Path Width and Style

The standard path widths are plain (thinlines) and bold (thicklines). Other widths are available via a pen() command. The argument is a number, interpreted as a length in pt, or a number followed by a two-letter L^ATEX length as in the unitlength() command. Journals discourage line widths smaller than about 0.5 pt, and a multitude of author-specified line widths tends to look cluttered and ad hoc. If possible, use the standard widths.

  plain();        // thinlines, about the same as pen(0.4);
  bold();         // thicklines,                  pen(0.8);
  pen("0.02in");  // set path width to 0.02 in

The path style is one of solid, dashed, or dotted. The style is set with an identically-named command, e.g., dashed(). Every pathlike object in ePiX is drawn using a list of points. When the path style is solid, the points are joined connect-the-dots fashion. A dotted path is drawn by placing a small dot at each point of the path. When the style is dashed, line segments are drawn partway from each vertex to its neighbors.

A few parameters can be adjusted manually: the page distance between consecutive points on a path (for polygons--triangles, quads, etc.), the ``dash density'' (the percentage of a dashed path filled by dashes), and the dot size:

  dash_fill(0.7); // dashes fill 70% of point gap
  dash_length(6); // path points separated by 6pt
  dot_sep(8);     // path points separated by 8pt
  dot_size(2);    // dots 2pt in diameter