ASY(1)

NAME
asy - Asymptote: a script-based vector graphics language

SYNOPSIS
asy [options] [file ...]

DESCRIPTION
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.

OPTIONS
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 [Center].

-antialias n
    Antialiasing width for rasterized output [2].

-auto3D
    Automatically activate 3D scene [true].

-autoimport string
    Module to automatically import.

-autoplain
    Enable automatic importing of plain [true].

-autorotate
    Enable automatic PDF page rotation [false].

-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].

-embed
    Embed rendered preview image [true].

-exitonEOF
    Exit interactive mode on EOF [true].

-fitscreen
    Fit rendered image to screen [true].

-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].

-m,-mask
    Mask fpu exceptions; command-line only.

-maxtile pair
    Maximum rendering tile size [(0,0)].

-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].

-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].

-rgb
    Convert cmyk colors to rgb [false].

-safe
    Disable system call [true].

-scroll n
    Scroll standard output n lines at a time [0].

-tabcompletion
    Interactive prompt auto-completion [true].

-tex engine
    latex|pdflatex|xelatex|tex|pdftex|context|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].

-where
    Show where listed variables are declared [false].

-xformat format
    GUI deconstruction format [png].

SEE ALSO
Asymptote is documented fully in the asymptote Info page. The manual can also be accessed in interactive mode with the "help" command.

AUTHOR
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).