the picture, unless extend=false.
YEquals(real Y, bool extend=true)
Request an x axis at y=Y extending to the full dimensions of the picture,
unless extend=false.
Bottom(bool extend=false)
Request a bottom axis.
Top(bool extend=false)
Request a top axis.
BottomTop(bool extend=false)
Request a bottom and top axis.
Custom axis types can be created by following the examples in the module graph.asy.
One can easily override the default values for the standard axis types:
import graph;

YZero=new axis(bool extend=true) {

return new void(picture pic, axisT axis) {
real y=pic.scale.x.scale.logarithmic ? 1 : 0;
axis.value=I*pic.scale.y.T(y);
axis.position=1;
axis.side=right;
axis.align=2.5E;
axis.value2=Infinity;
axis.extend=extend;
};
};
YZero=YZero();

The default tick option is NoTicks. The options LeftTicks, RightTicks, or Ticks
can be used to draw ticks on the left, right, or both sides of the path, relative to the
direction in which the path is drawn. These tick routines accept a number of optional
arguments:
ticks LeftTicks(Label format="", ticklabel ticklabel=null,
Chapter 8: Base modules 101

bool beginlabel=true, bool endlabel=true,

int N=0, int n=0, real Step=0, real step=0,
bool begin=true, bool end=true, tickmodifier modify=None,
real Size=0, real size=0, bool extend=false,
pen pTick=nullpen, pen ptick=nullpen);
If any of these parameters are omitted, reasonable defaults will be chosen:
Label format
override the default tick label format (defaultformat, initially
"$%.4g$"), rotation, pen, and alignment (for example, LeftSide, Center,
or RightSide) relative to the axis. To enable LaTeX math mode fonts,
the format string should begin and end with $ see [format], page 29. If
the format string is trailingzero, trailing zeros will be added to the tick
labels; if the format string is "%", the tick label will be suppressed;
ticklabel
is a function string(real x) returning the label (by default,
format(format.s,x)) for each major tick value x;
bool beginlabel
include the first label;
bool endlabel
include the last label;
int N when automatic scaling is enabled (the default; see [automatic scaling],
page 115), divide a linear axis evenly into this many intervals, separated
by major ticks; for a logarithmic axis, this is the number of decades between
labelled ticks;
int n divide each interval into this many subintervals, separated by minor ticks;
real Step the tick value spacing between major ticks (if N=0);
real step the tick value spacing between minor ticks (if n=0);
bool begin
include the first major tick;
bool end include the last major tick;
tickmodifier modify;
an optional function that takes and returns a tickvalue structure having
real[] members major and minor consisting of the tick values (to allow
modification of the automatically generated tick values);
real Size the size of the major ticks (in PostScript coordinates);
real size the size of the minor ticks (in PostScript coordinates);
bool extend;
extend the ticks between two axes (useful for drawing a grid on the graph);
pen pTick an optional pen used to draw the major ticks;
pen ptick an optional pen used to draw the minor ticks.
Chapter 8: Base modules 102

For convenience, the predefined tickmodifiers OmitTick(... real[] x),

OmitTickInterval(real a, real b), and OmitTickIntervals(real[] a, real[]
b) can be used to remove specific auto-generated ticks and their labels. The
OmitFormat(string s=defaultformat ... real[] x) ticklabel can be used to
remove specific tick labels but not the corresponding ticks. The tickmodifier NoZero
is an abbreviation for OmitTick(0) and the ticklabel NoZeroFormat is an abbrevation
for OmitFormat(0).
It is also possible to specify custom tick locations with LeftTicks, RightTicks, and
Ticks by passing explicit real arrays Ticks and (optionally) ticks containing the
locations of the major and minor ticks, respectively:
ticks LeftTicks(Label format="", ticklabel ticklabel=null,
bool beginlabel=true, bool endlabel=true,
real[] Ticks, real[] ticks=new real[],
real Size=0, real size=0, bool extend=false,
pen pTick=nullpen, pen ptick=nullpen)
•
void yaxis(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", axis axis=XZero,
real ymin=-infinity, real ymax=infinity, pen p=currentpen,
ticks ticks=NoTicks, arrowbar arrow=None, bool above=false,
bool autorotate=true);
Draw a y axis on picture pic from y=ymin to y=ymax using pen p, optionally labelling
it with a Label L that is autorotated unless autorotate=false. The relative location
of the label (a real number from [0,1]) defaults to 1 (see [Label], page 18). An infinite
value of ymin or ymax specifies that the corresponding axis limit will be automatically
determined from the picture limits. The optional arrow argument takes the same values
as in the draw command (see [arrows], page 14). The axis is drawn before any existing
objects in pic unless above=true. The tick type is specified by ticks and the axis
placement is determined by one of the following axis types:
XZero(bool extend=true)
Request a y axis at x=0 (or x=1 on a logarithmic axis) extending to the
full dimensions of the picture, unless extend=false.
XEquals(real X, bool extend=true)
Request a y axis at x=X extending to the full dimensions of the picture,
unless extend=false.
Left(bool extend=false)
Request a left axis.
Right(bool extend=false)
Request a right axis.
LeftRight(bool extend=false)
Request a left and right axis.
• For convenience, the functions
void xequals(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real x,
bool extend=false, real ymin=-infinity, real ymax=infinity,
Chapter 8: Base modules 103

pen p=currentpen, ticks ticks=NoTicks, bool above=true,

arrowbar arrow=None);
and
void yequals(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real y,
bool extend=false, real xmin=-infinity, real xmax=infinity,
pen p=currentpen, ticks ticks=NoTicks, bool above=true,
arrowbar arrow=None);
can be respectively used to call yaxis and xaxis with the appropriate axis types
XEquals(x,extend) and YEquals(y,extend). This is the recommended way of
drawing vertical or horizontal lines and axes at arbitrary locations.
•
void axes(picture pic=currentpicture, Label xlabel="", Label ylabel="",
bool extend=true,
pair min=(-infinity,-infinity), pair max=(infinity,infinity),
pen p=currentpen, arrowbar arrow=None, bool above=false);
This convenience routine draws both x and y axes on picture pic from min to max,
with optional labels xlabel and ylabel and any arrows specified by arrow. The axes
are drawn on top of existing objects in pic only if above=true.
•
void axis(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", path g,
pen p=currentpen, ticks ticks, ticklocate locate,
arrowbar arrow=None, int[] divisor=new int[],
bool above=false, bool opposite=false);
This routine can be used to draw on picture pic a general axis based on an arbitrary
path g, using pen p. One can optionally label the axis with Label L and add an arrow
arrow. The tick type is given by ticks. The optional integer array divisor specifies
what tick divisors to try in the attempt to produce uncrowded tick labels. A true
value for the flag opposite identifies an unlabelled secondary axis (typically drawn
opposite a primary axis). The axis is drawn before any existing objects in pic unless
above=true. The tick locator ticklocate is constructed by the routine
ticklocate ticklocate(real a, real b, autoscaleT S=defaultS,
real tickmin=-infinity, real tickmax=infinity,
real time(real)=null, pair dir(real)=zero);
where a and b specify the respective tick values at point(g,0) and
point(g,length(g)), S specifies the autoscaling transformation, the func-
tion real time(real v) returns the time corresponding to the value v, and pair
dir(real t) returns the absolute tick direction as a function of t (zero means draw
the tick perpendicular to the axis).
• These routines are useful for manually putting ticks and labels on axes (if the variable
Label is given as the Label argument, the format argument will be used to format a
string based on the tick location):
void xtick(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", explicit pair z,
pair dir=N, string format="",
real size=Ticksize, pen p=currentpen);
Chapter 8: Base modules 104

void xtick(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real x,

pair dir=N, string format="",
real size=Ticksize, pen p=currentpen);
void ytick(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", explicit pair z,
pair dir=E, string format="",
real size=Ticksize, pen p=currentpen);
void ytick(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real y,
pair dir=E, string format="",
real size=Ticksize, pen p=currentpen);
void tick(picture pic=currentpicture, pair z,
pair dir, real size=Ticksize, pen p=currentpen);
void labelx(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", explicit pair z,
align align=S, string format="", pen p=currentpen);
void labelx(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real x,
align align=S, string format="", pen p=currentpen);
void labelx(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L,
string format="", explicit pen p=currentpen);
void labely(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", explicit pair z,
align align=W, string format="", pen p=currentpen);
void labely(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", real y,
align align=W, string format="", pen p=currentpen);
void labely(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L,
string format="", explicit pen p=currentpen);

Here are some simple examples of two-dimensional graphs:

1. This example draws a textbook-style graph of y = exp(x), with the y axis starting at
y = 0:

import graph;
size(150,0);

real f(real x) {return exp(x);}

pair F(real x) {return (x,f(x));}

draw(graph(f,-4,2,operator ..),red);

xaxis("$x$");
yaxis("$y$",0);

labely(1,E);
label("$e^x$",F(1),SE);
Chapter 8: Base modules 105

ex

2. The next example draws a scientific-style graph with a legend. The position of the
legend can be adjusted either explicitly or by using the graphical user interface (see
Chapter 11 [GUI], page 173). If an UnFill(real xmargin=0, real ymargin=xmargin)
or Fill(pen) option is specified to add, the legend will obscure any underlying objects.
Here we illustrate how to clip the portion of the picture covered by a label:

import graph;

size(400,200,IgnoreAspect);

real Sin(real t) {return sin(2pi*t);}

real Cos(real t) {return cos(2pi*t);}

draw(graph(Sin,0,1),red,"$\sin(2\pi x)$");
draw(graph(Cos,0,1),blue,"$\cos(2\pi x)$");

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));

label("LABEL",point(0),UnFill(1mm));

add(legend(),point(E),20E,UnFill);
Chapter 8: Base modules 106

1.0

0.5

sin(2πx)
y 0.0 LABEL
cos(2πx)

−0.5

−1.0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

To specify a fixed size for the graph proper, use attach:

import graph;

size(250,200,IgnoreAspect);

real Sin(real t) {return sin(2pi*t);}

real Cos(real t) {return cos(2pi*t);}

draw(graph(Sin,0,1),red,"$\sin(2\pi x)$");
draw(graph(Cos,0,1),blue,"$\cos(2\pi x)$");

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));

label("LABEL",point(0),UnFill(1mm));

attach(legend(),truepoint(E),20E,UnFill);
A legend can have multiple entries per line:
import graph;
size(8cm,6cm,IgnoreAspect);

typedef real realfcn(real);

realfcn F(real p) {
return new real(real x) {return sin(p*x);};
}

for(int i=1; i < 5; ++i)

draw(graph(F(i*pi),0,1),Pen(i),
"$\sin("+(i == 1 ? "" : (string) i)+"\pi x)$");
xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));
Chapter 8: Base modules 107

attach(legend(2),(point(S).x,truepoint(S).y),10S,UnFill);

1.0

0.5

y 0.0

−0.5

−1.0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x

sin(πx) sin(2πx)
sin(3πx) sin(4πx)

3. This example draws a graph of one array versus another (both of the same size) using
custom tick locations and a smaller font size for the tick labels on the y axis.

import graph;

size(200,150,IgnoreAspect);

real[] x={0,1,2,3};
real[] y=x^2;

draw(graph(x,y),red);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,
RightTicks(Label(fontsize(8pt)),new real[]{0,4,9}));
Chapter 8: Base modules 108

y
4

0
0 1 2 3
x

4. This example shows how to graph columns of data read from a file.
import graph;

size(200,150,IgnoreAspect);

file in=input("filegraph.dat").line();
real[][] a=in;
a=transpose(a);

real[] x=a[0];
real[] y=a[1];

draw(graph(x,y),red);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks);

y 1

0
50 70 90 110
x

5. The next example draws two graphs of an array of coordinate pairs, using frame
alignment and data markers. In the left-hand graph, the markers, constructed with
marker marker(path g, markroutine markroutine=marknodes,
pen p=currentpen, filltype filltype=NoFill,
bool above=true);
Chapter 8: Base modules 109

using the path unitcircle (see [filltype], page 50), are drawn below each node. Any
frame can be converted to a marker, using
marker marker(frame f, markroutine markroutine=marknodes,
bool above=true);
In the right-hand graph, the unit n-sided regular polygon polygon(int n) and
the unit n-point cyclic cross cross(int n, bool round=true, real r=0) (where
r is an optional “inner” radius) are used to build a custom marker frame. Here
markuniform(bool centered=false, int n, bool rotated=false) adds this frame
at n uniformly spaced points along the arclength of the path, optionally rotated by the
angle of the local tangent to the path (if centered is true, the frames will be centered
within n evenly spaced arclength intervals). Alternatively, one can use markroutine
marknodes to request that the marks be placed at each Bezier node of the path, or
markroutine markuniform(pair z(real t), real a, real b, int n) to place marks
at points z(t) for n evenly spaced values of t in [a,b].
These markers are predefined:
marker[] Mark={
marker(scale(circlescale)*unitcircle),
marker(polygon(3)),marker(polygon(4)),
marker(polygon(5)),marker(invert*polygon(3)),
marker(cross(4)),marker(cross(6)),marker(diamond),marker(plus);
};

marker[] MarkFill={
marker(scale(circlescale)*unitcircle,Fill),marker(polygon(3),Fill),
marker(polygon(4),Fill),marker(polygon(5),Fill),
marker(invert*polygon(3),Fill),marker(diamond,Fill)
};
The example also illustrates the errorbar routines:
void errorbars(picture pic=currentpicture, pair[] z, pair[] dp,
pair[] dm={}, bool[] cond={}, pen p=currentpen,
real size=0);

void errorbars(picture pic=currentpicture, real[] x, real[] y,

real[] dpx, real[] dpy, real[] dmx={}, real[] dmy={},
bool[] cond={}, pen p=currentpen, real size=0);
Here, the positive and negative extents of the error are given by the absolute values of
the elements of the pair array dp and the optional pair array dm. If dm is not specified,
the positive and negative extents of the error are assumed to be equal.
import graph;

picture pic;
real xsize=200, ysize=140;
size(pic,xsize,ysize,IgnoreAspect);

pair[] f={(5,5),(50,20),(90,90)};
Chapter 8: Base modules 110

pair[] df={(0,0),(5,7),(0,5)};

errorbars(pic,f,df,red);
draw(pic,graph(pic,f),"legend",
marker(scale(0.8mm)*unitcircle,red,FillDraw(blue),above=false));

scale(pic,true);

xaxis(pic,"$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis(pic,"$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks);
add(pic,legend(pic),point(pic,NW),20SE,UnFill);

picture pic2;
size(pic2,xsize,ysize,IgnoreAspect);

frame mark;
filldraw(mark,scale(0.8mm)*polygon(6),green,green);
draw(mark,scale(0.8mm)*cross(6),blue);

draw(pic2,graph(pic2,f),marker(mark,markuniform(5)));

scale(pic2,true);

xaxis(pic2,"$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis(pic2,"$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks);

yequals(pic2,55.0,red+Dotted);
xequals(pic2,70.0,red+Dotted);

// Fit pic to W of origin:

add(pic.fit(),(0,0),W);

// Fit pic2 to E of (5mm,0):

add(pic2.fit(),(5mm,0),E);
Chapter 8: Base modules 111

100 100
80 80
legend
60 60
y y
40 40
20 20
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100
x x

6. A custom mark routine can be also be specified:

import graph;

size(200,100,IgnoreAspect);

markroutine marks() {
return new void(picture pic=currentpicture, frame f, path g) {
path p=scale(1mm)*unitcircle;
for(int i=0; i <= length(g); ++i) {
pair z=point(g,i);
frame f;
if(i % 4 == 0) {
fill(f,p);
add(pic,f,z);
} else {
if(z.y > 50) {
pic.add(new void(frame F, transform t) {
path q=shift(t*z)*p;
unfill(F,q);
draw(F,q);
});
} else {
draw(f,p);
add(pic,f,z);
}
}
}
};
}

pair[] f={(5,5),(40,20),(55,51),(90,30)};

draw(graph(f),marker(marks()));

scale(true);
Chapter 8: Base modules 112

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks);

