MetaPost

MetaPost是一个程序语言和它的编译器的名字，衍生于高德纳的Metafont。MetaPost擅长通过数学描述制作矢量图，生成的图片为PostScript格式。它的语法来自Metafont。

**实例**
这个文件example.mp通过MetaPost的编译器编译（在Linux系统中使用mpost命令）之后产生了3个EPS文件： example.1, example.2, example.3。这三个文件就是右边的三张图
example outputs
transform pagecoords;
pagecoords:=identity scaled 10mm shifted (100mm,150mm);
beginfig (1)
fill ((0,0)--(2,0)--(2,1)--(1,1)--(1,2)--(0,2)--cycle)
transformed pagecoords withcolor green;
draw ((2,0)..(2,1)..(1,1)..(1,2)..(0,2))
transformed pagecoords;
drawarrow ((0,0)--(2,2)) transformed pagecoords;
endfig;
beginfig (2)
draw (for i=0 up to 7: dir (135i)-- endfor cycle)
transformed pagecoords;
endfig;
pagecoords:=identity scaled 15mm shifted (100mm,150mm);
beginfig (3);
% declare paths to be used
path p,pt;
% set up points by defining relationships
z1=(0,0);   z2=z1+2up;
z3=z1+whatever*dir (60)=z2+whatever*dir (-50);
z4=z3+(-1.5,-.5);
z5=z1+dir (135);
z0=whateverz1,z2=whateverz3,z4;
% set up paths
p0=fullcircle yscaled .5 rotated 45 shifted z0 ;
p1=z2—z4..z0..z3---z1;
p2=p1 cutbefore p0 cutafter p0;
p3=p0 cutbefore p1 cutafter p1;
p4=p2—p3—cycle;
% define transformed versions of paths and points
for i=0 up to 4: pit=pi transformed pagecoords; endfor
for i=0 up to 5: zit=zi transformed pagecoords; endfor
% do some drawing
fill p4t withcolor (1,1,0.2);
draw z1t—z2t withcolor .5white;
draw z3t—z4t withcolor .5white;
pickup pencircle;
draw p0t dashed withdots scaled .3;
draw p1t dashed evenly;
draw p2t withcolor blue;
draw p3t withcolor red;
label.lrt (btex $z_0$ etex, z0t);
label.llft (btex $z_1$ etex, z1t);
label.top (btex $z_2$ etex, z2t);
label.rt (btex $z_3$ etex, z3t);
label.llft (btex $z_4$ etex, z4t);
for i=0 up to 4:
drawdot zit withpen pencircle scaled 2;
endfor
endfig;
bye
产生的3个eps文件可以直接用在TeX中（通过LaTeX的\includegraphics命令、ConTeXt的\externalfigure命令、Plain TeX的\epsfbox命令，或者Plain pdftex中来自supp-pdf.tex的\convertMPtoPDF命令。为了看或者打印这三张图片，这些引用是必须的，因为TeX的字体(Metafont)并不包含在MetaPost产生的eps文件中。

**参见**
 PGF/TikZ

**参考**
 MetaFun (modules for Metapost) by Hans Hagen,  date=20190928064515 
*Donald Knuth: The METAFONTbook, (Computers and Typesetting Volume C)  Addison-Wesley 1986.  ISBN 0-201-13444-6
*Comprehensive TEX Archive Network (CTAN): http://www.ctan.org/ date=2012-12-09 . Repository of the TEX source and hundreds of add-ons and style files.
*(La)TeX Navigator provides 305 simple MetaPost examples: https://web.archive.org/web/20130727021112/http://tex.loria.fr/prod-graph/zoonekynd/metapost/metapost.html
*Taco Hoekwater:  MetaPost developments—autumn 2006 date=20160303210501 . TUGboat 27:1 (2006).

**外部链接**
The TeX users group (TUG) http://www.tug.org/ date=20120204061616  has a page devoted to MetaPost: http://www.tug.org/metapost.htmldate=20120204061624 
*Active development of MetaPost continues at https://web.archive.org/web/20070929092912/http://foundry.supelec.fr/projects/metapost/- Functional MetaPost allows MetaPost to be used from the functional programming language Haskell
*John D. Hobby has a homepage at https://web.archive.org/web/20131003040005/http://ect.bell-labs.com/who/hobby/index.shtml and some other pages and publications devoted to MetaPost, though these are now a little dated
**Historic MetaPost homepage: https://web.archive.org/web/20081212090123/http://ect.bell-labs.com/who/hobby/MetaPost.shtml
**A User's Manual for MetaPost John D. Hobby. Available as a file mpman.ps distributed with MetaPost, or from the  Bell Labs web site. Also available in  PDF format date=20200803235236  from CTAN.