NAME

       mpost,  pmpost,  upmpost  - MetaPost, a system for creating graphics r-mpost, r-pmpost, r-
       upmpost - restricted MetaPost

SYNOPSIS

       mpost [options] [commands]

       mpost --dvitomp dvifile[.dvi] [mpxfile[.mpx]]

DESCRIPTION

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

       MetaPost  is normally used with a set of basic macros, and it will use its executable name
       as the name of the preload file to use.   For example, when called as mpost  the  mpost.mp
       file  is  used,  which  simply reads plain.mp.  When the --ini option is given, preloading
       does not happen.

       The commands given on the command line to the MetaPost program are passed  to  it  as  the
       first  input  line.  (But it is often easier to type extended arguments as the first input
       line, since UNIX shells tend to gobble up or  misinterpret  MetaPost's  favorite  symbols,
       like  semicolons, unless you quote them.) The normal usage is to say mpost figs to process
       the file figs.mp.  The basename of figs becomes the ``jobname'', and is  used  in  forming
       output  file  names.   If  no  file  is  named,  the  jobname  becomes mpout.  The default
       extension, .mp, can be overridden by specifying an extension explicitly.

       When the --dvitomp option is given, MetaPost  acts  as  DVI-to-MPX  converter  only.   See
       dvitomp (1) for details.

       The  pmpost  program  is  a variant with Japanese support, and upmpost has Unicode-enabled
       Japanese support, analogous to ptex and uptex.

       All three variants are also installed with an `r-' prefix, that is, r-mpost, r-pmpost,  r-
       upmpost,  which implicitly specify the --restricted option to make MetaPost safe to run on
       unknown input; the tex, makempx, and editor commands are disabled.

       This manual page is a mere skeleton.  For a list of all command line options, run --help.

       The main documentation for this version of MetaPost can be found in the User  Manual  that
       should   have   been  installed  along  with  the  program  and  is  also  available  from
       https://tug.org/metapost.

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

FILES

       plain.mp
              The standard preload file.

       mfplain.mp
              The Metafont-compatible preload file.

       $TEXMFMAIN/metapost/base/*.mp
              The standard MetaPost macros included in the original distribution.

       $TEXMFMAIN/metapost/support/*
              Various tables for handling included tex and troff.

       $TEXMFMAIN/metapost/support/trfonts.map
              Table of corresponding font names for troff and PostScript.

       psfonts.map
              Table of corresponding font names for tex and PostScript.

       $TEXMFMAIN/doc/metapost/*
              The MetaPost manual and tutorial source, also including sample figures

SUGGESTED READING

       Donald E. Knuth, The Metafontbook (Volume C of Computers and Typesetting), Addison-Wesley,
       1986, ISBN 0-201-13445-4.
       TUGboat (the journal of the TeX Users Group).

SEE ALSO

       dvitomp(1), epstopdf(1), mf(1), mptopdf(1), tex(1),
       MetaPost home page ⟨https://tug.org/metapost/⟩.

AUTHORS

       MetaPost was created by John D. Hobby, incorporating algorithms from Metafont by Donald E.
       Knuth.  It was originally implemented on  Unix,  incorporating  system-dependent  routines
       from web2c, while not relying on it except for the actual Web-to-C translator.

       Ulrik  Vieth adapted MetaPost to take advantage of the advanced path searching features in
       more recent versions of web2c and worked  towards  fully  integrating  MetaPost  into  the
       canonical Unix TeX distribution.

       The  primary  author of the current MetaPost was Taco Hoekwater, with assistance from Hans
       Hagen and many others.  It is currently maintained by Luigi Scarso.

BUGS

       The MetaPost home page is https://tug.org/metapost.