60
40
y
20
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
x

7. This example shows how to label an axis with arbitrary strings.

import graph;

size(400,150,IgnoreAspect);

real[] x=sequence(12);
real[] y=sin(2pi*x/12);

scale(false);

string[] month={"Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun",
"Jul","Aug","Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"};

draw(graph(x,y),red,MarkFill[0]);

xaxis(BottomTop,LeftTicks(new string(real x) {
return month[round(x % 12)];}));
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(4));

0.5

y 0

−0.5

−1
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov

8. The next example draws a graph of a parametrized curve. The calls to

xlimits(picture pic=currentpicture, real min=-infinity,
Chapter 8: Base modules 113

real max=infinity, bool crop=NoCrop);

and the analogous function ylimits can be uncommented to set the respective axes
limits for picture pic to the specified min and max values. Alternatively, the function
void limits(picture pic=currentpicture, pair min, pair max, bool crop=NoCrop);
can be used to limit the axes to the box having opposite vertices at the given pairs).
Existing objects in picture pic will be cropped to lie within the given limits if
crop=Crop. The function crop(picture pic) can be used to crop a graph to the
current graph limits.
import graph;

size(0,200);

real x(real t) {return cos(2pi*t);}

real y(real t) {return sin(2pi*t);}

draw(graph(x,y,0,1));

//limits((0,-1),(1,0),Crop);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));

1.0

0.5

y 0.0

−0.5

−1.0
−1 0 1
x
The function
guide graphwithderiv(pair f(real), pair fprime(real), real a, real b,
int n=ngraph#10);
can be used to construct the graph of the parametric function f on [a,b] with the
control points of the n Bezier segments determined by the specified derivative fprime:
Chapter 8: Base modules 114

unitsize(2cm);
import graph;
pair F(real t) {
return (1.3*t,-4.5*t^2+3.0*t+1.0);
}
pair Fprime(real t) {
return (1.3,-9.0*t+3.0);
}
path g=graphwithderiv(F,Fprime,0,0.9,4);
dot(g,red);
draw(g,arrow=Arrow(TeXHead));

The next example illustrates how one can extract a common axis scaling factor.

import graph;

axiscoverage=0.9;
size(200,IgnoreAspect);

real[] x={-1e-11,1e-11};
real[] y={0,1e6};

real xscale=round(log10(max(x)));
real yscale=round(log10(max(y)))-1;

draw(graph(x*10^(-xscale),y*10^(-yscale)),red);

xaxis("$x/10^{"+(string) xscale+"}$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y/10^{"+(string) yscale+"}$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));
Chapter 8: Base modules 115

10
9
8
7
6

y/105
5
4
3
2
1
0
−1 −0.5 0 0.5 1
x/10−11

Axis scaling can be requested and/or automatic selection of the axis limits can be
inhibited with one of these scale routines:
void scale(picture pic=currentpicture, scaleT x, scaleT y);

void scale(picture pic=currentpicture, bool xautoscale=true,

bool yautoscale=xautoscale, bool zautoscale=yautoscale);
This sets the scalings for picture pic. The graph routines accept an optional picture
argument for determining the appropriate scalings to use; if none is given, it uses those
set for currentpicture.
Two frequently used scaling routines Linear and Log are predefined in graph.
All picture coordinates (including those in paths and those given to the label and
limits functions) are always treated as linear (post-scaled) coordinates. Use
pair Scale(picture pic=currentpicture, pair z);
to convert a graph coordinate into a scaled picture coordinate.
The x and y components can be individually scaled using the analogous routines
real ScaleX(picture pic=currentpicture, real x);
real ScaleY(picture pic=currentpicture, real y);
The predefined scaling routines can be given two optional boolean arguments:
automin=false and automax=automin. These default to false but can be
respectively set to true to enable automatic selection of "nice" axis minimum and
maximum values. The Linear scaling can also take as optional final arguments a
multiplicative scaling factor and intercept (e.g. for a depth axis, Linear(-1) requests
axis reversal).
For example, to draw a log/log graph of a function, use scale(Log,Log):
import graph;

size(200,200,IgnoreAspect);

real f(real t) {return 1/t;}

Chapter 8: Base modules 116

scale(Log,Log);

draw(graph(f,0.1,10));

//limits((1,0.1),(10,0.5),Crop);

dot(Label("(3,5)",align=S),Scale((3,5)));

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks);

101

(3,5)

y 100

10−1 −1
10 100 101
x

By extending the ticks, one can easily produce a logarithmic grid:

import graph;
size(200,200,IgnoreAspect);

real f(real t) {return 1/t;}

scale(Log,Log);
draw(graph(f,0.1,10),red);
pen thin=linewidth(0.5*linewidth());
xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks(begin=false,end=false,extend=true,
ptick=thin));
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(begin=false,end=false,extend=true,
ptick=thin));
Chapter 8: Base modules 117

101

y 100

10−1 −1
10 100 101
x

One can also specify custom tick locations and formats for logarithmic axes:
import graph;

size(300,175,IgnoreAspect);
scale(Log,Log);
draw(graph(identity,5,20));
xlimits(5,20);
ylimits(1,100);
xaxis("$M/M_\odot$",BottomTop,LeftTicks(DefaultFormat,
new real[] {6,10,12,14,16,18}));
yaxis("$\nu_{\rm upp}$ [Hz]",LeftRight,RightTicks(DefaultFormat));

100
νupp [Hz]

10

1
6 10 12 14 16 18
M/M⊙

It is easy to draw logarithmic graphs with respect to other bases:

import graph;
size(200,IgnoreAspect);
Chapter 8: Base modules 118

// Base-2 logarithmic scale on y-axis:

real log2(real x) {static real log2=log(2); return log(x)/log2;}

real pow2(real x) {return 2^x;}

scaleT yscale=scaleT(log2,pow2,logarithmic=true);
scale(Linear,yscale);

real f(real x) {return 1+x^2;}

draw(graph(f,-4,4));

yaxis("$y$",ymin=1,ymax=f(5),RightTicks(Label(Fill(white))),EndArrow);
xaxis("$x$",xmin=-5,xmax=5,LeftTicks,EndArrow);

y
24

23

22

21

20
−5 0 5
x

Here is an example of "broken" linear x and logarithmic y axes that omit the segments
[3,8] and [100,1000], respectively. In the case of a logarithmic axis, the break endpoints
are automatically rounded to the nearest integral power of the base.
import graph;

size(200,150,IgnoreAspect);

// Break the x axis at 3; restart at 8:

real a=3, b=8;

// Break the y axis at 100; restart at 1000:

real c=100, d=1000;

scale(Broken(a,b),BrokenLog(c,d));
Chapter 8: Base modules 119

real[] x={1,2,4,6,10};
real[] y=x^4;

draw(graph(x,y),red,MarkFill[0]);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks(Break(a,b)));
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks(Break(c,d)));

label(rotate(90)*Break,(a,point(S).y));
label(rotate(90)*Break,(a,point(N).y));
label(Break,(point(W).x,ScaleY(c)));
label(Break,(point(E).x,ScaleY(c)));

104

≈ ≈ ≈
y
101

100
≈

2 10
x

9. Asymptote can draw secondary axes with the routines

picture secondaryX(picture primary=currentpicture, void f(picture));
picture secondaryY(picture primary=currentpicture, void f(picture));
In this example, secondaryY is used to draw a secondary linear y axis against a primary
logarithmic y axis:
import graph;
texpreamble("\def\Arg{\mathop {\rm Arg}\nolimits}");

size(10cm,5cm,IgnoreAspect);

real ampl(real x) {return 2.5/sqrt(1+x^2);}

real phas(real x) {return -atan(x)/pi;}

scale(Log,Log);
draw(graph(ampl,0.01,10));
ylimits(0.001,100);

xaxis("$\omega\tau_0$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$|G(\omega\tau_0)|$",Left,RightTicks);
Chapter 8: Base modules 120

picture q=secondaryY(new void(picture pic) {

scale(pic,Log,Linear);
draw(pic,graph(pic,phas,0.01,10),red);
ylimits(pic,-1.0,1.5);
yaxis(pic,"$\Arg G/\pi$",Right,red,
LeftTicks("$% #.1f$",
begin=false,end=false));
yequals(pic,1,Dotted);
});
label(q,"(1,0)",Scale(q,(1,0)),red);
add(q);

102 1.5
101 1.0

Arg G/π
|G(ωτ0 )|

100 0.5
10−1 (1,0) 0.0
10−2 −0.5
10−3 −2 −1.0
10 10−1 100 101
ωτ0

A secondary logarithmic y axis can be drawn like this:

import graph;

size(9cm,6cm,IgnoreAspect);
string data="secondaryaxis.csv";

file in=input(data).line().csv();

string[] titlelabel=in;
string[] columnlabel=in;

real[][] a=in;
a=transpose(a);
real[] t=a[0], susceptible=a[1], infectious=a[2], dead=a[3], larvae=a[4];
real[] susceptibleM=a[5], exposed=a[6], infectiousM=a[7];

scale(true);

draw(graph(t,susceptible,t >= 10 & t <= 15));

draw(graph(t,dead,t >= 10 & t <= 15),dashed);
Chapter 8: Base modules 121

xaxis("Time ($\tau$)",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis(Left,RightTicks);

picture secondary=secondaryY(new void(picture pic) {

scale(pic,Linear(true),Log(true));
draw(pic,graph(pic,t,infectious,t >= 10 & t <= 15),red);
yaxis(pic,Right,red,LeftTicks(begin=false,end=false));
});

add(secondary);
label(shift(5mm*N)*"Proportion of crows",point(NW),E);

Proportion of crows
0.9 100

0.7

0.5 10−1

0.3

0.1 10−2
10 11 12 13 14 15
Time (τ )

10. Here is a histogram example, which uses the stats module.

import graph;
import stats;

size(400,200,IgnoreAspect);

int n=10000;
real[] a=new real[n];
for(int i=0; i < n; ++i) a[i]=Gaussrand();

draw(graph(Gaussian,min(a),max(a)),blue);

// Optionally calculate "optimal" number of bins a la Shimazaki and Shinomoto.

int N=bins(a);

histogram(a,min(a),max(a),N,normalize=true,low=0,lightred,black,bars=true);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$dP/dx$",LeftRight,RightTicks(trailingzero));
Chapter 8: Base modules 122

0.4

dP/dx 0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3
x

11. Here is an example of reading column data in from a file and a least-squares fit, using
the stats module.
size(400,200,IgnoreAspect);

import graph;
import stats;

file fin=input("leastsquares.dat").line();

real[][] a=fin;
a=transpose(a);

real[] t=a[0], rho=a[1];

// Read in parameters from the keyboard:

//real first=getreal("first");
//real step=getreal("step");
//real last=getreal("last");

real first=100;
real step=50;
real last=700;

// Remove negative or zero values of rho:

t=rho > 0 ? t : null;
rho=rho > 0 ? rho : null;

scale(Log(true),Linear(true));

int n=step > 0 ? ceil((last-first)/step) : 0;

real[] T,xi,dxi;
Chapter 8: Base modules 123

for(int i=0; i <= n; ++i) {

real first=first+i*step;
real[] logrho=(t >= first & t <= last) ? log(rho) : null;
real[] logt=(t >= first & t <= last) ? -log(t) : null;

if(logt.length < 2) break;

// Fit to the line logt=L.m*logrho+L.b:

linefit L=leastsquares(logt,logrho);

T.push(first);
xi.push(L.m);
dxi.push(L.dm);
}

draw(graph(T,xi),blue);
errorbars(T,xi,dxi,red);

crop();

ylimits(0);

xaxis("$T$",BottomTop,LeftTicks);
yaxis("$\xi$",LeftRight,RightTicks);

0 2
10 103
T

12. Here is an example that illustrates the general axis routine.

import graph;
size(0,100);
Chapter 8: Base modules 124

path g=ellipse((0,0),1,2);

scale(true);

axis(Label("C",align=10W),g,LeftTicks(endlabel=false,8,end=false),
ticklocate(0,360,new real(real v) {
path h=(0,0)--max(abs(max(g)),abs(min(g)))*dir(v);
return intersect(g,h)[0];}));

90

135 45
C 180 0
225 315

270
13. To draw a vector field of n arrows evenly spaced along the arclength of a path, use the
routine
picture vectorfield(path vector(real), path g, int n, bool truesize=false,
pen p=currentpen, arrowbar arrow=Arrow);
as illustrated in this simple example of a flow field:
import graph;
defaultpen(1.0);

size(0,150,IgnoreAspect);

real arrowsize=4mm;
real arrowlength=2arrowsize;

typedef path vector(real);

// Return a vector interpolated linearly between a and b.

vector vector(pair a, pair b) {
return new path(real x) {
return (0,0)--arrowlength*interp(a,b,x);
};
}

real f(real x) {return 1/x;}

real epsilon=0.5;
path g=graph(f,epsilon,1/epsilon);

int n=3;
Chapter 8: Base modules 125

draw(g);
xaxis("$x$");
yaxis("$y$");

add(vectorfield(vector(W,W),g,n,true));
add(vectorfield(vector(NE,NW),(0,0)--(point(E).x,0),n,true));
add(vectorfield(vector(NE,NE),(0,0)--(0,point(N).y),n,true));

14. To draw a vector field of nx×ny arrows in box(a,b), use the routine

picture vectorfield(path vector(pair), pair a, pair b,

int nx=nmesh, int ny=nx, bool truesize=false,
real maxlength=truesize ? 0 : maxlength(a,b,nx,ny),
bool cond(pair z)=null, pen p=currentpen,
arrowbar arrow=Arrow, margin margin=PenMargin)

as illustrated in this example:

import graph;
size(100);

pair a=(0,0);
pair b=(2pi,2pi);

path vector(pair z) {return (sin(z.x),cos(z.y));}

add(vectorfield(vector,a,b));
Chapter 8: Base modules 126

15. The following scientific graphs, which illustrate many features of Asymptote’s graphics
routines, were generated from the examples diatom.asy and westnile.asy, using the
comma-separated data in diatom.csv and westnile.csv.
Chapter 8: Base modules 127

A B C

g)
in
tz
ue
(K
g
in
s

e
os

tz
g

st

to ria
in

ue
R

cy

he
tz

K
)
w

ei
ue

s auc

n
h)
ll
no

or
K

sa

ot

en . v
lm

it
ru

as
a

K
(R
m

(G

/e

on var
H
si

ri
a

si
a
is

ea

ra

le
os

cr ina
os
ut

el
tr

ne
ul
rm

p.
in

c
u
vi

cc

te

ri pu
m

sp
m

ot
fo

flo
s

ila ca
ei

os
cf
s

ra
la
on
he

er

ag a
el

a
ei
ri

ri
ri
nt

oe

oc
on

os
lla

ila
ila
na

et

ac
i

be
er

ag
ag
no

ha
ch

ul
st

Ta

Fr
Fr

Fr
A

C
A

A
A
0 2000
1998
1996 1994
1992 1990
1988
1986
1984 1982
100 1980
1978
sediment depth (cm)

1972
1970
1965
200

1961
1950
300 1940 1942
1920
1915 1910
1888

400 1763

1726
25 50 25 50 25 50 20 40 25 50 20 40 20 40 10 8
% 5 4

1.0
0.9 1. Estimate
proportion of
Susceptible bird survival

0.8 3. Determine
birds surviving
0.7 desired bird
at end of season
survival for
0.6 next season
0.5 2. Read off
4. Calculate initial
0.4 required mosquito
0.3 proportional abundance
reduction in
0.2 mosquitoes
0.1
0.0
0 10 M2 20 M1 30 40
Initial no. of mosquitoes per bird (SM0 /NB0 )
Chapter 8: Base modules 128

