Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ Is there a minimum line length in picture elements

[carcophan]

Hello all,

I'm using a picture element to display a simple diagram and I can't get some lines to appear. The following code shows the problem:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}
\begin{document}

\setlength{\unitlength}{0.8cm}
\begin{picture}(4,4)
  \put(0,0){\line(1,1){0.44}} %% Displays OK
  \put(1,1){\line(1,1){0.43}} %% Doesn't display
\end{picture}
\end{document}

I wonder if it might be related to the fact that only certain line directions are possible but I can't quite convince myself it is. The reason I need such short lines is that in the full code I'm using multiput to draw a dotted line which seems to work fine with vertical and horizontal lines but not lines at an angle.

What do I need to do to get the lines to appear?

Thanks in advance

Phil

[west.logan]

The lower limit for the "length" is about 3.5mm in LaTeX. If you multiply 0.8 times your length of 0.43, you get just under that mark. There are other packages, like the "eepic" package, which remove this limitation.

[carcophan]

> The lower limit for the "length" is about 3.5mm in LaTeX

This doesn't seem to be the issue I'm seeing as the following code demonstrates:

Code: Select all

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}
\begin{document}

\setlength{\unitlength}{0.8cm}
\begin{picture}(4,4)
  \put(0,0){\line(1,1){0.44}} %% Displays OK
  \put(1,1){\line(1,1){0.43}} %% Doesn't display

  \put(2, 0){\line(0,1){0.3}} %% Does Display len = 0.24
  \put(2.25, 0){\line(0,1){0.25}} %% Does Display len = 0.2
  \put(2.5, 0){\line(0,1){0.2}} %% Does Display len = 0.16
  \put(2.75, 0){\line(0,1){0.15}} %% Does Display len = 0.12
  \put(3, 0){\line(0,1){0.1}} %% Does Display len = 0.08

  \put(0, 2){\line(1,0){0.3}} %% Does Display len = 0.24
  \put(0, 2.25){\line(1,0){0.25}} %% Does Display len = 0.2
  \put(0, 2.5){\line(1,0){0.2}} %% Does Display len = 0.16
  \put(0, 2.75){\line(1,0){0.15}} %% Does Display len = 0.12
  \put(0, 3){\line(1,0){0.1}} %% Does Display len = 0.08

\end{picture}
\end{document}

On my system (Linux, Fedora 12) this shows vertical and horizontal lines down to a length of 0.08mm but the line at an angle can't be shorter than 0.35mm.

Phil

[localghost]

There are more sophisticated packages like pgf/tikZ or PSTricks for such drawings. For the picture environment you should at least use the pict2e package for some enhancements. Your problems then might vanish.


Best regards and welcome to the board
Thorsten

[carcophan]

> For the picture environment you should at least use the pict2e package for some enhancements.

Brilliant. That did the trick (and it still displays in PDF which is what I needed).

Thanks Thorsten. Below is a modified version of the code which displayed the problem that now works fine.

Thanks again,

Phil

Code: Select all

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{article}

\usepackage[pdftex]{pict2e}

\begin{document}

\setlength{\unitlength}{0.8cm}
\begin{picture}(4,4)
  \put(2,1){\line(1,1){0.44}} %% Displays OK

  %% without using the pict2e the next two lines don't display
  \put(3,2){\line(1,1){0.43}} %% Does display
  \multiput(0,0)(0.4, 0.4){10}{\line(1,1){0.3}} %% Does display

  \put(2, 0){\line(0,1){0.3}} %% Does Display len = 0.24
  \put(2.25, 0){\line(0,1){0.25}} %% Does Display len = 0.2
  \put(2.5, 0){\line(0,1){0.2}} %% Does Display len = 0.16
  \put(2.75, 0){\line(0,1){0.15}} %% Does Display len = 0.12
  \put(3, 0){\line(0,1){0.1}} %% Does Display len = 0.08

  \put(0, 2){\line(1,0){0.3}} %% Does Display len = 0.24
  \put(0, 2.25){\line(1,0){0.25}} %% Does Display len = 0.2
  \put(0, 2.5){\line(1,0){0.2}} %% Does Display len = 0.16
  \put(0, 2.75){\line(1,0){0.15}} %% Does Display len = 0.12
  \put(0, 3){\line(1,0){0.1}} %% Does Display len = 0.08

\end{picture}
\end{document}

[west.logan]

On my system (Linux, Fedora 12) this shows vertical and horizontal lines down to a length of 0.08mm but the line at an angle can't be shorter than 0.35mm.

Phil

That's correct, vertical and horizontal lines can be small, but angled cannot be smaller than 0.35cm, according to the LaTeX companion.