PIC2GRAPH(1)                                                                                                        PIC2GRAPH(1)



NAME
       pic2graph - convert a PIC diagram into a cropped image

SYNOPSIS
       pic2graph [ -unsafe ] [ -format fmt ] [ -eqn delim ]

DESCRIPTION
       Reads  a  PIC  program as input; produces an image file (by default in Portable Network Graphics format) suitable for the
       Web as output.  Also translates eqn(1) constructs, so it can be used for generating images of mathematical formulae.

       PIC is a rather expressive graphics minilanguage suitable for producing box-and-arrow diagrams  of  the  kind  frequently
       used  in  technical  papers  and  textbooks.   The language is sufficiently flexible to be quite useful for state charts,
       Petri-net diagrams, flow charts, simple circuit schematics, jumper layouts, and other  kinds  of  illustration  involving
       repetitive  uses  of  simple geometric forms and splines.  Because PIC descriptions are procedural and object-based, they
       are both compact and easy to modify.

       The PIC language is fully documented in Making Pictures With GNU PIC, a document which is part of the groff(1)  distribu-
       tion.

       Your input PIC code should not be wrapped with the .PS and .PE macros that normally guard it within groff(1) macros.

       The  output  image  will be clipped to the smallest possible bounding box that contains all the black pixels.  Older ver-
       sions of convert(1) will produce a black-on-white graphic; newer ones may produce  a  black-on-transparent  graphic.   By
       specifying  command-line  options  to be passed to convert(1) you can give it a border, force the background transparent,
       set the image's pixel density, or perform other useful transformations.

       This program uses pic(1), eqn(1), groff(1), gs(1), and the  ImageMagick  convert(1)  program.   These  programs  must  be
       installed on your system and accessible on your $PATH for pic2graph to work.

OPTIONS
       -unsafe
              Run pic(1) and groff(1) in the `unsafe' mode enabling the PIC macro sh to execute arbitrary commands.  The default
              is to forbid this.

       -format fmt
              Specify an output format; the default is PNG (Portable Network Graphics).  Any format that convert(1) can emit  is
              supported.

       -eqn delim
              Change  the  fencepost  characters  that delimit eqn(1) directives ($ and $, by default).  This option requires an
              argument, but an empty string is accepted as a directive to disable eqn(1) processing.

       Command-line switches and arguments not listed above are passed to convert(1).

FILES
       /usr/share/groff/1.20.1/tmac/eqnrc  The eqn(1) initialization file.

ENVIRONMENT
       GROFF_TMPDIR
              The directory in which temporary files will be created.  If this is not set  pic2graph  searches  the  environment
              variables TMPDIR, TMP, and TEMP (in that order).  Otherwise, temporary files will be created in /tmp.

BUGS
       Due  to  changes  in  the  behavior of ImageMagick convert(1) that are both forward and backward-incompatible, mismatches
       between your pic2graph and convert(1) versions may produce zero-sized or untrimmed output images.  For  this  version  of
       pic2graph  you  will  need  a  version  of  convert(1)  that  supports the -trim option; older versions of pic2graph used
       -crop 0x0, which no longer has trimming behavior.

SEE ALSO
       eqn2graph(1), grap2graph(1), pic(1), eqn(1), groff(1), gs(1), convert(1).

AUTHOR
       Eric S. Raymond <esrATthyrsus.com>, based on a recipe by W. Richard Stevens.



Groff Version 1.20.1                                     9 January 2009                                             PIC2GRAPH(1)