Date help created: 18 May 1996 Date last updated: 18 May 1996'slides' creates a Postscript file composed of multiple frames, each frame originating as an individual Postscript file as created using plot1 or plot2.
To run the program type
slides <slides script file>
The output file is effectively just a concatenation of the input files (with some translation, scaling and clipping), and in particular the size of the output file is approximately the sum of the size of the input files.
In this help file the terms x and y refer to the directions after the paper has been properly oriented (as portrait or landscape).
In this help file the measurement units are either inches (the default) of centimeters (if specified), except for font sizes, for which the units are points (72 per inch).
In this help file words which appear in single quotations are to be used without the quotation marks.
The key words can appear in any order in the script (one per line).
The following is the list of allowed key words in the script file, grouped (approximately) according to function:
Syntax and more details about <key word> (where <key word> is any of the above key words) can be obtained by typing
slides help <key word>
input <number of input files>
This specifies the number of input files. The next <number of input files> lines must contain the following information (one input file per line):
<file name> <slide text>
The text is optional, but if there is text then double quotation marks must delimit the text. The text appears in the slide frame of the given input file. The first frame is the frame at the top left of the slide. If there is more than one frame in the x direction then the second frame is to the right of the first frame, otherwise the second frame is below the first frame. And so on.
The <number of input files> must be the product of the number of frames in the x direction (as defined by x_frames) and the number of frames in the y direction (as defined by y_frames).
This key word is mandatory.
output <file name>
This specifies the name of the output file. This key word is mandatory.
x_frames <number of frames in x direction>
This specifies the number frames in the x direction. This key word is optional. By default the number of frames is 1.
y_frames <number of frames in y direction>
This specifies the number frames in the y direction. This key word is optional. By default the number of frames is 1.
title <slide title>
This specifies the text to appear as the slide title. The text is optional (however there is no point having the key word otherwise), but if there is text then double quotation marks must delimit the text. This key word is optional. By default there is no title.
title_font <font name>
This specifies the (Postscript) font for the title. This key word is optional. By default the font is Times-Roman.
title_size <font size>
This specifies the font size (in points) for the title. This key word is optional. By default the font size is 18 point.
title_justify <placement in x direction>
This specifies the placement of the title in the x direction. The <placement in x direction> must be one of 'left', 'center', or 'right'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'left'.
title_edge <placement in y direction>
This specifies the placement of the title in the y direction. The <placement in y direction> must be 'top' or 'bottom'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'top'.
date
This specifies that the time and date (when the program is run) should appear on the slide. This key word is optional. By default there is no date.
date_font <font name>
This specifies the (Postscript) font for the date. This key word is optional. By default the font is Times-Roman.
date_size <font size>
This specifies the font size (in points) for the date. This key word is optional. By default the font size is 12 point.
date_justify <placement in x direction>
This specifies the placement of the date in the x direction. The <placement in x direction> must be one of 'left', 'center', or 'right'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'right'.
date_edge <placement in y direction>
This specifies the placement of the date in the y direction. The <placement in y direction> must be 'top' or 'bottom'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'bottom'.
text_font <font name>
This specifies the (Postscript) font for the text that (optionally) appears in each frame. This key word is optional. By default the font is Times-Roman.
text_size <font size>
This specifies the font size (in points) for the text that (optionally) appears in each frame. This key word is optional. By default the font size is 12 point.
text_justify <placement in x direction>
This specifies the placement in the x direction of the text that (optionally) appears in each frame. The <placement in x direction> must be one of 'left', 'center', or 'right'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'center'.
text_edge <placement in y direction>
This specifies the placement in the y direction of the text that (optionally) appears in each frame. The <placement in y direction> must be 'top' or 'bottom'. This key word is optional. By default the placement is at the 'bottom'.
x_margin <margin>
This specifies the margin between the edge of the paper and the left (and right) frames of the slide. This key word is optional. By default the margin is 0.
y_margin <margin>
This specifies the margin between the edge of the paper and the bottom (and top) frames of the slide. This key word is optional. By default the margin is 0.
x_space <space>
This specifies the space between the individual frames in the x direction. This key word is optional. By default the space is 0.
y_space <space>
This specifies the space between the individual frames in the y direction. This key word is optional. By default the space is 0.
x_size <size>
This specifies the size of the individual frames in the x direction. This key word is optional, but if it occurs the key word y_size must also occur. By default the size is calculated from the x_margin, the x_space and the paper_size.
y_size <size>
This specifies the size of the individual frames in the y direction. This key word is optional, but if it occurs the key word x_size must also occur. By default the size is calculated from the y_margin, the y_space and the paper_size.
picture_clip
This specifies that x_clip and y_clip refer to the picture size, rather than the margin size, to which the individual input pictures are to be clipped. This key word is optional. By default x_clip and y_clip refer to the margin size.
x_clip <size>
This specifies the size to which the individual input pictures are to be clipped in the x direction before they are inserted into their corresponding slide frames. The size refers either to the margin size (the default) or the picture size (if the key word picture_clip occurs). This key word is optional. By default the size is 0.
y_clip <size>
This specifies the size to which the individual input pictures are to be clipped in the y direction before they are inserted into their corresponding slide frames. The size refers either to the margin size (the default) or the picture size (if the key word picture_clip occurs).
This key word is optional. By default the size is 0.
left_clip <size>
This specifies the additional clipping size at the left of the individual input pictures, to be used only for the frames at the left of the slide. This size refers to the change in picture size (normally non-negative), not the change in margin size (normally non-positive), independently of how x_clip and y_clip are specified.
This key word is optional. By default the size is 0.
right_clip <size>
This specifies the additional clipping size at the right of the individual input pictures, to be used only for the frames at the right of the slide. This size refers to the change in picture size (normally non-negative), not the change in margin size (normally non-positive), independently of how x_clip and y_clip are specified.
This key word is optional. By default the size is 0.
top_clip <size>
This specifies the additional clipping size at the top of the individual input pictures, to be used only for the frames at the top of the slide. This size refers to the change in picture size (normally non-negative), not the change in margin size (normally non-positive), independently of how x_clip and y_clip are specified.
This key word is optional. By default the size is 0.
paper_size <size>
This specifies the paper size for the output picture. This must be one of 'A4', 'A3', 'A', 'B', or must contain two numbers, the explicit sizes in the x and y directions. This key word is optional. By default the size is 'A4'.
portrait
This specifies that the output picture is to be oriented as portrait (rather than landscape). This key word is optional. By default the orientation is landscape.
centimeters
This specifies that the values specified in the script are in units of centimeters (rather than inches). This key word is optional. By default the units are inches.
EPS
This specifies that the output file should be in EPS (Encapsulated Postscript) format. This key word is optional. By default the output is in (ordinary) Postscript format.
keep_border
This specfies that the border (consisting of the title and date) of the individual input pictures should be kept in the frame (but it might be removed by the clipping). This key word is optional. By default the border is removed (if it can be identified!). Azara help: slides / W. Boucher / azara@bioc.cam.ac.uk