Diagrams.TwoD.Path.Metafont has tools to define Diagrams Trails in the style of Metafont. This is a convenient way to draw smooth curves through a series of points, with finer control available on demand. This tutorial does not assume prior experience with Metafont. It does assume some famialiarity with Diagrams Trails & Paths.

# Getting started

> import Diagrams.TwoD.Path.Metafont
> z1 = p2 (1,0)
> example = metafont $origin .--. endpt z1 I don't mean to suggest that you should actually draw such simple paths this way. Do take note of the new operator .--., which connects two points, and endpt, which is only needed at the rightmost point. We'll see a few more members of the family later on. Metafont does all of it's interesting work on longer series of points. Let's give it a whirl: > z1 = p2 (0,1) > z2 = p2 (1,1) > z3 = p2 (2,1) > z4 = p2 (0,0) > z5 = p2 (1,0) > z6 = p2 (2,0) > example = metafont$ z4.--.z1.--.z2.--.endpt z6

With the code above, we've drawn a Path with three cubic Segments. The endpoints of these segments, marked with blue dots, are the points we specified. The shape of each segment in the middle, described by the red control points, was determined according to Metafont's equations. This is the simplest way to specify paths in Metafont; Metafont does most of the work, and we do as little as possible.

I'll keep using the six points defined above in subsequent examples, but will omit them (and the import statements) from the code samples. I also haven't shown the code that adds the control point dots. If you want to use it for your own tests, see Further Reading.

# Specifying Directions

If you make a few curves like this, you'll soon find that the curve Metafont makes isn't the one you had in mind. There are a lot of curves through those points, after all. The real power of the Metafont solver is that we can add more detailed specification to just the segments where we want it.

For example, we can define the direction of the path at any point. Here I ask for the trail to point to the right as it leaves z1. The adjacent paths will curve around to remain smooth and continuous.

> example = metafont $z4.--.z1 .- leaving unitX -. z2.--.endpt z6 The (.--.) operator is joined by two new operators, (.-) and (-.). Between them, we write the description of the path connecting these two points. The complement of leaving is arriving, which sets the direction of the path as it arrives at the point written to the right. # Specifying Tensions Metafont uses another parameter, called tension, in calculating paths. As the tension increases, a segment between two points will become closer to the straight-line path between those points. As the name suggests, you can picture the path as an elastic band, being pulled taut. The tension defaults to 1; here we set it to 1.5. > example = metafont$ z4 .--. z1.- tension 1.5 -.z2.--.endpt z6

Higher tension corresponds to bezier control points closer to the adjacent endpoint. As a result, the segment has most of its curvature close to the endpoints, and is relatively straight through the middle.

As that description suggests, a segment actually has two tensions, one at each end. The tension function sets them to the same value. The tensions function takes two arguments, to set them independently.

# Putting it All Together

If you want to specify tensions and a direction, or both directions for a given segment, joins can be combined using <>. For example:

# String Parsing

If you want to use paths already written for Metafont / Metapost, or want to stay even closer to that syntax, there is a parser available which implements the Metafont path syntax directly. At the expense of compile-time validity checking, and Haskell variables for points and directions, you can use the terser syntax created for Metafont.

> {-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
> import qualified Diagrams.TwoD.Path.Metafont as MF
> import Control.Lens as L
> example = L.view _Right $MF.fromString "(1,0)..(0,0)..(0,1)..tension 1.2..(2,1)..(2,0)..cycle" # Quasiquoting Add dequoting to the parser, so we can interpolate Haskell variables into Metafont syntax. # Further Reading Here is the code that marks the control points in examples above: > -- Type signatures may be needed to resolve ambiguity > --ptMark :: Diagram SVG R2 > ptMark = circle 0.02 # lwG 0 > > --illustrateSegment :: FixedSegment R2 -> Diagram SVG R2 > illustrateSegment (FLinear from to) = position [ > (from, ptMark # fc blue), > (to, ptMark # fc blue)] > illustrateSegment (FCubic from c1 c2 to) = position [ > (c1, ptMark # fc red), > (c2, ptMark # fc red)] <> illustrateSegment (FLinear from to) > > --illustrateTrail :: Renderable (Path R2) b => Trail R2 -> Diagram b R2 > illustrateTrail t = strokeTrail t <> (mconcat . map illustrateSegment . fixTrail . flip at origin$ t)

The authoritative references on Metafont are of course the following books by Knuth:

If your paths do not render the same way in Diagrams that they do in Metafont or Metapost, please file a bug.