8.27 palette
Asymptote can also generate color density images and palettes. The following palettes are
predefined in palette.asy:
pen[] Grayscale(int NColors=256)
a grayscale palette;
pen[] Rainbow(int NColors=32766)
a rainbow spectrum;
pen[] BWRainbow(int NColors=32761)
a rainbow spectrum tapering off to black/white at the ends;
pen[] BWRainbow2(int NColors=32761)
a double rainbow palette tapering off to black/white at the ends, with a linearly
scaled intensity.
pen[] Wheel(int NColors=32766)
a full color wheel palette;
pen[] Gradient(int NColors=256 ... pen[] p)
a palette varying linearly over the specified array of pens, using NColors in each
interpolation interval;
The function cmyk(pen[] Palette) may be used to convert any of these palettes to the
CMYK colorspace.
A color density plot using palette palette can be generated from a function f(x,y) and
added to a picture pic:
bounds image(picture pic=currentpicture, real f(real, real),
range range=Full, pair initial, pair final,
int nx=ngraph, int ny=nx, pen[] palette, int divs=0,
bool antialias=false)
The function f will be sampled at nx and ny evenly spaced points over a rectangle
defined by the points initial and final, respecting the current graphical scaling of pic.
The color space is scaled according to the z axis scaling (see [automatic scaling], page 115).
If divs > 1, the palette is quantized to divs − 1 values. A bounds structure for the function
values is returned:
struct bounds {
real min;
real max;
// Possible tick intervals:
int[] divisor;
}
This information can be used for generating an optional palette bar. The palette color
space corresponds to a range of values specified by the argument range, which can be
Full, Automatic, or an explicit range Range(real min, real max). Here Full specifies a
range varying from the minimum to maximum values of the function over the sampling
interval, while Automatic selects "nice" limits. The examples fillcontour.asy and
imagecontour.asy illustrate how level sets (contour lines) can be drawn on a color density
plot (see Section 8.35 [contour], page 157).
Chapter 8: Base modules 129

A color density plot can also be generated from an explicit real[][] array data:
bounds image(picture pic=currentpicture, real[][] f, range range=Full,
pair initial, pair final, pen[] palette, int divs=0,
bool transpose=(initial.x < final.x && initial.y < final.y),
bool copy=true, bool antialias=false);
If the initial point is to the left and below the final point, by default the array indices are
interpreted according to the Cartesian convention (first index: x, second index: y) rather
than the usual matrix convention (first index: −y, second index: x).
To construct an image from an array of irregularly spaced points and an array of values
f at these points, use one of the routines
bounds image(picture pic=currentpicture, pair[] z, real[] f,
range range=Full, pen[] palette)
bounds image(picture pic=currentpicture, real[] x, real[] y, real[] f,
range range=Full, pen[] palette)
An optionally labelled palette bar may be generated with the routine
void palette(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", bounds bounds,
pair initial, pair final, axis axis=Right, pen[] palette,
pen p=currentpen, paletteticks ticks=PaletteTicks,
bool copy=true, bool antialias=false);
The color space of palette is taken to be over bounds bounds with scaling given by the
z scaling of pic. The palette orientation is specified by axis, which may be one of Right,
Left, Top, or Bottom. The bar is drawn over the rectangle from initial to final. The
argument paletteticks is a special tick type (see [ticks], page 100) that takes the following
arguments:
paletteticks PaletteTicks(Label format="", ticklabel ticklabel=null,
bool beginlabel=true, bool endlabel=true,
int N=0, int n=0, real Step=0, real step=0,
pen pTick=nullpen, pen ptick=nullpen);
The image and palette bar can be fit to a frame and added and optionally aligned to a
picture at the desired location:
size(12cm,12cm);

import graph;
import palette;

int n=256;
real ninv=2pi/n;
real[][] v=new real[n][n];

for(int i=0; i < n; ++i)

for(int j=0; j < n; ++j)
v[i][j]=sin(i*ninv)*cos(j*ninv);

pen[] Palette=BWRainbow();
Chapter 8: Base modules 130

picture bar;

bounds range=image(v,(0,0),(1,1),Palette);
palette(bar,"$A$",range,(0,0),(0.5cm,8cm),Right,Palette,
PaletteTicks("$%+#.1f$"));
add(bar.fit(),point(E),30E);

+1.0
+0.8
+0.6
+0.4
+0.2
0.0 A
−0.2
−0.4
−0.6
−0.8
−1.0

Here is an example that uses logarithmic scaling of the function values:

import graph;
import palette;

size(10cm,10cm,IgnoreAspect);

real f(real x, real y) {

return 0.9*pow10(2*sin(x/5+2*y^0.25)) + 0.1*(1+cos(10*log(y)));
}

scale(Linear,Log,Log);

pen[] Palette=BWRainbow();

bounds range=image(f,Automatic,(0,1),(100,100),nx=200,Palette);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks,above=true);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks,above=true);
Chapter 8: Base modules 131

palette("$f(x,y)$",range,(0,200),(100,250),Top,Palette,
PaletteTicks(ptick=linewidth(0.5*linewidth())));

f (x, y)
−3 −2 −1
10 10 10 100 101 102

102

y 101

100
0 20 40 60 80 100
x

One can also draw an image directly from a two-dimensional pen array or a function pen
f(int, int):
void image(picture pic=currentpicture, pen[][] data,
pair initial, pair final,
bool transpose=(initial.x < final.x && initial.y < final.y),
bool copy=true, bool antialias=false);
void image(picture pic=currentpicture, pen f(int, int), int width, int height,
pair initial, pair final,
bool transpose=(initial.x < final.x && initial.y < final.y),
bool antialias=false);
as illustrated in the following examples:
size(200);

import palette;

int n=256;
real ninv=2pi/n;
pen[][] v=new pen[n][n];
Chapter 8: Base modules 132

for(int i=0; i < n; ++i)

for(int j=0; j < n; ++j)
v[i][j]=rgb(0.5*(1+sin(i*ninv)),0.5*(1+cos(j*ninv)),0);

image(v,(0,0),(1,1));

import palette;

size(200);

real fracpart(real x) {return (x-floor(x));}

pair pws(pair z) {
pair w=(z+exp(pi*I/5)/0.9)/(1+z/0.9*exp(-pi*I/5));
return exp(w)*(w^3-0.5*I);
}

int N=512;

pair a=(-1,-1);
pair b=(0.5,0.5);
real dx=(b-a).x/N;
real dy=(b-a).y/N;

pen f(int u, int v) {

pair z=a+(u*dx,v*dy);
pair w=pws(z);
real phase=degrees(w,warn=false);
Chapter 8: Base modules 133

real modulus=w == 0 ? 0: fracpart(log(abs(w)));

return hsv(phase,1,sqrt(modulus));
}

image(f,N,N,(0,0),(300,300),antialias=true);

For convenience, the module palette also defines functions that may be used to
construct a pen array from a given function and palette:
pen[] palette(real[] f, pen[] palette);
pen[][] palette(real[][] f, pen[] palette);

8.28 three
This module fully extends the notion of guides and paths in Asymptote to three dimensions.
It introduces the new types guide3, path3, and surface. Guides in three dimensions are
specified with the same syntax as in two dimensions except that triples (x,y,z) are used
in place of pairs (x,y) for the nodes and direction specifiers. This generalization of John
Hobby’s spline algorithm is shape-invariant under three-dimensional rotation, scaling, and
shifting, and reduces in the planar case to the two-dimensional algorithm used in Asymptote,
MetaPost, and MetaFont [cf. J. C. Bowman, Proceedings in Applied Mathematics and
Mechanics, 7:1, 2010021-2010022 (2007)].
For example, a unit circle in the XY plane may be filled and drawn like this:
import three;

size(100);

path3 g=(1,0,0)..(0,1,0)..(-1,0,0)..(0,-1,0)..cycle;
draw(g);
draw(O--Z,red+dashed,Arrow3);
draw(((-1,-1,0)--(1,-1,0)--(1,1,0)--(-1,1,0)--cycle));
Chapter 8: Base modules 134

dot(g,red);

and then distorted into a saddle:

import three;

size(100,0);
path3 g=(1,0,0)..(0,1,1)..(-1,0,0)..(0,-1,1)..cycle;
draw(g);
draw(((-1,-1,0)--(1,-1,0)--(1,1,0)--(-1,1,0)--cycle));
dot(g,red);

Module three provides constructors for converting two-dimensional paths to three-

dimensional ones, and vice-versa:
path3 path3(path p, triple plane(pair)=XYplane);
path path(path3 p, pair P(triple)=xypart);
A Bezier surface, the natural two-dimensional generalization of Bezier curves, is defined
in three_surface.asy as a structure containing an array of Bezier patches. Surfaces may
drawn with one of the routines
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, surface s, int nu=1, int nv=1,
material surfacepen=currentpen, pen meshpen=nullpen,
light light=currentlight, light meshlight=nolight, string name="",
render render=defaultrender);
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, surface s, int nu=1, int nv=1,
material[] surfacepen, pen meshpen,
light light=currentlight, light meshlight=nolight, string name="",
render render=defaultrender);
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, surface s, int nu=1, int nv=1,
material[] surfacepen, pen[] meshpen=nullpens,
light light=currentlight, light meshlight=nolight, string name="",
render render=defaultrender);

The parameters nu and nv specify the number of subdivisions for drawing optional mesh
lines for each Bezier patch. The optional name parameter is used as a prefix for naming
Chapter 8: Base modules 135

the surface patches in the PRC model tree. Here material is a structure defined in three_
light.asy:
struct material {
pen[] p; // diffusepen,emissivepen,specularpen
real opacity;
real shininess;
real metallic;
real fresnel0;
}
These material properties are used to implement physically based rendering (PBR) using
light properties defined in plain_prethree.asy and three_light.asy:
struct light {
real[][] diffuse;
real[][] specular;
pen background=nullpen; // Background color of the canvas.
real specularfactor;
triple[] position; // Only directional lights are currently implemented.
}

light Viewport=light(specularfactor=3,(0.25,-0.25,1));

light White=light(new pen[] {rgb(0.38,0.38,0.45),rgb(0.6,0.6,0.67),

rgb(0.5,0.5,0.57)},specularfactor=3,
new triple[] {(-2,-1.5,-0.5),(2,1.1,-2.5),(-0.5,0,2)});

light Headlamp=light(gray(0.8),specular=gray(0.7),
specularfactor=3,dir(42,48));

currentlight=Headlamp;

light nolight;
The currentlight.background (or background member of the specified light)
can be used to set the background colour for 2D (or 3D) images. The default
background is white for HTML images and transparent for all other formats. One
can request a completely transparent background for 3D WebGL images with
currentlight.background=black+opacity(0.0);
Asymptote also supports image-based lighting with the setting settings.ibl=true.
This uses pre-rendered EXR images from the directory specified by -imageDir (which
defaults to ibl) or, for WebGL rendering, the URL specified by -imageURL (which defaults
to https://vectorgraphics.gitlab.io/asymptote/ibl). Additional rendered images
can be generated on an NVIDIA GPU using the reflect program in the cudareflect
subdirectory of the Asymptote source directory.
Sample Bezier surfaces are contained in the example files BezierSurface.asy,
teapot.asy, teapotIBL.asy, and parametricsurface.asy.
Chapter 8: Base modules 136

The structure render contains specialized rendering options documented at the

beginning of module three.
The examples elevation.asy and sphericalharmonic.asy illustrate how to
draw a surface with patch-dependent colors. The examples vertexshading.asy and
smoothelevation.asy illustrate vertex-dependent colors, which are supported by
Asymptote’s native OpenGL/WebGL renderers and the two-dimensional vector output format
(settings.render=0). Since the PRC output format does not currently support vertex
shading of Bezier surfaces, PRC patches are shaded with the mean of the four vertex colors.
A surface can be constructed from a cyclic path3 with the constructor
surface surface(path3 external, triple[] internal=new triple[],
pen[] colors=new pen[], bool3 planar=default);
and then filled:
draw(surface(unitsquare3,new triple[] {X,Y,Z,O}),red);
draw(surface(O--X{Y}..Y{-X}--cycle,new triple[] {Z}),red);
draw(surface(path3(polygon(5))),red,nolight);
draw(surface(unitcircle3),red,nolight);
draw(surface(unitcircle3,new pen[] {red,green,blue,black}),nolight);
The first example draws a Bezier patch and the second example draws a Bezier triangle.
The third and fourth examples are planar surfaces. The last example constructs a patch
with vertex-specific colors. A three-dimensional planar surface in the plane plane can be
constructed from a two-dimensional cyclic path g with the constructor
surface surface(path p, triple plane(pair)=XYplane);
and then filled:
draw(surface((0,0)--E+2N--2E--E+N..0.2E..cycle),red);
Planar Bezier surfaces patches are constructed using Orest Shardt’s bezulate routine,
which decomposes (possibly nonsimply connected) regions bounded (according to the
zerowinding fill rule) by simple cyclic paths (intersecting only at the endpoints) into
subregions bounded by cyclic paths of length 4 or less.
A more efficient routine also exists for drawing tessellations composed of many 3D
triangles, with specified vertices, and optional normals or vertex colors:
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, triple[] v, int[][] vi,
triple[] n={}, int[][] ni=vi, material m=currentpen, pen[] p={},
int[][] pi=vi, light light=currentlight);
Here, the triple array v lists the (typically distinct) vertices, while the array vi contains
integer arrays of length 3 containing the indices of the elements in v that form the vertices of
each triangle. Similarly, the arguments n and ni contain optional normal data and p and pi
contain optional pen vertex data. If more than one normal or pen is specified for a vertex,
the last one is used. An example of this tessellation facility is given in triangles.asy.
Arbitrary thick three-dimensional curves and line caps (which the OpenGL standard does
not require implementations to provide) are constructed with
tube tube(path3 p, real width, render render=defaultrender);
this returns a tube structure representing a tube of diameter width centered approximately
on g. The tube structure consists of a surface s and the actual tube center, path3 center.
Chapter 8: Base modules 137

Drawing thick lines as tubes can be slow to render, especially with the Adobe Reader
renderer. The setting thick=false can be used to disable this feature and force all lines
to be drawn with linewidth(0) (one pixel wide, regardless of the resolution). By default,
mesh and contour lines in three-dimensions are always drawn thin, unless an explicit line
width is given in the pen parameter or the setting thin is set to false. The pens thin()
and thick() defined in plain_pens.asy can also be used to override these defaults for
specific draw commands.
There are six choices for viewing 3D Asymptote output:
1. Use the native Asymptote adaptive OpenGL-based renderer (with the command-line
option -V and the default settings outformat="" and render=-1). On UNIX systems
with graphics support for multisampling, the sample width can be controlled with the
setting multisample. The ratio of physical to logical screen pixels can be specified with
the setting devicepixelratio. An initial screen position can be specified with the pair
setting position, where negative values are interpreted as relative to the corresponding
maximum screen dimension. The default settings
import settings;
leftbutton=new string[] {"rotate","zoom","shift","pan"};
middlebutton=new string[] {""};
rightbutton=new string[] {"zoom","rotateX","rotateY","rotateZ"};
wheelup=new string[] {"zoomin"};
wheeldown=new string[] {"zoomout"};
bind the mouse buttons as follows:
• Left: rotate
• Shift Left: zoom
• Ctrl Left: shift viewport
• Alt Left: pan
• Wheel Up: zoom in
• Wheel Down: zoom out
• Right: zoom
• Shift Right: rotate about the X axis
• Ctrl Right: rotate about the Y axis
• Alt Right: rotate about the Z axis
The keyboard bindings are:
• h: home
• f: toggle fitscreen
• x: spin about the X axis
• y: spin about the Y axis
• z: spin about the Z axis
• s: stop spinning
• m: rendering mode (solid/patch/mesh)
• e: export
Chapter 8: Base modules 138

