Asymptote / News: Recent posts

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A bug in the Bezier patch bounds was fixed. Vertex and material data are copied from the CPU to GPU only when necessary. The default Headlamp light was brightened. WebGL output is centered in the viewport, extending to the canvas boundary; the precision of planar Bezier surfaces was increased to avoid artifacts. Fullscreen mode has been fixed; the new default maxviewport=(0,0) specifies the screen dimensions. Camera adjustment was fixed. Problems with Xasy and interactive signals under MSWindows were fixed. A background color for both 2D and 3D images can be specified with currentlight.background. Offscreen rendering on headless machines has been reinstated; while the setting offscreen has been removed, one can again configure asy for either onscreen or offscreen rendering. Clipping was removed from the slopefield module. Functions mapArray, mapTemplate, real abs2(pair), and real abs2(triple) were implemented. The new Ghostscript transparency model requires Ghostscript 9.52 or later. The detection of TeX errors was improved. An array segmentation fault was fixed; array dimensions are checked. Flattened monochrome tensor patches with interior internal control points are now drawn as filled cyclic paths. PDF offsets were fixed, along with the auto-reload feature for Acroread. SVG support was improved; 2D images can now be output in HTML format using inline SVG code, to support the Asymptote Web Application, a new cloud service at http://asymptote.ualberta.ca.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A bug in rendering 2D preview images of a 3D scene was fixed.
The 100-error TeX limit is gracefully detected, rather than hanging.
A more accurate Bezier approximation to the sphere was implemented.
An initial perpendicular direction can now be specified for the
rotation minimizing frame for a path3; the previous direction is
no longer cached between calls.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Discontinuities were removed from the rotation minimizing frame used for
constructing tubes. A work around was implemented for an incorrect
declaration in obsolete versions of the NetBSD readline header file.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A race condition in the AsyGL library was fixed. Emissive and
shininess values can be overridden for vertex colors. Thin Bezier
curves can be drawn with lighting enabled. Outline mode for 3D surfaces
was fixed; outline and mesh mode were ported to WebGL. Degenerate
surface normals were fixed. The octant1, hemisphere, and sphere
surfaces were replaced by nondegenerate versions that render faster.
The unitcone, unitfrustum, and DefaultHead3 arrowhead were simplified.
A robust and more efficient tube routine was implemented;
the PRC tube primitive was removed. WebGL compression was achieved by
implementing sphere, disk, cylinder, and tube primitives in the AsyGL library.
Patches are now split in both directions only when required.
If the GNU Readline library is unavailable, the Editline library
is used to at least support command-line editing, without history features.
An MSDOS configuration issue was fixed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A hyperbola(point F1, point F2, point M) function was added to the
geometry module. Duplicate intersections are avoided. Errors in the
texpreamble are handled gracefully, without hanging. Unwanted
indentation under LuaLaTex was removed. The WebGL canvas is populated
with the design width and height. The WebGL context is stored in the top
rather than parent window. To avoid polling, WebGL images now draw directly.
Zooming of embedded WebGL images is disabled until activated with a
click or touch event, using ESC to cancel activation. WebGL usage
comments now suggest embedding as an iframe rather than an object.
The obsolete grffile package is no longer used. Typos in the documentation
were fixed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Bugs in the OpenGL driver were fixed. A work around for the WebGL singleton
array optimization bug on the Intel GPU was fixed. OpenGL and WebGL attributes
are now bound before linking the shaders. Bland's rule is implemented correctly
in the simplex solvers. A missing data file was added.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Transparent WebGL backgrounds were fixed. A build issue involving the revision
number was fixed. The locatefile function now returns the fully qualified
file name. The htmlviewer uses the absolute path for all platforms;
it is also used for displaying svg files. SVG output for embedded PNG, JPEG,
and external vector EPS and PDF images is supported with the latex TeX
engine and dvisvgm 2.8. The simplex solver was optimized. A pad function that
pads a picture to a precise size in both directions was introduced.
The xasy front end was ported to high-resolutions screens and handles Ctrl-C
interrupts correctly. Objects can be positioned finely with the arrow keys
while holding down the mouse button. The origin/center order and anchor names
were fixed. A front/back detection bug in the solids module was fixed.
The grffile package fixes issues with included file names.
This release requires Version 1.34 of asymptote.sty (auto-generated).

