Asymptote: a script-based vector graphics language
asy [options] [file...]
Asymptote is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawings, inspired by MetaPost but with an improved C++-like syntax. Asymptote provides for figures the same high-quality level of typesetting that LaTeX does for scientific text.
If no arguments are given, Asymptote runs in interactive mode.
If "-" is given as the file argument, Asymptote reads from standard input.
A summary of options is included below. The effect of most options can be negated by prepending no to the option name. Default values for most options may also be entered in the file .asy/config.asy in the user's home directory using the long form:
import settings;
batchView=true;
For a complete description, see the Info files.
-V,-View
View output; command-line only.
-a,-align C|B|T|Z
Center, Bottom, Top, or Zero page alignment [C].
-antialias n
Antialiasing width for rasterized output [2].
-arcballradius pixels
Arcball radius [750].
-auto3D
Automatically activate 3D scene [true].
-autobillboard
3D labels always face viewer by default [true].
-autoimport string
Module to automatically import.
-autoplain
Enable automatic importing of plain [true].
-autoplay
Autoplay 3D animations [false].
-autorotate
Enable automatic PDF page rotation [false].
-axes3
Show 3D axes in PDF output [true].
-batchMask
Mask fpu exceptions in batch mode [false].
-batchView
View output in batch mode [false].
-bw
Convert all colors to black and white [false].
-cd directory
Set current directory; command-line only.
-cmyk
Convert rgb colors to cmyk [false].
-c,-command string
Command to autoexecute.
-compact
Conserve memory at the expense of speed [false].
-d,-debug
Enable debugging messages [false].
-divisor n
Garbage collect using purge(divisor=n) [2].
-doubleclick ms
Emulated double-click timeout [200].
-embed
Embed rendered preview image [true].
-exitonEOF
Exit interactive mode on EOF [true].
-fitscreen
Fit rendered image to screen [true].
-framedelay ms
Additional frame delay [0].
-framerate frames/s
Animation speed [30].
-globalwrite
Allow write to other directory [false].
-gray
Convert all colors to grayscale [false].
-h,-help
Show summary of options; command-line only.
-historylines n
Retain n lines of history [1000].
-iconify
Iconify rendering window [false].
-inlineimage
Generate inline embedded image [false].
-inlinetex
Generate inline TeX code [false].
-interactiveMask
Mask fpu exceptions in interactive mode [true].
-interactiveView
View output in interactive mode [true].
-interactiveWrite
Write expressions entered at the prompt to stdout [true].
-k,-keep
Keep intermediate files [false].
-keepaux
Keep intermediate LaTeX .aux files [false].
-level n
Postscript level [3].
-l,-listvariables
List available global functions and variables [false].
-localhistory
Use a local interactive history file [false].
-loop
Loop 3D animations [false].
-m,-mask
Mask fpu exceptions; command-line only.
-maxtile pair
Maximum rendering tile size [(1024,768)].
-maxviewport pair
Maximum viewport size [(2048,2048)].
-multiline
Input code over multiple lines at the prompt [false].
-multipleView
View output from multiple batch-mode files [false].
-multisample n
Multisampling width for screen images [4].
-offscreen
Use offscreen rendering [false].
-O,-offset pair
PostScript offset [(0,0)].
-f,-outformat format
Convert each output file to specified format.
-o,-outname name
Alternative output directory/filename.
-p,-parseonly
Parse file [false].
-pdfreload
Automatically reload document in pdfviewer [false].
-pdfreloaddelay usec
Delay before attempting initial pdf reload [750000].
-position pair
Initial 3D rendering screen position [(0,0)].
-prc
Embed 3D PRC graphics in PDF output [true].
-prompt string
Prompt [> ].
-prompt2 string
Continuation prompt for multiline input [..].
-q,-quiet
Suppress welcome message [false].
-render n
Render 3D graphics using n pixels per bp (-1=auto) [-1].
-resizestep step
Resize step [1.2].
-reverse
reverse 3D animations [false].
-rgb
Convert cmyk colors to rgb [false].
-safe
Disable system call [true].
-scroll n
Scroll standard output n lines at a time [0].
-spinstep deg/s
Spin speed [60].
-svgemulation
Emulate unimplemented SVG shading [false].
-tabcompletion
Interactive prompt auto-completion [true].
-tex engine
latex|pdflatex|xelatex|tex|pdftex|luatex|lualatex|none [latex].
-thick
Render thick 3D lines [true].
-thin
Render thin 3D lines [true].
-threads
Use POSIX threads for 3D rendering [true].
-toolbar
Show 3D toolbar in PDF output [true].
-s,-translate
Show translated virtual machine code [false].
-twice
Run LaTeX twice (to resolve references) [false].
-twosided
Use two-sided 3D lighting model for rendering [true].
-u,-user string
General purpose user string.
-v,-verbose
Increase verbosity level (can specify multiple times) [0].
-version
Show version; command-line only.
-wait
Wait for child processes to finish before exiting [false].
-warn string
Enable warning; command-line only.
-where
Show where listed variables are declared [false].
-zoomfactor factor
Zoom step factor [1.05].
-zoomstep step
Mouse motion zoom step [0.1].
Asymptote is documented fully in the asymptote Info page. The manual can also be accessed in interactive mode with the "help" command.
Asymptote was written by Andy Hammerlindl, John Bowman, and Tom Prince.
This manual page was written by Hubert Chan for the Debian project (but may be used by others).