• c: show camera parameters

• p: play animation
• r: reverse animation
• : step animation
• +: expand
• =: expand
• >: expand
• -: shrink
• : shrink
• <: shrink
• q: exit
• Ctrl-q: exit
2. Generate WebGL interactive vector graphics output with the the command-line option
and -f html (or the setting outformat="html"). The resulting 3D HTML file can then
be viewed directly in any modern desktop or mobile browser, or even embedded within
another web page:
<iframe src="logo3.html" width="561" height="321" frameborder="0">
</iframe>
Normally, WebGL files generated by Asymptote are dynamically remeshed to fit the
browser window dimensions. However, the setting absolute=true can be used to force
the image to be rendered at its designed size (accounting for multiple device pixels per
css pixel).
The interactive WebGL files produced by Asymptote use the default mouse and (many
of the same) key bindings as the OpenGL renderer. Zooming via the mouse wheel of a
WebGL image embedded within another page is disabled until the image is activated by
a click or touch event and will remain enabled until the ESC key is pressed.
By default, viewing the 3D HTML files generated by Asymptote requires network access
to download the AsyGL rendering library, which is normally cached by the browser for
future use. However, the setting offline=true can be used to embed this small (about
48kB) library within a stand-alone HTML file that can be viewed offline.
3. Render the scene to a specified rasterized format outformat at the resolution of n pixels
per bp, as specified by the setting render=n. A negative value of n is interpreted as
|2n| for EPS and PDF formats and |n| for other formats. The default value of render
is -1. By default, the scene is internally rendered at twice the specified resolution; this
can be disabled by setting antialias=1. High resolution rendering is done by tiling
the image. If your graphics card allows it, the rendering can be made more efficient
by increasing the maximum tile size maxtile to your screen dimensions (indicated by
maxtile=(0,0). If your video card generates unwanted black stripes in the output,
try setting the horizontal and vertical components of maxtiles to something less than
your screen dimensions. The tile size is also limited by the setting maxviewport,
which restricts the maximum width and height of the viewport. Some graphics drivers
support batch mode (-noV) rendering in an iconified window; this can be enabled with
the setting iconify=true.
Chapter 8: Base modules 139

4. Embed the 3D PRC format in a PDF file and view the resulting PDF file with
version 9.0 or later of Adobe Reader. This requires settings.outformat="pdf" and
settings.prc=true, which can be specified by the command-line options -f pdf and
-f prc, put in the Asymptote configuration file (see [configuration file], page 169), or
specified in the script before module three (or graph3) is imported. The media9
LaTeX package is also required (see Section 8.18 [embed], page 96). The example
100d.asy illustrates how one can generate a list of predefined views (see 100d.views).
A stationary preview image with a resolution of n pixels per bp can be embedded
with the setting render=n; this allows the file to be viewed with other PDF viewers.
Alternatively, the file externalprc.tex illustrates how the resulting PRC and
rendered image files can be extracted and processed in a separate LaTeX file. However,
see Chapter 7 [LaTeX usage], page 85, for an easier way to embed three-dimensional
Asymptote pictures within LaTeX. For specialized applications where only the raw
PRC file is required, specify settings.outformat="prc". The PRC specification is
available from https://web.archive.org/web/20081204104459/http://livedocs.
adobe.com/acrobat_sdk/9/Acrobat9_HTMLHelp/API_References/PRCReference/
PRC_Format_Specification/
5. Output a V3D portable compressed binary file for viewing with an external viewer
or conversion to an alternate 3D format with the Python pyv3d library. The
V3D specification and the pyv3d library are available at https://github.com/
vectorgraphics/v3d. A V3D file file.v3d may be imported and viewed by
Asymptote either by specifying file.v3d on the command line
asy -V file.v3d
or using the v3d module and importv3d function in interactive mode (or within an
Asymptote file):
import v3d;
importv3d("file.v3d");
6. Project the scene to a two-dimensional vector (EPS or PDF) format with render=0.
Only limited support for hidden surface removal, lighting, and transparency is available
with this approach (see [PostScript3D], page 146).
Automatic picture sizing in three dimensions is accomplished with double deferred
drawing. The maximal desired dimensions of the scene in each of the three dimensions
can optionally be specified with the routine
void size3(picture pic=currentpicture, real x, real y=x, real z=y,
bool keepAspect=pic.keepAspect);
A simplex linear programming problem is then solved to produce a 3D version of a frame
(actually implemented as a 3D picture). The result is then fit with another application of
deferred drawing to the viewport dimensions corresponding to the usual two-dimensional
picture size parameters. The global pair viewportmargin may be used to add horizontal
and vertical margins to the viewport dimensions. Alternatively, a minimum viewportsize
may be specified. A 3D picture pic can be explicitly fit to a 3D frame by calling
frame pic.fit3(projection P=currentprojection);
and then added to picture dest about position with
void add(picture dest=currentpicture, frame src, triple position=(0,0,0));
Chapter 8: Base modules 140

For convenience, the three module defines O=(0,0,0), X=(1,0,0), Y=(0,1,0), and
Z=(0,0,1), along with a unitcircle in the XY plane:
path3 unitcircle3=X..Y..-X..-Y..cycle;
A general (approximate) circle can be drawn perpendicular to the direction normal with
the routine
path3 circle(triple c, real r, triple normal=Z);
A circular arc centered at c with radius r from c+r*dir(theta1,phi1) to
c+r*dir(theta2,phi2), drawing counterclockwise relative to the normal vector
cross(dir(theta1,phi1),dir(theta2,phi2)) if theta2 > theta1 or if theta2 ==
theta1 and phi2 >= phi1, can be constructed with
path3 arc(triple c, real r, real theta1, real phi1, real theta2, real phi2,
triple normal=O);
The normal must be explicitly specified if c and the endpoints are colinear. If r < 0,
the complementary arc of radius |r| is constructed. For convenience, an arc centered at c
from triple v1 to v2 (assuming |v2-c|=|v1-c|) in the direction CCW (counter-clockwise)
or CW (clockwise) may also be constructed with
path3 arc(triple c, triple v1, triple v2, triple normal=O,
bool direction=CCW);
When high accuracy is needed, the routines Circle and Arc defined in graph3 may be used
instead. See [GaussianSurface], page 151, for an example of a three-dimensional circular
arc.
The representation O--O+u--O+u+v--O+v--cycle of the plane passing through point O
with normal cross(u,v) is returned by
path3 plane(triple u, triple v, triple O=O);
A three-dimensional box with opposite vertices at triples v1 and v2 may be drawn with
the function
path3[] box(triple v1, triple v2);
For example, a unit box is predefined as
path3[] unitbox=box(O,(1,1,1));
Asymptote also provides optimized definitions for the three-dimensional paths
unitsquare3 and unitcircle3, along with the surfaces unitdisk, unitplane,
unitcube, unitcylinder, unitcone, unitsolidcone, unitfrustum(real t1, real t2),
unitsphere, and unithemisphere.
These projections to two dimensions are predefined:
oblique
oblique(real angle)
The point (x,y,z) is projected to (x-0.5z,y-0.5z). If an optional real
argument is given, the negative z axis is drawn at this angle in degrees. The
projection obliqueZ is a synonym for oblique.
obliqueX
Chapter 8: Base modules 141

obliqueX(real angle)
The point (x,y,z) is projected to (y-0.5x,z-0.5x). If an optional real
argument is given, the negative x axis is drawn at this angle in degrees.
obliqueY
obliqueY(real angle)
The point (x,y,z) is projected to (x+0.5y,z+0.5y). If an optional real
argument is given, the positive y axis is drawn at this angle in degrees.
orthographic(triple camera, triple up=Z, triple target=O,
real zoom=1, pair viewportshift=0, bool showtarget=true,
bool center=false)
This projects from three to two dimensions using the view as seen at a point
infinitely far away in the direction unit(camera), orienting the camera so that,
if possible, the vector up points upwards. Parallel lines are projected to parallel
lines. The bounding volume is expanded to include target if showtarget=true.
If center=true, the target will be adjusted to the center of the bounding
volume.
orthographic(real x, real y, real z, triple up=Z, triple target=O,
real zoom=1, pair viewportshift=0, bool showtarget=true,
bool center=false)
This is equivalent to
orthographic((x,y,z),up,target,zoom,viewportshift,showtarget,center)
The routine
triple camera(real alpha, real beta);
can be used to compute the camera position with the x axis below the horizontal
at angle alpha, the y axis below the horizontal at angle beta, and the z axis
up.
perspective(triple camera, triple up=Z, triple target=O,
real zoom=1, real angle=0, pair viewportshift=0,
bool showtarget=true, bool autoadjust=true,
bool center=autoadjust)
This projects from three to two dimensions, taking account of perspective, as
seen from the location camera looking at target, orienting the camera so that,
if possible, the vector up points upwards. If autoadjust=true, the camera will
automatically be adjusted to lie outside the bounding volume for all possible
interactive rotations about target. If center=true, the target will be adjusted
to the center of the bounding volume.
perspective(real x, real y, real z, triple up=Z, triple target=O,
real zoom=1, real angle=0, pair viewportshift=0,
bool showtarget=true, bool autoadjust=true,
bool center=autoadjust)
This is equivalent to
perspective((x,y,z),up,target,zoom,angle,viewportshift,showtarget,
autoadjust,center)
Chapter 8: Base modules 142

The default projection, currentprojection, is initially set to perspective(5,4,2).

We also define standard orthographic views used in technical drawing:
projection LeftView=orthographic(-X,showtarget=true);
projection RightView=orthographic(X,showtarget=true);
projection FrontView=orthographic(-Y,showtarget=true);
projection BackView=orthographic(Y,showtarget=true);
projection BottomView=orthographic(-Z,showtarget=true);
projection TopView=orthographic(Z,showtarget=true);
The function
void addViews(picture dest=currentpicture, picture src,
projection[][] views=SixViewsUS,
bool group=true, filltype filltype=NoFill);
adds to picture dest an array of views of picture src using the layout projection[][] views.
The default layout SixViewsUS aligns the projection FrontView below TopView and above
BottomView, to the right of LeftView and left of RightView and BackView. The predefined
layouts are:
projection[][] ThreeViewsUS={{TopView},
{FrontView,RightView}};

projection[][] SixViewsUS={{null,TopView},
{LeftView,FrontView,RightView,BackView},
{null,BottomView}};

projection[][] ThreeViewsFR={{RightView,FrontView},
{null,TopView}};

projection[][] SixViewsFR={{null,BottomView},
{RightView,FrontView,LeftView,BackView},
{null,TopView}};

projection[][] ThreeViews={{FrontView,TopView,RightView}};

projection[][] SixViews={{FrontView,TopView,RightView},
{BackView,BottomView,LeftView}};

A triple or path3 can be projected to a pair or path, with project(triple, projection

P=currentprojection) or project(path3, projection P=currentprojection).
It is occasionally useful to be able to invert a projection, sending a pair z onto the plane
perpendicular to normal and passing through point:
triple invert(pair z, triple normal, triple point,
projection P=currentprojection);
A pair z on the projection plane can be inverted to a triple with the routine
triple invert(pair z, projection P=currentprojection);
Chapter 8: Base modules 143

A pair direction dir on the projection plane can be inverted to a triple direction relative
to a point v with the routine
triple invert(pair dir, triple v, projection P=currentprojection).
Three-dimensional objects may be transformed with one of the following built-in
transform3 types (the identity transformation is identity4):
shift(triple v)
translates by the triple v;
xscale3(real x)
scales by x in the x direction;
yscale3(real y)
scales by y in the y direction;
zscale3(real z)
scales by z in the z direction;
scale3(real s)
scales by s in the x, y, and z directions;
scale(real x, real y, real z)
scales by x in the x direction, by y in the y direction, and by z in the z direction;

rotate(real angle, triple v)

rotates by angle in degrees about the axis O--v;
rotate(real angle, triple u, triple v)
rotates by angle in degrees about the axis u--v;
reflect(triple u, triple v, triple w)
reflects about the plane through u, v, and w.
When not multiplied on the left by a transform3, three-dimensional TEX Labels are
drawn as Bezier surfaces directly on the projection plane:
void label(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L, triple position,
align align=NoAlign, pen p=currentpen,
light light=nolight, string name="",
render render=defaultrender, interaction interaction=
settings.autobillboard ? Billboard : Embedded)
The optional name parameter is used as a prefix for naming the label patches in the PRC
model tree. The default interaction is Billboard, which means that labels are rotated
interactively so that they always face the camera. The interaction Embedded means that
the label interacts as a normal 3D surface, as illustrated in the example billboard.asy.
Alternatively, a label can be transformed from the XY plane by an explicit transform3 or
mapped to a specified two-dimensional plane with the predefined transform3 types XY, YZ,
ZX, YX, ZY, ZX. There are also modified versions of these transforms that take an optional
argument projection P=currentprojection that rotate and/or flip the label so that it is
more readable from the initial viewpoint.
Chapter 8: Base modules 144

A transform3 that projects in the direction dir onto the plane with normal n through
point O is returned by
transform3 planeproject(triple n, triple O=O, triple dir=n);
One can use
triple normal(path3 p);
to find the unit normal vector to a planar three-dimensional path p. As illustrated in the
example planeproject.asy, a transform3 that projects in the direction dir onto the plane
defined by a planar path p is returned by
transform3 planeproject(path3 p, triple dir=normal(p));
The functions
surface extrude(path p, triple axis=Z);
surface extrude(Label L, triple axis=Z);
return the surface obtained by extruding path p or Label L along axis.
Three-dimensional versions of the path functions length, size, point, dir, accel,
radius, precontrol, postcontrol, arclength, arctime, reverse, subpath, intersect,
intersections, intersectionpoint, intersectionpoints, min, max, cyclic, and
straight are also defined.
The routine
real[] intersect(path3 p, surface s, real fuzz=-1);
returns a real array of length 3 containing the intersection times, if any, of a path p with a
surface s. The routine
real[][] intersections(path3 p, surface s, real fuzz=-1);
returns all (unless there are infinitely many) intersection times of a path p with a surface s
as a sorted array of real arrays of length 3, and
triple[] intersectionpoints(path3 p, surface s, real fuzz=-1);
returns the corresponding intersection points. Here, the computations are performed to the
absolute error specified by fuzz, or if fuzz < 0, to machine precision. The routine
real orient(triple a, triple b, triple c, triple d);
is a numerically robust computation of dot(cross(a-d,b-d),c-d), which is the
determinant
|a.x a.y a.z 1|
|b.x b.y b.z 1|
|c.x c.y c.z 1|
|d.x d.y d.z 1|
The result is negative (positive) if a, b, c appear in counterclockwise (clockwise) order
when viewed from d or zero if all four points are coplanar.
The routine
real insphere(triple a, triple b, triple c, triple d, triple e);
returns a positive (negative) value if e lies inside (outside) the sphere passing through points
a,b,c,d oriented so that dot(cross(a-d,b-d),c-d) is positive, or zero if all five points
are cospherical. The value returned is the determinant
|a.x a.y a.z a.x^2+a.y^2+a.z^2 1|
Chapter 8: Base modules 145

|b.x b.y b.z b.x^2+b.y^2+b.z^2 1|

|c.x c.y c.z c.x^2+c.y^2+c.z^2 1|
|d.x d.y d.z d.x^2+d.y^2+d.z^2 1|
|e.x e.y e.z e.x^2+e.y^2+e.z^2 1|
Here is an example showing all five guide3 connectors:
import graph3;

size(200);

currentprojection=orthographic(500,-500,500);

triple[] z=new triple[10];

z[0]=(0,100,0); z[1]=(50,0,0); z[2]=(180,0,0);

for(int n=3; n <= 9; ++n)

z[n]=z[n-3]+(200,0,0);

path3 p=z[0]..z[1]---z[2]::{Y}z[3]
&z[3]..z[4]--z[5]::{Y}z[6]
&z[6]::z[7]---z[8]..{Y}z[9];

draw(p,grey+linewidth(4mm),currentlight);

xaxis3(Label(XY()*"$x$",align=-3Y),red,above=true);
yaxis3(Label(XY()*"$y$",align=-3X),red,above=true);