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

OpenGL memory allocation and transparency bugs introduced in version 2.54 were
fixed. Rendering efficiency was improved. In view of limited GPU resources,
only the required material uniforms are passed to each shader.
The WebGL vertex and fragment shaders have been moved to the asygl library.
Multiple embedded images now share a single WebGL context and shaders,
to work around browser limitations. A bug in 3D arrows was fixed.
Unavailable material attributes are now ignored. Miscellaneous Python support
files were ported to Python3. The obsolete maxvertices setting was removed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Intersection points in geometry.asy are now returned in currentcoordsys;
a numerical precision issue was also fixed. Ambiguous function signatures
in geometry.asy are resolved by requiring explicit casts when converting
general forms to special cases. The xasy editor selection is now consistent.
Building the asymptote.so shared library is supported again.
A bug in rendering indexed triangle arrays was fixed. Execution errors in
support utilities are now handled gracefully. Due to current limitations of
dvisvgm (2.7.4), graphic() can only display SVG output (used by the xasy
vector editor) for external vector EPS graphics (embedded images, PDF, PNG,
and JPG formats are not yet supported). Building under CYGWIN with X11 is
supported again. The --version option lists both enabled and disabled features.
The GLX library is explicitly linked if present.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Scenes with lighting disabled are rendered correctly in WebGL.
Attempting to output HTML for 2D pictures produces an SVG file.
A conditional was removed from the fragment shaders. A viewportshift option
was added to the WebGL driver; the home (h) key now forces a remesh.
The version number was removed from the local offline copy of asygl.
A numerical degeneracy in the conic sections intersection routine
was fixed. A workaround for the broken XDR headers under MacOS X was
implemented. An issue with animations was fixed. The --version option displays
a list of compiled-in features.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

An array bounds error was fixed. WebGL output now supports background
colors, including transparent backgrounds. Preprocessor conditionals were
fixed. Scrolling of webgl images is now disabled within the viewport.... read more

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Release Notes for Version 2.55

An initialization bug in the OpenGL renderer and portability issues were fixed.

Release Notes for Version 2.54... read more

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Support for generating and embedding interactive 3D WebGL vector graphics
within an HTML file has been added, allowing Asymptote figures
to be displayed on modern mobile and desktop browsers. The OpenGL rendering
routines were further optimized, yielding higher frame rates and
lower memory usage. The view position for perspective projection was fixed.
The default value of file word() was fixed. Installation issues were
addressed. A new digits setting controls the default output file precision.
A hanging pipe was fixed. The popcount function was extended to
systems that lack 64-bit integers. The order of PRC quad colours was fixed.
If lighting is enabled, vertex colors are now ignored in PRC images;
when drawing a surface s, use draw(s,prc() ? nolight : currentlight);
to disable lighting manually and recover the old behaviour.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A memory leak and antialiasing artifacts in the 3D rendering engine were fixed.
For PRC content, oblique projections are now converted to orthographic
projections. Portability issues were addressed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Under MacOS X, 3D rendering is supported again, the xasy menu bar is
now visible, and the default PostScript previewer was changed to "open".
VISUAL, EDITOR, and OS-specific editor overrides are now supported in xasy.
Obsolete code was removed and spelling mistakes were fixed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Portability fixes for FreeBSD x86 and MacOS X were made.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

The Phong-Blinn lighting model was replaced by a physically based rendering
model; the ambient attribute was removed. Various portability and build issues
were addressed. OpenGL is supported again for both 32-bit and 64-bit MSWindows.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Release Notes for Version 2.49

Portability issues and numerical precision issues were fixed.

Release Notes for Version 2.48... read more

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Further shipout and scaling problems were fixed. Unused files were removed.
Multiple-page documents now produce PS instead of EPS output.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

The pen width is accounted for in the bbox function. The relative alignment of a label to a path now transforms correctly with picture rotation. Various shipout issues were fixed. The ghostscript library location from the MSWindows registry is now ignored for compatibility with TeXLive.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

The xasy graphical front end for Asymptote has been rewritten to support code reordering, using Qt5 and scalable vector graphics. An uninitialized counter was fixed. A stable=true option was added to sort. The restricted simplex method has been replaced by a complete simplex solver that handles general size constraints. The rpc library has been replaced by the tirpc library. The dvips utility is forced to respect EPS requirements again. The system ghostscript library is now used by default for dvisvgm. Make clean now removes GSL symbols. The MSWindows system path is no longer modified by the installer. A CLZ bug was fixed.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

The real modulo operator was fixed. Vector SVG output is now supported for PDF tex engines. Compilation under MacOS X was fixed. Both 32- and 64-bit MSWindows binaries are now available.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

Bitreverse and popcount functions were added. An overflow in the modulo operator was fixed. An asymmetry in angle(transform) was fixed so that angle(yscale(-1))=0. Missing 3D underline characters were fixed. The MSWindows binary is now 64-bit.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

The rendering of Bezier patches was improved. Minor improvements were made to perpendicular marks in the geometry package. A perl issue was addressed. Two unwanted temporary files are now removed after TeX processing. EPS output is now supported with all TeX engines. A workaround was implemented for the ImageMagick jpeg black background bug.

Asymptote http://asymptote.sourceforge.net is a powerful descriptive vector graphics language for technical drawing, 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.

A partial workaround for the OpenGL transparency bug was implemented, by presorting transparent triangles of the same material. The examples were updated and a segmentation fault was fixed. Multisample detection, surface rendering, and crack filling algorithms were fixed. The default compilation flags now specify -std=c++11.