11 Command reference

This chapter contains an alphabetically ordered list of all of Pyxplot’s commands. The syntax of each is specified in a variant of Backus-Naur notation, in which angle brackets <> are used to indicate replaceable tokens, parentheses () are used to indicate mutually-exclusive options which are separated by vertical lines |, square brackets [] are used to indicate optional items, and braces {} are used to indicate items which may be repeated. Dots ... are used to indicate arbitrary strings of text.

Replaceable tokens labelled <length> may be specified either as a number with physical dimensions of length, e.g. 2*unit(m), or as a dimensionless number taken as a number of centimeters. Replaceable tokens labelled <angle> may be specified either with physical dimensions of angle, e.g. 0.25*unit(rev), or as a dimensionless number of degrees, e.g. 90.

Replaceable tokens labelled <vector> represent a physical position on the vector-graphics canvas, and can be specified either as two comma-separated co-ordinates, or as a two-component vector. In either case, the co-ordinates may either have physical demensions of length, or be a dimensionless number of centimeters.

Replaceable tokens labelled <graph_vector> are similar, but represent a position on a graph. They may be specified either as comma-separated co-ordinates, or as a vector object. In either case, there may be either two or three components, although the third component will be ignored except on three-dimensional plots. The components should share the physical units of the axes they are plotted against.

In flow control commands, tokens labelled <code> should be replaced by a series of Pyxplot commands enclosed by braces {}. The closing brace must be placed on a new line.

Where braces {} are used to indicate items which may be repeated, commas or semicolons are often used to separate items. This is specified in the text below the syntax specification.

Where keywords differ between US and British English, both variants are accepted. For example, color may be spelt colour, gray may be spelt grey, etc.