Three-dimensional versions of bars or arrows can be drawn with one of the specifiers
None, Blank, BeginBar3, EndBar3 (or equivalently Bar3), Bars3, BeginArrow3, MidArrow3,
EndArrow3 (or equivalently Arrow3), Arrows3, BeginArcArrow3, EndArcArrow3 (or
equivalently ArcArrow3), MidArcArrow3, and ArcArrows3. Three-dimensional bars accept
the optional arguments (real size=0, triple dir=O). If size=O, the default bar length is
used; if dir=O, the bar is drawn perpendicular to the path and the initial viewing direction.
The predefined three-dimensional arrowhead styles are DefaultHead3, HookHead3,
TeXHead3. Versions of the two-dimensional arrowheads lifted to three-dimensional space
Chapter 8: Base modules 146

and aligned according to the initial viewpoint (or an optionally specified normal vector)
are also defined: DefaultHead2(triple normal=O), HookHead2(triple normal=O),
TeXHead2(triple normal=O). These are illustrated in the example arrows3.asy.
Module three also defines the three-dimensional margins NoMargin3, BeginMargin3,
EndMargin3, Margin3, Margins3, BeginPenMargin2, EndPenMargin2, PenMargin2,
PenMargins2, BeginPenMargin3, EndPenMargin3, PenMargin3, PenMargins3,
BeginDotMargin3, EndDotMargin3, DotMargin3, DotMargins3, Margin3, and
TrueMargin3.
The routine
void pixel(picture pic=currentpicture, triple v, pen p=currentpen,
real width=1);
can be used to draw on picture pic a pixel of width width at position v using pen p.
Further three-dimensional examples are provided in the files near_earth.asy,
conicurv.asy, and (in the animations subdirectory) cube.asy.
Limited support for projected vector graphics (effectively three-dimensional nonrendered
PostScript) is available with the setting render=0. This currently only works for piecewise
planar surfaces, such as those produced by the parametric surface routines in the graph3
module. Surfaces produced by the solids module will also be properly rendered if the
parameter nslices is sufficiently large.
In the module bsp, hidden surface removal of planar pictures is implemented using a
binary space partition and picture clipping. A planar path is first converted to a structure
face derived from picture. A face may be given to a two-dimensional drawing routine
in place of any picture argument. An array of such faces may then be drawn, removing
hidden surfaces:
void add(picture pic=currentpicture, face[] faces,
projection P=currentprojection);
Labels may be projected to two dimensions, using projection P, onto the plane passing
through point O with normal cross(u,v) by multiplying it on the left by the transform
transform transform(triple u, triple v, triple O=O,
projection P=currentprojection);
Here is an example that shows how a binary space partition may be used to draw a
two-dimensional vector graphics projection of three orthogonal intersecting planes:
size(6cm,0);
import bsp;

real u=2.5;
real v=1;

currentprojection=oblique;

path3 y=plane((2u,0,0),(0,2v,0),(-u,-v,0));
path3 l=rotate(90,Z)*rotate(90,Y)*y;
path3 g=rotate(90,X)*rotate(90,Y)*y;
Chapter 8: Base modules 147

face[] faces;
filldraw(faces.push(y),project(y),yellow);
filldraw(faces.push(l),project(l),lightgrey);
filldraw(faces.push(g),project(g),green);

add(faces);

8.29 obj
This module allows one to construct surfaces from simple obj files, as illustrated in the
example files galleon.asy and triceratops.asy.

8.30 graph3
This module implements three-dimensional versions of the functions in graph.asy. To draw
an x axis in three dimensions, use the routine
void xaxis3(picture pic=currentpicture, Label L="", axis axis=YZZero,
real xmin=-infinity, real xmax=infinity, pen p=currentpen,
ticks3 ticks=NoTicks3, arrowbar3 arrow=None, bool above=false);
Analogous routines yaxis and zaxis can be used to draw y and z axes in three dimensions.
There is also a routine for drawing all three axis:
void axes3(picture pic=currentpicture,
Label xlabel="", Label ylabel="", Label zlabel="",
bool extend=false,
triple min=(-infinity,-infinity,-infinity),
triple max=(infinity,infinity,infinity),
pen p=currentpen, arrowbar3 arrow=None);
The predefined three-dimensional axis types are
axis YZEquals(real y, real z, triple align=O, bool extend=false);
Chapter 8: Base modules 148

axis XZEquals(real x, real z, triple align=O, bool extend=false);

axis XYEquals(real x, real y, triple align=O, bool extend=false);
axis YZZero(triple align=O, bool extend=false);
axis XZZero(triple align=O, bool extend=false);
axis XYZero(triple align=O, bool extend=false);
axis Bounds(int type=Both, int type2=Both, triple align=O, bool extend=false);

The optional align parameter to these routines can be used to specify the default axis
and tick label alignments. The Bounds axis accepts two type parameters, each of which
must be one of Min, Max, or Both. These parameters specify which of the four possible
three-dimensional bounding box edges should be drawn.

The three-dimensional tick options are NoTicks3, InTicks, OutTicks, and InOutTicks.
These specify the tick directions for the Bounds axis type; other axis types inherit the
direction that would be used for the Bounds(Min,Min) axis.

Here is an example of a helix and bounding box axes with ticks and axis labels, using
orthographic projection:

import graph3;

size(0,200);
size3(200,IgnoreAspect);

currentprojection=orthographic(4,6,3);

real x(real t) {return cos(2pi*t);}

real y(real t) {return sin(2pi*t);}
real z(real t) {return t;}

path3 p=graph(x,y,z,0,2.7,operator ..);

draw(p,Arrow3);

scale(true);

xaxis3(XZ()*"$x$",Bounds,red,InTicks(Label,2,2));
yaxis3(YZ()*"$y$",Bounds,red,InTicks(beginlabel=false,Label,2,2));
zaxis3(XZ()*"$z$",Bounds,red,InTicks);
Chapter 8: Base modules 149

The next example illustrates three-dimensional x, y, and z axes, without autoscaling of

the axis limits:
import graph3;

size(0,200);
size3(200,IgnoreAspect);

currentprojection=perspective(5,2,2);

scale(Linear,Linear,Log);

xaxis3("$x$",0,1,red,OutTicks(2,2));
yaxis3("$y$",0,1,red,OutTicks(2,2));
zaxis3("$z$",1,30,red,OutTicks(beginlabel=false));
Chapter 8: Base modules 150

One can also place ticks along a general three-dimensional axis:

import graph3;

size(0,100);

path3 g=yscale3(2)*unitcircle3;
currentprojection=perspective(10,10,10);

axis(Label("C",position=0,align=15X),g,InTicks(endlabel=false,8,end=false),
ticklocate(0,360,new real(real v) {
path3 h=O--max(abs(max(g)),abs(min(g)))*dir(90,v);
return intersect(g,h)[0];},
new triple(real t) {return cross(dir(g,t),Z);}));

Surface plots of matrices and functions over the region box(a,b) in the XY plane are
also implemented:

surface surface(real[][] f, pair a, pair b, bool[][] cond={});

surface surface(real[][] f, pair a, pair b, splinetype xsplinetype,
splinetype ysplinetype=xsplinetype, bool[][] cond={});
surface surface(real[][] f, real[] x, real[] y,
splinetype xsplinetype=null, splinetype ysplinetype=xsplinetype,
bool[][] cond={})
surface surface(triple[][] f, bool[][] cond={});
surface surface(real f(pair z), pair a, pair b, int nx=nmesh, int ny=nx,
bool cond(pair z)=null);
surface surface(real f(pair z), pair a, pair b, int nx=nmesh, int ny=nx,
splinetype xsplinetype, splinetype ysplinetype=xsplinetype,
bool cond(pair z)=null);
surface surface(triple f(pair z), real[] u, real[] v,
splinetype[] usplinetype, splinetype[] vsplinetype=Spline,
bool cond(pair z)=null);
surface surface(triple f(pair z), pair a, pair b, int nu=nmesh, int nv=nu,
bool cond(pair z)=null);
surface surface(triple f(pair z), pair a, pair b, int nu=nmesh, int nv=nu,
splinetype[] usplinetype, splinetype[] vsplinetype=Spline,
bool cond(pair z)=null);
Chapter 8: Base modules 151

The final two versions draw parametric surfaces for a function f (u, v) over the parameter
space box(a,b), as illustrated in the example parametricsurface.asy. An optional
splinetype Spline may be specified. The boolean array or function cond can be used to
control which surface mesh cells are actually drawn (by default all mesh cells over box(a,b)
are drawn).

One can also construct the surface generated by rotating a path g between angle1 to
angle2 (in degrees) sampled n times about the line c--c+axis:

surface surface(triple c, path3 g, triple axis, int n=nslice,

real angle1=0, real angle2=360, pen color(int i, real j)=null);

The optional argument color(int i, real j) can be used to override the surface color at
the point obtained by rotating vertex i by angle j (in degrees).

Surface lighting is illustrated in the example files parametricsurface.asy and sinc.asy.

Lighting can be disabled by setting light=nolight, as in this example of a Gaussian surface:

import graph3;

size(200,0);

currentprojection=perspective(10,8,4);

real f(pair z) {return 0.5+exp(-abs(z)^2);}

draw((-1,-1,0)--(1,-1,0)--(1,1,0)--(-1,1,0)--cycle);

draw(arc(0.12Z,0.2,90,60,90,25),ArcArrow3);

surface s=surface(f,(-1,-1),(1,1),nx=5,Spline);

xaxis3(Label("$x$"),red,Arrow3);
yaxis3(Label("$y$"),red,Arrow3);
zaxis3(XYZero(extend=true),red,Arrow3);

draw(s,lightgray,meshpen=black+thick(),nolight,render(merge=true));

label("$O$",O,-Z+Y,red);
Chapter 8: Base modules 152

A mesh can be drawn without surface filling by specifying nullpen for the surfacepen.

A vector field of nu×nv arrows on a parametric surface f over box(a,b) can be drawn
with the routine

picture vectorfield(path3 vector(pair v), triple f(pair z), pair a, pair b,

int nu=nmesh, int nv=nu, bool truesize=false,
real maxlength=truesize ? 0 : maxlength(f,a,b,nu,nv),
bool cond(pair z)=null, pen p=currentpen,
arrowbar3 arrow=Arrow3, margin3 margin=PenMargin3)

as illustrated in the examples vectorfield3.asy and vectorfieldsphere.asy.

8.31 grid3
This module, contributed by Philippe Ivaldi, can be used for drawing 3D grids. Here is an
example (further examples can be found in grid3.asy and at https://web.archive.org/
web/20201130113133/http://www.piprime.fr/files/asymptote/grid3/):

import grid3;

size(8cm,0,IgnoreAspect);
currentprojection=orthographic(0.5,1,0.5);

scale(Linear, Linear, Log);

limits((-2,-2,1),(0,2,100));

grid3(XYZgrid);

xaxis3(Label("$x$",position=EndPoint,align=S),Bounds(Min,Min),
OutTicks());
yaxis3(Label("$y$",position=EndPoint,align=S),Bounds(Min,Min),OutTicks());
zaxis3(Label("$z$",position=EndPoint,align=(-1,0.5)),Bounds(Min,Min),
OutTicks(beginlabel=false));
Chapter 8: Base modules 153

8.32 solids
This solid geometry module defines a structure revolution that can be used to fill and
draw surfaces of revolution. The following example uses it to display the outline of a
circular cylinder of radius 1 with axis O--1.5unit(Y+Z) with perspective projection:
import solids;

size(0,100);

revolution r=cylinder(O,1,1.5,Y+Z);
draw(r,heavygreen);

Further illustrations are provided in the example files cylinder.asy, cones.asy,

hyperboloid.asy, and torus.asy.
The structure skeleton contains the three-dimensional wireframe used to visualize a
volume of revolution:
struct skeleton {
Chapter 8: Base modules 154

struct curve {
path3[] front;
path3[] back;
}
// transverse skeleton (perpendicular to axis of revolution)
curve transverse;
// longitudinal skeleton (parallel to axis of revolution)
curve longitudinal;
}

8.33 tube
This module extends the tube surfaces constructed in three_arrows.asy to arbitrary cross
sections, colors, and spine transformations. The routine
surface tube(path3 g, coloredpath section,
transform T(real)=new transform(real t) {return identity();},
real corner=1, real relstep=0);
draws a tube along g with cross section section, after applying the transformation T(t)
at point(g,t). The parameter corner controls the number of elementary tubes at the
angular points of g. A nonzero value of relstep specifies a fixed relative time step (in
the sense of relpoint(g,t)) to use in constructing elementary tubes along g. The type
coloredpath is a generalization of path to which a path can be cast:
struct coloredpath
{
path p;
pen[] pens(real);
int colortype=coloredSegments;
}
Here p defines the cross section and the method pens(real t) returns an array of pens
(interpreted as a cyclic array) used for shading the tube patches at relpoint(g,t). If
colortype=coloredSegments, the tube patches are filled as if each segment of the section
was colored with the pen returned by pens(t), whereas if colortype=coloredNodes, the
tube components are vertex shaded as if the nodes of the section were colored.
A coloredpath can be constructed with one of the routines:
coloredpath coloredpath(path p, pen[] pens(real),
int colortype=coloredSegments);
coloredpath coloredpath(path p, pen[] pens=new pen[] {currentpen},
int colortype=coloredSegments);
coloredpath coloredpath(path p, pen pen(real));
In the second case, the pens are independent of the relative time. In the third case, the
array of pens contains only one pen, which depends of the relative time.
The casting of path to coloredpath allows the use of a path instead of a coloredpath;
in this case the shading behaviour is the default shading behavior for a surface.
An example of tube is provided in the file trefoilknot.asy. Further examples can
be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20201130113133/http://www.piprime.fr/
files/asymptote/tube.
Chapter 8: Base modules 155

8.34 flowchart
This module provides routines for drawing flowcharts. The primary structure is a block,
which represents a single block on the flowchart. The following eight functions return a
position on the appropriate edge of the block, given picture transform t:
pair block.top(transform t=identity());
pair block.left(transform t=identity());
pair block.right(transform t=identity());
pair block.bottom(transform t=identity());
pair block.topleft(transform t=identity());
pair block.topright(transform t=identity());
pair block.bottomleft(transform t=identity());
pair block.bottomright(transform t=identity());
To obtain an arbitrary position along the boundary of the block in user coordinates, use:
pair block.position(real x, transform t=identity());
The center of the block in user coordinates is stored in block.center and the block size in
PostScript coordinates is given by block.size.
A frame containing the block is returned by
frame block.draw(pen p=currentpen);
The following block generation routines accept a Label, string, or frame for their object
argument:
rectangular block with an optional header (and padding dx around header and body):
block rectangle(object header, object body, pair center=(0,0),
pen headerpen=mediumgray, pen bodypen=invisible,
pen drawpen=currentpen,
real dx=3, real minheaderwidth=minblockwidth,
real minheaderheight=minblockwidth,
real minbodywidth=minblockheight,
real minbodyheight=minblockheight);
block rectangle(object body, pair center=(0,0),
pen fillpen=invisible, pen drawpen=currentpen,
real dx=3, real minwidth=minblockwidth,
real minheight=minblockheight);
parallelogram block:
block parallelogram(object body, pair center=(0,0),
pen fillpen=invisible, pen drawpen=currentpen,
real dx=3, real slope=2,
real minwidth=minblockwidth,
real minheight=minblockheight);
diamond-shaped block:
block diamond(object body, pair center=(0,0),
pen fillpen=invisible, pen drawpen=currentpen,
real ds=5, real dw=1,
real height=20, real minwidth=minblockwidth,
real minheight=minblockheight);
Chapter 8: Base modules 156

circular block:
block circle(object body, pair center=(0,0), pen fillpen=invisible,
pen drawpen=currentpen, real dr=3,
real mindiameter=mincirclediameter);
rectangular block with rounded corners:
block roundrectangle(object body, pair center=(0,0),
pen fillpen=invisible, pen drawpen=currentpen,
real ds=5, real dw=0, real minwidth=minblockwidth,
real minheight=minblockheight);
rectangular block with beveled edges:
block bevel(object body, pair center=(0,0), pen fillpen=invisible,
pen drawpen=currentpen, real dh=5, real dw=5,
real minwidth=minblockwidth, real minheight=minblockheight);
To draw paths joining the pairs in point with right-angled lines, use the routine:
path path(pair point[] ... flowdir dir[]);
The entries in dir identify whether successive segments between the pairs specified by point
should be drawn in the Horizontal or Vertical direction.
Here is a simple flowchart example (see also the example controlsystem.asy):
size(0,300);

import flowchart;

block block1=rectangle(Label("Example",magenta),
pack(Label("Start:",heavygreen),"",Label("$A:=0$",blue),
"$B:=1$"),(-0.5,3),palegreen,paleblue,red);
block block2=diamond(Label("Choice?",blue),(0,2),palegreen,red);
block block3=roundrectangle("Do something",(-1,1));
block block4=bevel("Don't do something",(1,1));
block block5=circle("End",(0,0));

draw(block1);
draw(block2);
draw(block3);
draw(block4);
draw(block5);

add(new void(picture pic, transform t) {

blockconnector operator --=blockconnector(pic,t);
// draw(pic,block1.right(t)--block2.top(t));
block1--Right--Down--Arrow--block2;
block2--Label("Yes",0.5,NW)--Left--Down--Arrow--block3;
block2--Right--Label("No",0.5,NE)--Down--Arrow--block4;
block4--Down--Left--Arrow--block5;
block3--Down--Right--Arrow--block5;
});
Chapter 8: Base modules 157

Example
Start:
A := 0
B := 1

Yes No
Choice?

