NAME

       surf - visualization of algebraic curves and surfaces

SYNOPSIS

       surf [FILE]...

DESCRIPTION

       surf is a script driven tool to render algebraic curves and surfaces.

       The  only  input  needed is the equation of an algebraic curve/surface in everyday mathematical notation.
       The output is a (series of) color or black and white image(s) in one of several file formats.

       surf also provides a C-style command language which helps working out more complicated equations.

       The resolution of an image is only bounded by the available memory. Since the image is stored as an array
       of  floats  and  because  some  image  processing  algorithms need a copy of the image, you need at least
       width*height*12 bytes of virtual memory.

       A relevant extension to the image output filename can be automatically provided by  either  enabling  the
       auto-extension  machinery  or  giving  a  dummy  extension.   The auto-extension machinery is disabled by
       default for backward compatibility, while the  implemented  dummy  extensions  are:  .xxx,  .XXX,  .auto-
       extension, and .automatic-extension.

       surf  can  handle  curves/surfaces up to degree 30. The main features include algebraic curves, algebraic
       surfaces, hyper plane sections, lines on surfaces, multiple curves/surfaces, adaptive anti  aliasing  and
       dithering.

OPTIONS

       --disable-auto-extension
              disable automatic extension for graphic files (default)

       --enable-auto-extension
              enable automatic extension for graphic files

       -v, --verbose
              verbose operation, print the executed commands (default)

       -q, --quiet, --silent
              quiet operation, do not print the executed commands

       -h, --help
              display this help and exit

       -V, --version
              display version tuple and exit

AUTHORS

       Stephan Endrass, Hans Huelf, Ruediger Oertel, Kai Schneider, Ralf Schmitt, Johannes Beigel

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1997-2015 Johannes Gutenberg-Universitaet Mainz
       Copyright (C) 1996-1997 Friedrich Alexander Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg