PSTricks
pst-coil
Special node connections
v.1.03
February 1, 2010
Documentation by Package author(s):
Herbert Voß Timothy Van Zandt
Herbert Voß
Coils, springs and zigzag curves do not really count to the ordinary when creating
graphics. They are of some importance though when dealing with the creation of coilish
connections. They can also be used for node connections which will be shown at the
end of this chapter.
The parameters especially for the coil variants are only easy to understand when
keeping in mind that three dimensional helixes are dealt with, which are only projected
onto the two dimensional paper plane. This will be elaborated on at the corresponding
places.
Thanks to: Marco Daniel, Denis Girou, Uwe Siart.
Contents 3
Contents
1 Parameters 4
1.1 coilwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 coilheight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 coilarm, coilarmA and coilarmB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 coilaspect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 coilinc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 ppoints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.7 periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.8 amplitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.9 function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 Makros 9
2.1 \pscoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2 \psCoil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3 \pszigzag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3 Node connections 10
4 List of all optional arguments for pst-coil 12
References 12
1.1 coilwidth 4
1 Parameters
Table 1 shows a compilation of the special parameters valid for pst-coil.
Table 1: Compilation of all parameters for pst-coil
name value default
coilwidth
1cm
coilheight 1
coilarm 0.5cm
coilarmA 0.5cm
coilarmB 0.5cm
coilaspect 45
coilinc 45
periods 1
amplitude 1
function sin
ppoints 360
1.1 coilwidth
coilwidth denotes the diameter of the coil resp. the height of a zigzag line. The diame-
ter corresponds to the height with a perpendicular parallel projection transverse to the
length.
coilwidth
0.75cm
0.50cm
0.25cm
0.50cm
coilwidth
0.75cm
0.50cm
0.25cm
0.50cm
1 \begin{pspicture}(0,-5)(5,5)
2 \pscoil(0,4)(3.5,4)
3 {\psset{linewidth=0.2pt}
4 \psline[arrowscale=2,tbarsize=3mm]{|<->|}(4.5,3.5)
(4.5,4.5)
5 \psline[linestyle=dashed](3.25,4.5)(4.5,4.5)
6 \psline[linestyle=dashed](2.75,3.5)(4.5,3.5)}
7 \uput*[0](3.5,4){coilwidth}
8 \pscoil[coilwidth=0.75cm](0,2.6)(3.6,2.6)
9 \uput*[0](3.5,2.6){0.75cm}
10 \pscoil[coilwidth=0.5cm](0,1.8)(3.5,1.8)
11 \uput*[0](3.5,1.8){0.50cm}
12 \pscoil[coilwidth=0.25cm](0,1.2)(3.5,1.2)
13 \uput*[0](3.5,1.2){0.25cm}
14 \pscoil*[coilwidth=0.5cm](0,0.5)(3.5,0.5)
15 \uput*[0](3.5,0.5){0.50cm}
16 % zigzag
17 \pszigzag(0,-4)(3.5,-4)
18
19 [ ... ]
1.2 coilheight 5
1.2 coilheight
coilheight is in contrast to coilwidth no length but only a factor, whereat the distance
between two windings resp. jags is composed as follows:
dx = coilheight · coilwidth (1)
As can be seen in the following example, not the same physical distance is yielded.
This is caused by the internal three dimensional representation of the coil; it is not seen
under an angle of 90◦ but 45◦. (Section 1.4)
coilheight×coilwidth
coilwidth
0.75
0.50
1.25
0.50
1 \begin{pspicture}(0,-4)(5,5)
2 \pscoil(0,4)(3.5,4)
3 {\psset{linewidth=0.2pt}
4 \psline[arrowscale=2,tbarsize=3mm]{|<->|}(4.5,3.5)
(4.5,4.5)
5 \psline[linestyle=dashed](3.25,4.5)(4.5,4.5)
6 \psline[linestyle=dashed](2.75,3.5)(4.5,3.5)
7 \psline[arrowscale=2,tbarsize=3mm]{|<->|}(1.75,3.2)
(2.5,3.2)
8 \uput[-90](2.15,3){\footnotesize\texttt{coilheight
$\times$coilwidth}}}
9 \uput*[0](3.5,4){coilwidth}
10 \pscoil[coilheight=0.75](0,1.5)(3.6,1.5)
11 \uput*[0](3.5,1.5){0.75}
12 \pscoil[coilheight=0.5](0,0)(3.5,0)
13 \uput*[0](3.5,0){0.50}
14 \pscoil[coilheight=1.25](0,-1.5)(3.5,-1.5)
15 \uput*[0](3.5,-1.5){1.25}
16 \pscoil*[coilheight=0.5](0,-3)(3.5,-3)
17 \uput*[0](3.5,-3){0.50}
18 \end{pspicture}
1.3 coilarm, coilarmA and coilarmB 6
coilheight×coilwidth
coilwidth
0.75
0.50
1.25
0.50
1 \begin{pspicture}(0,-4)(5,5)
2 \pszigzag(0,4)(3.5,4)
3 { \psset{linewidth=0.2pt}
4 \psline[arrowscale=2,tbarsize=3mm]{|<->|}(4.5,3.5)
(4.5,4.5)
5 \psline[linestyle=dashed](2.5,4.5)(4.5,4.5)
6 \psline[linestyle=dashed](2.75,3.5)(4.5,3.5)
7 \psline[arrowscale=2,tbarsize=3mm]{|<->|}(1.75,3.2)
(2.75,3.2)
8 \uput[-90](2.15,3){\footnotesize\texttt{coilheight
$\times$coilwidth}} }
9 \uput*[0](3.5,4){coilwidth}
10 \pszigzag[coilheight=0.75](0,1.5)(3.6,1.5)
11 \uput*[0](3.5,1.5){0.75}
12 \pszigzag[coilheight=0.5](0,0)(3.5,0)
13 \uput*[0](3.5,0){0.50}
14 \pszigzag[coilheight=1.25](0,-1.5)(3.5,-1.5)
15 \uput*[0](3.5,-1.5){1.25}
16 \pszigzag*[coilheight=0.5](0,-3)(3.5,-3)
17 \uput*[0](3.5,-3){0.50}
18 \end{pspicture}
1.3 coilarm, coilarmA and coilarmB
coilarm, coilarmA, and coilarmB denotes the part of a straight line made left and right.
Negative values are possible, but do not make a lot of sense as a rule. As can be gathered
from the example, the coil is lenghtened by a negative value in this case, so that the
part of a straight line is led back to the specified starting point resp. endpoint and
consequently has a negative “direction”. This parameter is not available for \psCoil.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4.5)
2 \pscoil(0,4)(4,4)
3 \psset{coilwidth=0.5}
4 \pscoil[coilarm=0](0,3)(4,3)
5 \pscoil[coilarmA=1cm,coilarmB=0.2cm](0,2)(4,2)
6 \pscoil[coilarm=-10pt](0,1)(4,1)
7 \end{pspicture}
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4.5)
2 \pszigzag(0,4)(4,4)
3 \psset{coilwidth=0.5}
4 \pszigzag[coilarm=0](0,3)(4,3)
5 \pszigzag[coilarmA=1cm,coilarmB=0.2cm](0,2)(4,2)
6 \pszigzag[coilarm=-10pt](0,1)(4,1)
7 \end{pspicture}
1.4 coilaspect 7
1.4 coilaspect
In Section 1.2 the three dimensional representation of the coil has been pointed out
already. If it was regarded right-angled to its axis, the windings would not be recogniz-
able. With coilaspect this “perspective” can be influenced, which is only possible for
the “coil” variants of course. coilaspect=0 yields a sine curve.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4.5)
2 \pscoil(0,4)(4,4)
3 \psset{coilwidth=0.75}
4 \pscoil[coilaspect=0](0,3)(4,3)
5 \pscoil[coilaspect=30,coilheight=0.3](0,2)(4,2)
6 \pscoil[coilaspect=-30,coilheight=0.3](0,1)(4,1)
7 \end{pspicture}
1.5 coilinc
The curve is drawn with the lineto procedure of PostScript , whereat coilinc spec-
ifies the rotation angle in the angular measure at which the next point is calculated. It
has already been mentioned that the calculation is done as a three dimensional coil and
is projected onto the two dimensional plane only in the end.