Do something Don’t do something

End

8.35 contour
This module draws contour lines. To construct contours corresponding to the values in a
real array c for a function f on box(a,b), use the routine
guide[][] contour(real f(real, real), pair a, pair b,
real[] c, int nx=ngraph, int ny=nx,
interpolate join=operator --, int subsample=1);
The integers nx and ny define the resolution. The default resolution, ngraph x ngraph
(here ngraph defaults to 100) can be increased for greater accuracy. The default
interpolation operator is operator -- (linear). Spline interpolation (operator ..) may
produce smoother contours but it can also lead to overshooting. The subsample parameter
indicates the number of interior points that should be used to sample contours within each
1 x 1 box; the default value of 1 is usually sufficient.
To construct contours for an array of data values on a uniform two-dimensional lattice
on box(a,b), use
guide[][] contour(real[][] f, pair a, pair b, real[] c,
interpolate join=operator --, int subsample=1);
To construct contours for an array of data values on a nonoverlapping regular mesh
specified by the two-dimensional array z,
guide[][] contour(pair[][] z, real[][] f, real[] c,
interpolate join=operator --, int subsample=1);
Chapter 8: Base modules 158

To construct contours for an array of values f specified at irregularly positioned points z,

use the routine
guide[][] contour(pair[] z, real[] f, real[] c, interpolate join=operator --);
The contours themselves can be drawn with one of the routines
void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, Label[] L=new Label[],
guide[][] g, pen p=currentpen);

void draw(picture pic=currentpicture, Label[] L=new Label[],

guide[][] g, pen[] p);
The following simple example draws the contour at value 1 for the function z = x2 + y 2 ,
which is a unit circle:
import contour;
size(75);

real f(real a, real b) {return a^2+b^2;}

draw(contour(f,(-1,-1),(1,1),new real[] {1}));

The next example draws and labels multiple contours for the function z = x2 − y 2 with
the resolution 100 x 100, using a dashed pen for negative contours and a solid pen for
positive (and zero) contours:
import contour;

size(200);

real f(real x, real y) {return x^2-y^2;}

int n=10;
real[] c=new real[n];
for(int i=0; i < n; ++i) c[i]=(i-n/2)/n;

pen[] p=sequence(new pen(int i) {

return (c[i] >= 0 ? solid : dashed)+fontsize(6pt);
},c.length);

Label[] Labels=sequence(new Label(int i) {

return Label(c[i] != 0 ? (string) c[i] : "",Relative(unitrand()),(0,0),
UnFill(1bp));
},c.length);
Chapter 8: Base modules 159

draw(Labels,contour(f,(-1,-1),(1,1),c),p);

-0.1 -0.5

-0.3
-0.2
-0.4

0.2
0.3
0.1

0.4

0.4

0.1
0.3
0.2

-0.4
-0.2
-0.3
-0.1 -0.5

The next examples illustrates how contour lines can be drawn on color density images,
with and without palette quantization:
import graph;
import palette;
import contour;

size(10cm,10cm);

pair a=(0,0);
pair b=(2pi,2pi);

real f(real x, real y) {return cos(x)*sin(y);}

int N=200;
int Divs=10;
int divs=1;
int n=Divs*divs;

defaultpen(1bp);
pen Tickpen=black;
pen tickpen=gray+0.5*linewidth(currentpen);
pen[] Palette=quantize(BWRainbow(),n);

bounds range=image(f,Automatic,a,b,3N,Palette,n);

real[] Cvals=uniform(range.min,range.max,Divs);
draw(contour(f,a,b,Cvals,N,operator --),Tickpen+squarecap+beveljoin);
Chapter 8: Base modules 160

// Major contours
real[] Cvals=uniform(range.min,range.max,Divs);
draw(contour(f,a,b,Cvals,N,operator --),Tickpen+squarecap+beveljoin);

// Minor contours (if divs > 1)

real[] cvals;
for(int i=0; i < Cvals.length-1; ++i)
cvals.append(uniform(Cvals[i],Cvals[i+1],divs)[1:divs]);
draw(contour(f,a,b,cvals,N,operator --),tickpen);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks,above=true);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks,above=true);

palette("$f(x,y)$",range,point(SE)+(0.5,0),point(NE)+(1,0),Right,Palette,
PaletteTicks("$%+#0.1f$",N=Divs,n=divs,Tickpen,tickpen));

+1.0
6
+0.8
5 +0.6
+0.4
4
+0.2

f (x, y)
y 0.0
3
−0.2
2 −0.4
−0.6
1
−0.8
0 −1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x
import graph;
import palette;
import contour;

size(10cm,10cm);

pair a=(0,0);
pair b=(2pi,2pi);

real f(real x, real y) {return cos(x)*sin(y);}

int N=200;
int Divs=10;
Chapter 8: Base modules 161

int divs=1;

defaultpen(1bp);
pen Tickpen=black;
pen tickpen=gray+0.5*linewidth(currentpen);
pen[] Palette=BWRainbow();

bounds range=image(f,Automatic,a,b,N,Palette);

// Major contours
real[] Cvals=uniform(range.min,range.max,Divs);
draw(contour(f,a,b,Cvals,N,operator --),Tickpen+squarecap+beveljoin);

// Minor contours (if divs > 1)

real[] cvals;
for(int i=0; i < Cvals.length-1; ++i)
cvals.append(uniform(Cvals[i],Cvals[i+1],divs)[1:divs]);
draw(contour(f,a,b,cvals,N,operator --),tickpen+squarecap+beveljoin);

xaxis("$x$",BottomTop,LeftTicks,above=true);
yaxis("$y$",LeftRight,RightTicks,above=true);

palette("$f(x,y)$",range,point(SE)+(0.5,0),point(NE)+(1,0),Right,Palette,
PaletteTicks("$%+#0.1f$",N=Divs,n=divs,Tickpen,tickpen));

+1.0
6
+0.8
5 +0.6
+0.4
4
+0.2
f (x, y)

y 0.0
3
−0.2
2 −0.4
−0.6
1
−0.8
0 −1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
x

Finally, here is an example that illustrates the construction of contours from irregularly
spaced data:
import contour;
Chapter 8: Base modules 162

size(200);

int n=100;

real f(real a, real b) {return a^2+b^2;}

srand(1);

real r() {return 1.1*(rand()/randMax*2-1);}

pair[] points=new pair[n];

real[] values=new real[n];

for(int i=0; i < n; ++i) {

points[i]=(r(),r());
values[i]=f(points[i].x,points[i].y);
}

draw(contour(points,values,new real[]{0.25,0.5,1},operator ..),blue);

In the above example, the contours of irregularly spaced data are constructed by first
creating a triangular mesh from an array z of pairs:
int[][] triangulate(pair[] z);
size(200);
int np=100;
pair[] points;

real r() {return 1.2*(rand()/randMax*2-1);}

Chapter 8: Base modules 163

for(int i=0; i < np; ++i)

points.push((r(),r()));

int[][] trn=triangulate(points);

for(int i=0; i < trn.length; ++i) {

draw(points[trn[i][0]]--points[trn[i][1]]);
draw(points[trn[i][1]]--points[trn[i][2]]);
draw(points[trn[i][2]]--points[trn[i][0]]);
}

for(int i=0; i < np; ++i)

dot(points[i],red);

The example Gouraudcontour.asy illustrates how to produce color density images

over such irregular triangular meshes. Asymptote uses a robust version of Paul Bourke’s
Delaunay triangulation algorithm based on the public-domain exact arithmetic predicates
written by Jonathan Shewchuk.

8.36 contour3
This module draws surfaces described as the null space of real-valued functions of (x, y, z)
or real[][][] matrices. Its usage is illustrated in the example file magnetic.asy.

8.37 smoothcontour3
This module, written by Charles Staats, draws implicitly defined surfaces with smooth
appearance. The purpose of this module is similar to that of contour3: given a real-valued
function f (x, y, z), construct the surface described by the equation f (x, y, z) = 0. The
smoothcontour3 module generally produces nicer results than contour3, but takes longer
to compile. Additionally, the algorithm assumes that the function and the surface are both
smooth; if they are not, then contour3 may be a better choice.
Chapter 8: Base modules 164

To construct the null surface of a function f(triple) or ff(real,real,real) over

box(a,b), use the routine
surface implicitsurface(real f(triple)=null,
real ff(real,real,real)=null,
triple a,
triple b,
int n=nmesh,
bool keyword overlapedges=false,
int keyword nx=n,
int keyword ny=n,
int keyword nz=n,
int keyword maxdepth=8,
bool usetriangles=true);
The optional parameter overlapedges attempts to compensate for an artifact that can
cause the renderer to “see through” the boundary between patches. Although it defaults
to false, it should usually be set to true. The example genustwo.asy illustrates the
use of this function. Additional examples, together with a more in-depth explanation of
the module’s usage and pitfalls, are available at https://github.com/charlesstaats/
smoothcontour3.

8.38 slopefield
To draw a slope field for the differential equation dy/dx = f (x, y) (or dy/dx = f (x)), use:
picture slopefield(real f(real,real), pair a, pair b,
int nx=nmesh, int ny=nx,
real tickfactor=0.5, pen p=currentpen,
arrowbar arrow=None);
Here, the points a and b are the lower left and upper right corners of the rectangle in which
the slope field is to be drawn, nx and ny are the respective number of ticks in the x and
y directions, tickfactor is the fraction of the minimum cell dimension to use for drawing
ticks, and p is the pen to use for drawing the slope fields. The return value is a picture that
can be added to currentpicture via the add(picture) command.
The function
path curve(pair c, real f(real,real), pair a, pair b);
takes a point (c) and a slope field-defining function f and returns, as a path, the curve
passing through that point. The points a and b represent the rectangular boundaries over
which the curve is interpolated.
Both slopefield and curve alternatively accept a function real f(real) that depends
on x only, as seen in this example:
import slopefield;

size(200);

real func(real x) {return 2x;}

add(slopefield(func,(-3,-3),(3,3),20));
Chapter 8: Base modules 165

draw(curve((0,0),func,(-3,-3),(3,3)),red);

8.39 ode
The ode module, illustrated in the example odetest.asy, implements a number of explicit
numerical integration schemes for ordinary differential equations.
 166

9 Command-line options
Type asy -h to see the full list of command-line options supported by Asymptote:
Usage: ../asy [options] [file ...]

Options (negate boolean options by replacing - with -no):

-GPUblockSize n Compute shader block size [8]

-GPUcompress Compress GPU transparent fragment counts [false]
-GPUindexing Compute indexing partial sums on GPU [true]
-GPUinterlock Use fragment shader interlock [true]
-GPUlocalSize n Compute shader local size [256]
-V,-View View output; command-line only
-absolute Use absolute WebGL dimensions [false]
-a,-align C|B|T|Z Center, Bottom, Top, or Zero page alignment [C]
-aligndir pair Directional page alignment (overrides align) [(0,0)]
-animating [false]
-antialias n Antialiasing width for rasterized output [2]
-auto3D Automatically activate 3D scene [true]
-autobillboard 3D labels always face viewer by default [true]
-autoimport str Module to automatically import
-autoplain Enable automatic importing of plain [true]
-autoplay Autoplay 3D animations [false]
-autorotate Enable automatic PDF page rotation [false]
-axes3 Show 3D axes in PDF output [true]
-batchMask Mask fpu exceptions in batch mode [false]
-batchView View output in batch mode [false]
-bw Convert all colors to black and white false
-cd directory Set current directory; command-line only
-cmyk Convert rgb colors to cmyk false
-c,-command str Command to autoexecute
-compact Conserve memory at the expense of speed false
-compress Compress images in PDF output [true]
-convertOptions str []
-d,-debug Enable debugging messages [false]
-devicepixelratio n Ratio of physical to logical pixels [1]
-digits n Default output file precision [7]
-divisor n Garbage collect using purge(divisor=n) [2]
-dvipsOptions str []
-dvisvgmMultipleFiles dvisvgm supports multiple files [true]
-dvisvgmOptions str []
-embed Embed rendered preview image [true]
-e,-environment Show summary of environment settings; command-line only
-exitonEOF Exit interactive mode on EOF [true]
-fitscreen Fit rendered image to screen [true]
-framerate frames/s Animation speed [30]
-glOptions str []
Chapter 9: Command-line options 167

-globalread Allow read from other directory true

-globalwrite Allow write to other directory false
-gray Convert all colors to grayscale false
-gsOptions str []
-h,-help Show summary of options; command-line only
-historylines n Retain n lines of history [1000]
-htmlviewerOptions str
[]
-hyperrefOptions str [setpagesize=false,unicode,pdfborder=0 0 0]
-ibl Enable environment map image-based lighting [false]
-iconify Iconify rendering window [false]
-image str Environment image name [snowyField]
-imageDir str Environment image library directory [ibl]
-inlineimage Generate inline embedded image [false]
-inlinetex Generate inline TeX code [false]
-inpipe n Input pipe [-1]
-interactiveMask Mask fpu exceptions in interactive mode [true]
-interactiveView View output in interactive mode [true]
-interactiveWrite Write expressions entered at the prompt to stdout [true]
-interrupt [false]
-k,-keep Keep intermediate files [false]
-keepaux Keep intermediate LaTeX .aux files [false]
-level n Postscript level [3]
-l,-listvariables List available global functions and variables [false]
-localhistory Use a local interactive history file [false]
-loop Loop 3D animations [false]
-lossy Use single precision for V3D reals [false]
-lsp Interactive mode for the Language Server Protocol [false]
-m,-mask Mask fpu exceptions; command-line only
-maxtile pair Maximum rendering tile size [(1024,768)]
-maxviewport pair Maximum viewport size [(0,0)]
-multiline Input code over multiple lines at the prompt [false]
-multipleView View output from multiple batch-mode files [false]
-multisample n Multisampling width for screen images [4]
-offline Produce offline html files [false]
-O,-offset pair PostScript offset [(0,0)]
-f,-outformat format Convert each output file to specified format
-o,-outname name Alternative output directory/filename
-outpipe n Output pipe [-1]
-paperheight bp Default page height [0]
-paperwidth bp Default page width [0]
-p,-parseonly Parse file [false]
-pdfreload Automatically reload document in pdfviewer [false]
-pdfreloadOptions str []
-pdfreloaddelay usec Delay before attempting initial pdf reload [750000]
-pdfviewerOptions str []
-position pair Initial 3D rendering screen position [(0,0)]
Chapter 9: Command-line options 168

-prc Embed 3D PRC graphics in PDF output [false]

-prerender resolution Prerender V3D objects (0 implies vector output) [0]
-prompt str Prompt [> ]
-prompt2 str Continuation prompt for multiline input [..]
-psviewerOptions str []
-q,-quiet Suppress welcome text and noninteractive stdout [false]
-render n Render 3D graphics using n pixels per bp (-1=auto) [-1]
-resizestep step Resize step [1.2]
-reverse reverse 3D animations [false]
-rgb Convert cmyk colors to rgb false
-safe Disable system call true
-scroll n Scroll standard output n lines at a time [0]
-shiftHoldDistance n WebGL touch screen distance limit for shift mode [20]
-shiftWaitTime ms WebGL touch screen shift mode delay [200]
-spinstep deg/s Spin speed [60]
-svgemulation Emulate unimplemented SVG shading [true]
-tabcompletion Interactive prompt auto-completion [true]
-tex engine latex|pdflatex|xelatex|lualatex|tex|pdftex|luatex|context|none [latex
-thick Render thick 3D lines [true]
-thin Render thin 3D lines [true]
-threads Use POSIX threads for 3D rendering [true]
-toolbar Show 3D toolbar in PDF output [true]
-s,-translate Show translated virtual machine code [false]
-twice Run LaTeX twice (to resolve references) [false]
-twosided Use two-sided 3D lighting model for rendering [true]
-u,-user str General purpose user string
-v,-verbose Increase verbosity level (can specify multiple times) 0
-version Show version; command-line only
-vibrateTime ms WebGL shift mode vibrate duration [25]
-viewportmargin pair Horizontal and vertical 3D viewport margin [(0.5,0.5)]
-wait Wait for child processes to finish before exiting [false]
-warn str Enable warning; command-line only
-webgl2 Use webgl2 if available [false]
-where Show where listed variables are declared [false]
-wsl Run asy under the Windows Subsystem for Linux. [false]
-xasy Interactive mode for xasy [false]
-zoomPinchCap limit WebGL maximum zoom pinch [100]
-zoomPinchFactor n WebGL zoom pinch sensitivity [10]
-zoomfactor factor Zoom step factor [1.05]
-zoomstep step Mouse motion zoom step [0.1]

All boolean options can be negated by prepending no to the option name.

