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