
   The xpicture package, version 1.2a
   (Several extensions of the "picture" standard environment,
    including graphs of functions and parametric curves)
   Robert Fuster, 2012/12/17


1. Licence
----------
This material is subject to the LaTeX Project Public License. 

See http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/help/Catalogue/licenses.lppl.html 
for the details of that license.


2. About this package
---------------------

The xpicture package introduces several new graphical instructions, 
and some enriched versions of standard instructions used inside the picture 
environment that, among other utilities, will provide the possibility of 
using different reference systems and a fine control the precise position 
where the objects are placed in your drawing.

But the most interesting feature of this package is the ability to draw high
quality curves such that conic sections, graphs of elementary functions and 
parametric curves, from LaTeX and using the typical LaTeX syntax.

The new instructions defined by this package can be classified as follows:

       -- Reference systems and coordinates:

             - Declaration and use of different reference systems, 
               with Cartesian or polar coordinates.
             - Instructions to show Cartesian or polar reference systems.

       -- An alternative to the picture environment, compatible with 
          the new reference systems.
  
       -- Alternative instructions or extensions of the standard picture
          commands and those defined by the packages pict2e and curve2e:

             - Enriched versions of marks \put and \multiput, providing an
               adequate control of the precise position in which objects 
               are composed.
             - Instructions for drawing straight segments, vectors
               (in any direction and using any reference system), polygonal 
               lines, and regular and arbitrary polygons.

       -- Regular curves:

             - Instructions for drawing conic sections (circles, ellipses, 
               hyperbolas and parabolas) and arcs of these curves.
             - Instructions to graph functions and parametrically defined 
               curves.


This package requires the "calculator" and "calculus" packages. You can
download these packages from CTAN:

        /macros/latex/contrib/calculator

Packages "pict2e", "curve2e" and "xcolor" are also needed. These packages are 
included in major TeX distributions.


3. Installation and documentation
---------------------------------

After uncompressing "xpicture.zip" you will have the following files:

   -- "README". This file.
   -- "xpicture.dtx". The source file.
   -- "xpicture-doc.pdf". The compiled "xpicture" user manual.
   -- "xpicture-doc.tex". The user manual source file.
   -- "xpicture.tds.zip". Ready to use tds-structures zip file.

Then, you can install the package in two ways: 

   a) Unpacking the zip file xpicture.tds.zip into your local texmf tree 
      and updating the file database, or

   b) By compiling the source file "xpicture.dtx" in the following sequence 

         >> pdflatex xpicture.dtx
         >> pdflatex xpicture.dtx
         >> makeindex -s gind.ist -o xpicture.ind xpicture.idx
         >> pdflatex xpicture.dtx 

      Then, several files will be generated:

         "xpicture.sty" (the package). 
          Move this file where LaTeX search for (typically, in a local
          texmf tree, at tex/latex/xpicture/) and refresh the file database.
   
         "xpicture.pdf" (documented source and reference manual).

         "xpicture.cfgxmpl" (costumizable local configuration file).

      Recall that the user manual is not "xpicture.pdf", but 
      "xpicture-doc.pdf". If you re-compile this file,
       many small files, named "xpictureNN.tex" are generated.
      These files contain the source code of all examples included 
      in the manual.
      You can store or discard this files.

Please, visit the "xpicture" homepage at

        http://www.upv.es/~rfuster/xpicture

---------------------------------------------------
Robert Fuster
rfuster@mat.upv.es

Universitat Polit\`ecnica de Val\`encia, 2012/12/17
---------------------------------------------------

