MAPS 53 (2023.1)

Complete edition: maps.pdf (916kB, 96 pages)
maps redactie: Redactioneel (Dutch); MAPS 53, 2023, 1-2; 01.pdf (20kB); abstract:
This is a special edition of the Maps containing five articles by Taco Hoekwater about various fundamental matters in MetaPost.
Taco Hoekwater: Introduction (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 3-4; 02.pdf (32kB); abstract:
What you have here is a series of articles about details of the MetaPost programming language.
The target audience of these articles are users that are already somewhat familiar with simple graphics in MetaPost but want to have a clearer understanding of the language to make better use of its possibilities.
Each of the articles discusses a specific subsystem and together they should provide a solid base for improving the reader's knowledge of MetaPost.
Taco Hoekwater: Variables: Sparks, Tags, Suffixes and Subscripts (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 5-18; 03.pdf (112kB); abstract:
MetaPost variables are rather complicated things. This article will attempt to explain the various uses of type declarations, saves, and vardefs.
Taco Hoekwater: Definitions (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 19-34; 04.pdf (116kB); abstract:
Definitions in MetaPost are a fairly complicated subject. This article tries to cover everything you need to know about writing your own definitions, but it assumes a fair bit of familiarity with MetaPost’s data types and general syntax. In particular, I assume you have read the preceding ‘Sparks, Tags, Suffixes and Subscripts’ article.
Taco Hoekwater: Paths, pairs, pens and transforms (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 35-72; 05.pdf (208kB); abstract:
This article tries to explain everything related to paths, pairs, pens and transforms in Meta Post. A fair bit of familiarity with MetaPost’s data types and general syntax is assumed. In particular, I assume you have read the ‘Sparks, tags, suffixes and subscripts’ article.
I will first discuss the creating of paths, followed by the creating of pairs, and then the creat ing of pens. Finally, I will discuss the operations on those items, for instance, by using trans formations.
Taco Hoekwater: Conditionals and loops (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 73-80; 06.pdf (68kB); abstract:
This article is about how to make your program decide what to do next: conditions and loops.
Taco Hoekwater: Colors and pictures (English); MAPS 53, 2023, 80-96; 07.pdf (88kB); abstract:
This article is about MetaPost output. MetaPost produces graphics by means of picture variables that can contain a few different object types. The most important drawing object types can be colorized, so the first part of this article will talk about color data structures.