If no arguments are given, Asymptote runs in interactive mode (see Chapter 10
[Interactive mode], page 171). In this case, the default output file is out.eps.
If - is given as the file argument, Asymptote reads from standard input.
If multiple files are specified, they are treated as separate Asymptote runs.
Chapter 9: Command-line options 169

If the string autoimport is nonempty, a module with this name is automatically imported
for each run as the final step in loading module plain.
Default option values may be entered as Asymptote code in a configuration file named
config.asy (or the file specified by the environment variable ASYMPTOTE_CONFIG or -config
option). Asymptote will look for this file in its usual search path (see Section 2.5 [Search
paths], page 6). Typically the configuration file is placed in the .asy directory in the user’s
home directory (%USERPROFILE%\.asy under MSDOS). Configuration variables are accessed
using the long form of the option names:
import settings;
outformat="pdf";
batchView=false;
interactiveView=true;
batchMask=false;
interactiveMask=true;
Command-line options override these defaults. Most configuration variables may
also be changed at runtime. The advanced configuration variables dvipsOptions,
hyperrefOptions, convertOptions, gsOptions, htmlviewerOptions, psviewerOptions,
pdfviewerOptions, pdfreloadOptions, glOptions, and dvisvgmOptions allow
specialized options to be passed as a string to the respective applications or libraries. The
default value of hyperrefOptions is setpagesize=false,unicode,pdfborder=0 0 0.
If you insert
import plain;
settings.autoplain=true;
at the beginning of the configuration file, it can contain arbitrary Asymptote code.
The default output format is EPS for the (default) latex and tex tex engine and PDF for
the pdflatex, xelatex, context, luatex, and lualatex tex engines. Alternative output
formats may be produced using the -f option (or outformat setting).
To produce SVG output, you will need dvisvgm (version 2.6.3 or later) from https://
dvisvgm.de. You might need to adjust the configuration variable libgs to point to the
location of your Ghostscript library libgs.so (or to an empty string, depending on how
dvisvgm was configured). The 2.13.1 version (or later) of dvisvgm can display SVG output
(used by the xasy editor) for embedded EPS, PDF, PNG, and JPEG images included with
the graphic() function.
Asymptote can also produce any output format supported by the ImageMagick
convert program (version 6.3.5 or later recommended; an Invalid Parameter error
message indicates that the MSDOS utility convert is being used instead of the one that
comes with ImageMagick). The optional setting -render n requests an output resolution
of n pixels per bp. Antialiasing is controlled by the parameter antialias, which by
default specifies a sampling width of 2 pixels. To give other options to convert, use the
convertOptions setting or call convert manually. This example emulates how Asymptote
produces antialiased tiff output at one pixel per bp:
asy -o - venn | convert -alpha Off -density 144x144 -geometry 50%x eps:- venn.tiff
If the option -nosafe is given, Asymptote runs in unsafe mode. This enables the int
system(string s) and int system(string[] s) calls, allowing one to execute arbitrary
shell commands. The default mode, -safe, disables this call.
Chapter 9: Command-line options 170

A PostScript offset may be specified as a pair (in bp units) with the -O option:
asy -O 0,0 file
The default offset is zero. The pair aligndir specifies an optional direction on the boundary
of the page (mapped to the rectangle [-1,1]×[-1,1]) to which the picture should be aligned;
the default value (0,0) species center alignment.
The -c (command) option may be used to execute arbitrary Asymptote code on the
command line as a string. It is not necessary to terminate the string with a semicolon.
Multiple -c options are executed in the order they are given. For example
asy -c 2+2 -c "sin(1)" -c "size(100); draw(unitsquare)"
produces the output
4
0.841470984807897
and draws a unitsquare of size 100.
The -u (user) option may be used to specify arbitrary Asymptote settings on the
command line as a string. It is not necessary to terminate the string with a semicolon.
Multiple -u options are executed in the order they are given. Command-line code like -u
x=sqrt(2) can be executed within a module like this:
real x;
usersetting();
write(x);
When the -l (listvariables) option is used with file arguments, only global functions
and variables defined in the specified file(s) are listed.
Additional debugging output is produced with each additional -v option:
-v Display top-level module and final output file names.
-vv Also display imported and included module names and final LaTeX and dvips
processing information.
-vvv Also output LaTeX bidirectional pipe diagnostics.
-vvvv Also output knot guide solver diagnostics.
-vvvvv Also output Asymptote traceback diagnostics.
 171

10 Interactive mode
Interactive mode is entered by executing the command asy with no file arguments. When
the -multiline option is disabled (the default), each line must be a complete Asymptote
statement (unless explicitly continued by a final backslash character \); it is not necessary
to terminate input lines with a semicolon. If one assigns settings.multiline=true,
interactive code can be entered over multiple lines; in this mode, the automatic termination
of interactive input lines by a semicolon is inhibited. Multiline mode is useful for cutting
and pasting Asymptote code directly into the interactive input buffer.
Interactive mode can be conveniently used as a calculator: expressions entered at the
interactive prompt (for which a corresponding write function exists) are automatically
evaluated and written to stdout. If the expression is non-writable, its type signature will
be printed out instead. In either case, the expression can be referred to using the symbol %
in the next line input at the prompt. For example:
> 2+3
5
> %*4
20
> 1/%
0.05
> sin(%)
0.0499791692706783
> currentpicture
<picture currentpicture>
> %.size(200,0)
>
The % symbol, when used as a variable, is shorthand for the identifier operator answer,
which is set by the prompt after each written expression evaluation.
The following special commands are supported only in interactive mode and must be
entered immediately after the prompt:
help view the manual;
erase erase currentpicture;
reset reset the Asymptote environment to its initial state, except for changes to
the settings module (see [settings], page 169), the current directory (see [cd],
page 54), and breakpoints (see Chapter 16 [Debugger], page 178);
input FILE
does an interactive reset, followed by the command include FILE. If the
file name FILE contains nonalphanumeric characters, enclose it with quotation
marks. A trailing semi-colon followed by optional Asymptote commands may
be entered on the same line.
quit exit interactive mode (exit is a synonym; the abbreviation q is also accepted
unless there exists a top-level variable named q). A history of the most recent
1000 (this number can be changed with the historylines configuration
variable) previous commands will be retained in the file .asy/history in the
Chapter 10: Interactive mode 172

user’s home directory (unless the command-line option -localhistory was

specified, in which case the history will be stored in the file .asy_history in
the current directory).
Typing ctrl-C interrupts the execution of Asymptote code and returns control to the
interactive prompt.
Interactive mode is implemented with the GNU readline library, with command history
and auto-completion. To customize the key bindings, see: https://tiswww.case.edu/php/
chet/readline/readline.html
The file asymptote.py in the Asymptote system directory provides an alternative way of
entering Asymptote commands interactively, coupled with the full power of Python. Copy
this file to your Python path and then execute from within Python 3 the commands
from asymptote import *
g=asy()
g.size(200)
g.draw("unitcircle")
g.send("draw(unitsquare)")
g.fill("unitsquare, blue")
g.clip("unitcircle")
g.label("\"$O$\", (0,0), SW")
 173

11 Graphical User Interface

In the event that adjustments to the final figure are required, the preliminary Graphical
User Interface (GUI) xasy included with Asymptote allows you to move graphical objects
and draw new ones. The modified figure can then be saved as a normal Asymptote file.

11.1 GUI installation

As xasy is written in the interactive scripting language Python/Qt, it requires Python
(https://www.python.org), along with the Python packages pyqt5, cson, and numpy:
pip3 install cson numpy pyqt5 PyQt5.sip
Pictures are deconstructed into the SVG image format. Since Qt5 does not support SVG
clipping, you will need the rsvg-convert utility, which is part of the librsvg2-tools
package on UNIX systems and the librsvg package on MacOS X; under Microsoft Windows,
it is available as
https://sourceforge.net/projects/tumagcc/files/rsvg-convert-2.40.20.7z
Deconstruction of a picture into its components is fastest when using the LaTeX TeX
engine. The default setting dvisvgmMultipleFiles=true speeds up deconstruction under
PDF TeX engines.

11.2 GUI usage

The arrow keys (or mouse wheel) are convenient for temporarily raising and lowering objects
within xasy, allowing an object to be selected. Pressing the arrow keys will pan while the
shift key is held and zoom while the control key is held. The mouse wheel will pan while
the alt or shift keys is held and zoom while the control key is held. In translate mode, an
object can be dragged coarsely with the mouse or positioned finely with the arrow keys
while holding down the mouse button.
Deconstruction of compound objects (such as arrows) can be prevented by enclosing
them within the commands
void begingroup(picture pic=currentpicture);
void endgroup(picture pic=currentpicture);
By default, the elements of a picture or frame will be grouped together on adding them
to a picture. However, the elements of a frame added to another frame are not grouped
together by default: their elements will be individually deconstructed (see [add], page 51).
 174

12 Command-Line Interface
Asymptote code may be sent to the http://asymptote.ualberta.ca server directly from
the command line, specifying any options directly in the URL:
• SVG output:
curl --data-binary 'import venn;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=svg' |
display -
• HTML output:
curl --data-binary @/usr/local/share/doc/asymptote/examples/Klein.asy
'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007' -o Klein.html
• V3D output:
curl --data-binary 'import teapot;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=v3d'
-o teapot.v3d
• PDF output with rendered bitmap at 2 pixels per bp:
curl --data-binary 'import teapot;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=pdf'
-o teapot.pdf
• PDF output with rendered bitmap at 4 pixels per bp:
curl --data-binary 'import teapot;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=pdf&render=4'
-o teapot.pdf
• PRC output:
curl --data-binary 'import teapot;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=pdf&prc'
-o teapot.pdf
• PRC output with rendered preview bitmap at 4 pixels per bp:
curl --data-binary 'import teapot;' 'asymptote.ualberta.ca:10007?f=pdf&prc&render=4'
-o teapot.pdf
The source code for the command-line interface is available at https://github.com/
vectorgraphics/asymptote-http-server.
 175

13 Language server protocol

Under UNIX and MacOS X, Asymptote supports features of the Language Server Protocol
(LSP) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_Server_Protocol), including func-
tion signature and variable matching. Under MSWindows, Asymptote currently supports
LSP only when compiled within the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Emacs users can enable the Asymptote language server protocol by installing lsp-mode
using the following procedure:
• Add to the .emacs initialization file:
(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/") t)
(package-initialize)
• Launch emacs and execute
M-x package-refresh-contents
M-x package-install
and select lsp-mode.
• Add to the .emacs initialization file:
(require 'lsp-mode)
(add-to-list 'lsp-language-id-configuration '(asy-mode . "asymptote"))

(lsp-register-client
(make-lsp-client :new-connection (lsp-stdio-connection '("asy" "-lsp"))
:activation-fn (lsp-activate-on "asymptote")
:major-modes '(asy-mode)
:server-id 'asyls
)
)
• Launch emacs and execute
M-x lsp
 176

14 PostScript to Asymptote
The excellent PostScript editor pstoedit (version 3.50 or later; available from https://
sourceforge.net/projects/pstoedit/) includes an Asymptote backend. Unlike
virtually all other pstoedit backends, this driver includes native clipping, even-odd
fill rule, PostScript subpath, and full image support. Here is an example: asy -V
/usr/local/share/doc/asymptote/examples/venn.asy
pstoedit -f asy venn.eps test.asy
asy -V test
If the line widths aren’t quite correct, try giving pstoedit the -dis option. If the fonts
aren’t typeset correctly, try giving pstoedit the -dt option.
 177

15 Help
A list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) is maintained at
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/FAQ
Questions on installing and using Asymptote that are not addressed in the FAQ should be
sent to the Asymptote forum:
https://sourceforge.net/p/asymptote/discussion/409349
Including an example that illustrates what you are trying to do will help you get useful
feedback. LaTeX problems can often be diagnosed with the -vv or -vvv command-line
options. Contributions in the form of patches or Asymptote modules can be posted here:
https://sourceforge.net/p/asymptote/patches
To receive announcements of upcoming releases, please subscribe to Asymptote at
https://sourceforge.net/projects/asymptote/
If you find a bug in Asymptote, please check (if possible) whether the bug is still present in
the latest git developmental code (see Section 2.8 [Git], page 8) before submitting a bug
report. New bugs can be reported at
https://github.com/vectorgraphics/asymptote/issues
To see if the bug has already been fixed, check bugs with Status Closed and recent lines in
https://asymptote.sourceforge.io/ChangeLog
Asymptote can be configured with the optional GNU library libsigsegv, available
from https://www.gnu.org/software/libsigsegv/, which allows one to distinguish user-
generated Asymptote stack overflows (see [stack overflow], page 66) from true segmentation
faults (due to internal C++ programming errors; please submit the Asymptote code that
generates such segmentation faults along with your bug report).
 178

16 Debugger
Asymptote now includes a line-based (as opposed to code-based) debugger that can assist
the user in following flow control. To set a break point in file file at line line, use the
command
void stop(string file, int line, code s=quote{});
The optional argument s may be used to conditionally set the variable ignore in plain_
debugger.asy to true. For example, the first 10 instances of this breakpoint will be ignored
(the variable int count=0 is defined in plain_debugger.asy):
stop("test",2,quote{ignore=(++count <= 10);});
To set a break point in file file at the first line containing the string text, use
void stop(string file, string text, code s=quote{});
To list all breakpoints, use:
void breakpoints();
To clear a breakpoint, use:
void clear(string file, int line);
To clear all breakpoints, use:
void clear();
The following commands may be entered at the debugging prompt:
h help;
c continue execution;
i step to the next instruction;
s step to the next executable line;
n step to the next executable line in the current file;
f step to the next file;
r return to the file associated with the most recent breakpoint;
t toggle tracing (-vvvvv) mode;
q quit debugging and end execution;
x exit the debugger and run to completion.
Arbitrary Asymptote code may also be entered at the debugging prompt; however, since
the debugger is implemented with eval, currently only top-level (global) variables can be
displayed or modified.
The debugging prompt may be entered manually with the call
void breakpoint(code s=quote{});
 179

