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ePiX is a LATEX pre-processor that creates mathematically accurate
(mostly 2-dimensional) plots and figures using easy-to-learn
syntax. The user interface is superficially that of LATEX itself:
You prepare a short input file and ``run ePiX'' on this file, which
produces a text file that is included into a LATEX document.
Because the output is plain text, the output can be edited manually if
necessary. However, for most visual tweaking it is easier and safer to
change the source and re-run ePiX.
There are several reasons to use ePiX.
- Ease of use: ePiX was written by a mathematician for
mathematicians. Figure objects are specified by simple, mnemonic
commands, as in LATEX . The learning curve is gentle: Using only
built-in primitives, you can duplicate almost everything xfig
can do, and do many things xfig cannot.
- Quality of output: ePiX creates publication-quality,
mathematically accurate figures whose appearance matches that of
LATEX . Paragraph-mode LATEX typography may be put in an ePiX figure as easily as in an ordinary LATEX document; this is one of
the strongest advantages of ePiX over plain PostScript, and indeed
one of ePiX's distinguishing features.
- Economy of storage and transmission: ePiX output is
native LATEX , and is generally 50-70% smaller than comparable
Postscript. Some source files (vector fields, for example)
can be considerably less than 1% the size of their output, making
ePiX a potentially non-trivial form of compression for documents
containing many complicated figures.
- Flexibility: In ePiX, you refer almost exclusively to Cartesian
coordinates, letting the software handle conversion to LATEX picture
coordinates. Resizing a printed figure or its Cartesian bounding box
is a matter of changing a couple of numbers and re-running ePiX; you
needn't re-calculate or re-type the LATEX coordinates of all your
picture objects. ePiX's mechanism for placement of text in a figure is
easy, accurate, and robust under changes of scale.
- Power: ePiX retains the power of C as a programming
language; variables, loops, and recursion can be used to draw
complicated plots and figures with just a few lines of input.
Objects' locations can be specified in terms of variables, allowing
you to rearrange or otherwise modify a figure by changing a few
numbers. You can plot finite sums of functions (e.g., Taylor and
Fourier polynomials), generate successive ``snapshots'' of a figure as
parameters vary, or create stereoscopic pairs, for example.
- It is Free Software, in the senses laid out by the Free
Software Foundation: You are granted the right to use the program for
whatever purpose, and to inspect, modify, and re-distribute the source
code, so long as you do not restrict the rights of others to do the
same. In short, the license is similar to the terms under which
theorems are published, rather than the way commercial software is
distributed. ePiX also happens to be free (no-cost) software.
A graphical interface is not planned, because it is impossible to
achieve the same accuracy as with an input file, and because graphical
menus do not encourage logical structuring of a figure. Output files,
by contrast, may be previewed with any dvi-capable previewer.
Subsections
Next: Comparison with Existing Programs
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hwang
2002-06-06