17 Acknowledgments
Financial support for the development of Asymptote was generously provided by the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Pacific Institute for
Mathematical Sciences, and the University of Alberta Faculty of Science.
We also would like to acknowledge the previous work of John D. Hobby, author of the
program MetaPost that inspired the development of Asymptote, and Donald E. Knuth,
author of TEX and MetaFont (on which MetaPost is based).
The authors of Asymptote are Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince.
Sean Healy designed the Asymptote logo. Other contributors include Orest Shardt, Jesse
Frohlich, Michail Vidiassov, Charles Staats, Philippe Ivaldi, Olivier Guibé, Radoslav
Marinov, Jeff Samuelson, Chris Savage, Jacques Pienaar, Mark Henning, Steve Melenchuk,
Martin Wiebusch, Stefan Knorr, Supakorn “Jamie” Rassameemasmuang, Jacob Skitsko,
Joseph Chaumont, and Oliver Cheng. Pedram Emami developed the Asymptote Web
Application hosted at http://asymptote.ualberta.ca:
https://github.com/vectorgraphics/asymptoteWebApplication
 180

Index

! :
! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
!= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58, 62 :: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

# <
# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
<= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
%
% . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62, 171
%= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 =
== . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58, 62

&
& . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 62 >
&& . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
>= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
*
* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 62
** . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 ?
*= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 ? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

+
+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 61 ^
++ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 ^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
+= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 ^= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

–
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 63
|
--- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 | . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
-= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 || . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
-c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
-l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
-u . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
-V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 9
2
2D graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

.
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 3
.asy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3D graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
3D grids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
3D PostScript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
/
/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
/= . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Index 181

A assert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
a4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 assignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
abort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 asy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 81
abs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26, 69 asy-mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
abs2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26 asy.vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
absolute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 138 asygl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
accel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 144 asyinclude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
access. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Asymptote Web Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 asymptote.sty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
acos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 asymptote.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
aCos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 ASYMPTOTE_CONFIG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
acosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 atan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
add . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51, 139 aTan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
addViews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 atan2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
adjust. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 atanh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Ai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 atleast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Ai_deriv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 attach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52, 85, 106
Airy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 autoadjust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58, 73 autoimport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Align . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 automatic scaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
aligndir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 axialshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
all . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121, 123, 149, 150
Allow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 azimuth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
AND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 B
animate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 56, 96 babel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
annotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 background color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
antialias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138, 169 BackView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
append . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 71 Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 140 Bar3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
ArcArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Bars3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
ArcArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 barsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
ArcArrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 base modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
ArcArrows3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 basealign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
arclength . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 144 baseline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
arcpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 batch mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
arctime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 144 beep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 BeginArcArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
arithmetic operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 BeginArcArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 72 BeginArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
array iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 BeginArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 BeginBar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BeginBar3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
arrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 19 BeginDotMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
arrow keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 173 BeginDotMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Arrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 BeginMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
arrows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BeginMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Arrows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BeginPenMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Arrows3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 BeginPenMargin2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
as . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 BeginPenMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
ascii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 BeginPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
aSin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Bessel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
asin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 bevel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
asinh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 beveljoin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Aspect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Bezier curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Index 182

Bezier patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 checker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Bezier triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
bezulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 choose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Bi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Ci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Bi_deriv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Billboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 140, 156
binary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 circlebarframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
binary format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 CJK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
binary operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 clamped . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
binarytree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 clang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
black stripes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 clear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 178
Blank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
block.bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 CLZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
block.bottomleft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 cm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
block.bottomright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 cmd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
block.center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 cmyk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
block.draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 colatitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
block.left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 151
block.position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 coloredNodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
block.right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 coloredpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
block.top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 coloredSegments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
block.topleft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 colorless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
block.topright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
bool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 comma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
bool3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 comma-separated-value mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
boolean operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 command-line interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Bottom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 command-line options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 166
BottomTop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 comment character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
BottomView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 compass directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
bounding box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Compiling from UNIX source. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
bounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 complement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Bounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 concat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48, 49, 140 conditional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 62
bp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 config . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 169
brace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 169
break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 configuring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
breakpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 conj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
brick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 constructors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
broken axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
bug reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 continue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 178
buildcycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 contour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Button-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 contour3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Button-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 133
BWRainbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 controlSpecifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
BWRainbow2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 convert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 56, 96, 169
convertOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Coons shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
C copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
C string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Cos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
CAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 cos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
calculateTransform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 cosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 cputime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 crop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
cbrt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 cropping graphs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
cd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27, 108
ceil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 crossframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 crosshatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 csv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Index 183

CTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 double deferred drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

cubicroots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 double precision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
curl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 133 Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 50
curlSpecifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 16, 136
currentlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 drawing commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
currentpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 drawline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
currentprojection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 drawtree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
curve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 dvips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
custom axis types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 dvipsOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
custom mark routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 dvisvgm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 169
custom tick locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 dvisvgmMultipleFiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 dvisvgmOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 12, 133
cyclic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 38, 71, 144
Cyrillic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 E
Editing modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Ei . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
D ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 48
dashdotted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 elliptic functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
dashed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
data types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 emacs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 embed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Debian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Embedded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
debugger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 emissivepen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
declaration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 empty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
deconstruct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 EndArcArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
default arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 EndArcArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
defaultformat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 EndArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
DefaultHead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 EndArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
DefaultHead3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 EndBar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
defaultpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39, 41, 42, 46 EndBar3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
defaultrender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 EndDotMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
deferred drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 EndDotMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
degrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 69 endl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Degrees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 EndMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 71 EndMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 EndPenMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
devicepixelratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 EndPenMargin2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
diagonal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 EndPenMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
diamond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 EndPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
diffuse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 envelope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
diffusepen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 environment variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
dimension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 eof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 76
dir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6, 26, 27, 33, 144 eol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 76
direction specifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 EPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 169
directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 28, 47, 53
dirSpecifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 erf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
dirtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 erfc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 error . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 55
do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 error bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
DOSendl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 errorbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
DOSnewl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 eval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81, 82
dot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 26, 27, 75 evenodd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 42
DotMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 171, 178
DotMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 exp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
DotMargins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 expi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 27
DotMargins3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 explicit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
dotted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 explicit casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Index 184

expm1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 G
exponential integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 gamma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
extendcap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Gaussrand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 97 geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
external . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 getc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
extrude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 getint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 70 getpair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
getreal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
getstring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
gettriple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
F git . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
fabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 globalwrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 56
face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 glOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138, 169
factorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 GNU Scientific Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Fedora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 gouraudshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
feynman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
fft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74, 75 gradient shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
FFTW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 178 graph3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
graphic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 169
Fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 50
graphical user interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
fill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
graphwithderiv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
FillDraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 50
gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
filldraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
grayscale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
filloutside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Grayscale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
fillrule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 116
find . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 73 grid3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
findall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 gs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
firstcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 gsl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
fit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 GSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
fit3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 gsOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
fixedscaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 GUI installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
flowchart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 GUI usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
flush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 55 guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
fmod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 guide3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42, 43
font encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
fontcommand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 H
fontsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Headlamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 169 height. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171, 177, 178
frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Hermite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
freshnel0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Hermite(splinetype splinetype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
from . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 hex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 39
FrontView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 hexadecimal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 39
function declarations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 hidden surface removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
function shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 histogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Function shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 history . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 171
functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64, 69 historylines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
functionshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 HookHead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
HookHead3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
F . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Horizontal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
HTML5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
htmlviewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
htmlviewerOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
hyperrefOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Index 185

hypot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

I J
i_scaled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 J . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69, 70
ibl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
iconify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 69, 76
identity4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 K
if . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 k_scaled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
IgnoreAspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 K . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128, 129 Kate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
image-based lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 KDE editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ImageMagick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 96, 169 keepAspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48, 85
images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 keyboard bindings: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
implicit casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
implicit linear solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 keyword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
implicit scaling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 keyword-only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
implicitsurface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 keywords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
import. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Korean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
importv3d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
inches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
incircle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 L
include . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 18, 103
including images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 18, 143
increasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 labelpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
inf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 labelpath3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
inheritance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 labelx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
initialized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 labely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
initializers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Landscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
inline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 language context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
InOutTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 language server protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 171 lastcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
input encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 lasy-mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 71 latex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
inside. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 LATEX NFSS fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
insphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 LaTeX usage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
inst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 latexmk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 latitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
int . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 latticeshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
integer division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 leastsquares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91, 122
integrate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
interactive mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 171 LeftRight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 LeftSide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
interp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 LeftTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100, 102
interpolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 LeftView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
intersect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 90, 144 legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 15, 106
intersectionpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 90, 144 Legendre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
intersectionpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35, 144 length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 26, 28, 32, 37, 71, 144
intersections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 144 letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
InTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 lexorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
intMax. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 libcurl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
intMin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 libgs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 76 libm routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
invert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 libsigsegv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 177
invisible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 light. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
isnan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Index 186

line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Microsoft Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

line mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 MidArcArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 MidArcArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
linecap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 MidArrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
linejoin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 MidArrow3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
lineskip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 MidPoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
linetype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 midpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
linewidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 min . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 47, 74, 144
locale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 minbound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27
log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 minipage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 mintimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
log-log graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 miterjoin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
log10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 miterlimit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
log1p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 mktemp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
log2 graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 mm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
logarithmic graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 mobile browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
logical operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
longdashdotted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 monotonic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
longdashed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
longitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 mouse bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 mouse wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
LSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
lualatex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 MoveQuiet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
luatex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 multisample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

M N
MacOS X binary distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
MacOS X configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
makepen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 named arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72, 94 nan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Margin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Margin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 new . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 72
Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 newframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
margins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 newl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Margins3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 newpage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 newton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
markangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 nobasealign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 NoFill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 50
marknodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 noglobalread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
markuniform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 nolight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
mask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 NoMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 NoMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 none . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
mathematical functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36, 47, 74, 144 normal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
maxbound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27 nosafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
maxtile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 notaknot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
maxtimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 NOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
maxviewport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 NoTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
metallic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 NoTicks3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
MetaPost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 null . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
MetaPost ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 nullpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 50
MetaPost cutafter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
MetaPost cutbefore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 NURBS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
MetaPost pickup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
MetaPost whatever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Index 187

O pdfreloadOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
obj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 pdfviewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
oblique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 pdfviewerOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
obliqueX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 PDF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
obliqueY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 pen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
obliqueZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 PenMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 PenMargin2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 169 PenMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 PenMargins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
OmitTick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 PenMargins2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
OmitTickInterval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 PenMargins3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
OmitTickIntervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 periodic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43, 135 perl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 perpendicular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
OpenGL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 physically based rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
operator +(...string[] a). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
operator -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 picture alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
operator .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 piecewisestraight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
operator answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 pixel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
operator cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Pl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
operator ecast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 plain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
operator init . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56, 60
planar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
plane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
planeproject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
orient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 144
point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 38, 144
orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
orthographic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 polar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
OR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 polargraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
outformat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 polygon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
outprefix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 pop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 169 P . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
OutTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
overloading functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135, 137
overwrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 postcontrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 144
postfix operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
P PostScript fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 PostScript subpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
packing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 pow10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 prc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
pair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 25 precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 precontrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 144
paperheight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 prefix operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
papertype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
paperwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 programming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
parallelogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 pstoedit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
parametric surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 psviewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
parametrized curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 psviewerOptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
partialsum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 pt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
patch-dependent colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 public. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 31, 134, 156 push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
path markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Python usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
path[]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
path3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133, 134
patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44, 92
PBR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
pdflatex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Index 188

Q roundcap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
quadraticroots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 roundedpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
quarticroots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 roundjoin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
quick reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 roundrectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
quit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 171, 178 RPM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
quote . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 runtime imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
quotient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Russian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

R S
radialshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
RadialShade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
RadialShadeDraw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 saveline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
radians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 115
radius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33, 144 scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41, 47, 115, 143
Rainbow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 scale3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
rand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 scaled graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
randMax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 schur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 scientific graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 scroll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
reading string arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
readline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 search paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
real . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Seascape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
realDigits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 secondary axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
realEpsilon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 secondaryX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
realMax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 secondaryY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
realMin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 seconds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
realmult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 seek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
realschur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 seekeof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
recursion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 segmentation fault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 self operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
reflect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Relative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4, 169
relpoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 sgn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
reltime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
remainder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
rename. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47, 143
render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 137, 169 shiftless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 shininess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
resetdefaultpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 shipout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
rest arguments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 showtarget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Si . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
restricted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 signedint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 SimpleHead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
reverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28, 34, 38, 72, 144 simplex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
rewind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
rfind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
rgb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Riemann zeta function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 single precision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Right. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 singleint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
RightSide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 singlereal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
RightTicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100, 102 sinh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
RightView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 SixViews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Rotate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 SixViewsFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 SixViewsUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Rotate(pair z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 32, 37, 48, 144, 169
round . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 size3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Index 189

Slant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 T
slant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
sleep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 tab completion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
slice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Tan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 tan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 tanh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90, 91 target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
slopefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 tell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
smoothcontour3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 tension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 133
sncndn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 tensionSpecifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 tensor product shading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 tensorshade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
solve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 tessellation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 tex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53, 169
specular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 TEX fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
specularfactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 TEX string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
specularpen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 texcommand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Spline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98, 150 TeXHead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 TeXHead3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
sqrt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 texpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 20
texpreamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
squarecap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
texreset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
srand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
textbook graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
stack overflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66, 177
tgz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
static. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 thick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
stats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 thin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
stdin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 this . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
stdout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 three. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
step . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 ThreeViews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
stickframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 ThreeViewsFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 ThreeViewsUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32, 144 tick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Ticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100, 102
strftime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 30 ticks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
string . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 29 tildeframe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
stroke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 18 tile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
strokepath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 tilings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
strptime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29, 30, 90
struct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
subpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34, 144 TopView . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
subpictures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 trace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
substr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 trailingzero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46, 143
superpath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 transform3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134, 135, 136, 150, 151
transparent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
transpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Suppress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
SuppressQuiet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
trembling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
SVG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 triangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 169 triangles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
syzygy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 triangulate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
tridiagonal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
trigonometric integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
triple. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
TrueMargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
TrueMargin3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Index 190

tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136, 154 W

tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
type1cm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 WebGL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
typedef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 65 whatever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Wheel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
wheel mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
U while . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
White. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
U3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
white-space string delimiter mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
undefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
unfill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
windingnumber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
UnFill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 50
word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
uniform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
write . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54, 77
uninstall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
unique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 27
unitbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 140 X
unitcircle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 139 xasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
unitrand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 xaxis3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
unitsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 48 xdr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
UNIX binary distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 xelatex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 xequals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
unravel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 XEquals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 xlimits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
UpsideDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 XOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
URL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 xpart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27
usepackage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 xscale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
user coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 xscale3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
user-defined operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 xtick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
usleep. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 XY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
XYEquals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
XYZero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
V XZEquals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
XZero. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
v3d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
XZZero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
var . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
variable initializers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
vectorfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124, 125 Y
vectorfield3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 yaxis3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
vectorization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 yequals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
verbatim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 ylimits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
vertex-dependent colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 ypart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26, 27
Vertical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 yscale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Viewport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 yscale3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
viewportheight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 ytick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
viewportmargin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69, 70, 139
viewportsize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 YEquals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
viewportwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 YX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 YZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 YZEquals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
virtual functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 YZero. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
void . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 YZZero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Index 191

Z zeroTransform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
zerowinding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
zaxis3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 zeta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
zero_Ai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 zpart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
zero_Ai_deriv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 zscale3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
zero_Bi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Z . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
zero_Bi_deriv . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 ZX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
zero_J. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 ZY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143