coilinc does also not make sense for zigzag lines, so that this parameter again only
is available for the coil variant. Large angles result in a polygon line, small angles in
harmonic progressions with increased calculation effort.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4.5)
2 \psset{coilwidth=0.8}
3 \pscoil(0,4)(4,4)
4 \psset{coilinc=0}
5 \pscoil[coilinc=5](0,3)(4,3)
6 \pscoil[coilinc=30](0,2)(4,2)
7 \pscoil[coilinc=60](0,1)(4,1)
8 \end{pspicture}
1.6 ppoints
By default a line or node connection divides the total length into 360 segments. This
should be increased for long distances or a large number of periodss.
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \pssin[ppoints=2000,
3 periods=30](0,1)(5,1)
4 \end{pspicture}
1.7 periods 8
1.7 periods
The line from A to B is plotted by default as one period, which is the same as the relative
periods=1. A setting of periods=3.3 plots the function 3.3 times for the given length.
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \pssin[linecolor=blue](0,1)(5,1)
3 \pssin[periods=3.3](0,1)(5,1)
4 \end{pspicture}
A value without an unit for the period is always relative, with an unit it will be an
absolute value.
0
1
2
0 1 2 3 4
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \psaxes(5mm,0)(4.5,2)
3 \psset{coilarm=5mm}
4 \pssin[linecolor=blue](0,1)(5,1)
5 \pssin[periods=1cm](0,1)(5,1)
6 \pssin[periods=2cm,linestyle=dashed](0,1)(5,1)
7 \end{pspicture}
With a star as prefix the absolute value will be rounded to get an integer number of
periods.
0
1
2
0 1 2 3 4
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \psset{coilarm=5mm}
3 \psaxes(5mm,0)(4.5,2)
4 \pssin[periods=1.1cm,linestyle=dotted,
5 linecolor=red](0,1)(5,1)
6 \pssin[periods=*1.1cm,linecolor=red](0,1)(5,1)
7 \pssin[periods=2.2cm,linestyle=dotted,
8 linecolor=blue](0,1)(5,1)
9 \pssin[periods=*2.2cm,linecolor=blue](0,1)(5,1)
10 \end{pspicture}
1.8 amplitude
As usual the amplitude is the maximum of the plotted curve and preset to \psyunit, eg
1cm.
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \pssin[linecolor=blue](0,1)(5,1)
3 \pssin[amplitude=0.5,
4 linecolor=red](0,1)(5,1)
5 \end{pspicture}
1.9 function
By default the curve is plotted as y = sin(x), The optional argument function allows to
define any other object in PostScript notation. The value of the variable x is already
on the stack! The following example plots the defualt curve and one with the function
y = cos(x · sin(x)):
2 Makros 9
1 \begin{pspicture}(\linewidth,2)
2 \pssin[linecolor=blue](0,1)(\linewidth,1)
3 \pssin[function=dup sin mul cos,
4 linecolor=red,ppoints=10000,
5 periods=6](0,1)(\linewidth,1)
6 \end{pspicture}
2 Makros
pst-coil defines three macros, which make the creation of coil or zigzag shaped lines
possible.
\pscoil * [Options] {arrows} (x0,y0) (x1,y1)
\psCoil * [Options] {angle1}{angle2}
\pszigzag * [Options] {arrows} (x0,y0) (x1,y1)
\pssin * [Options] {arrows} (x0,y0) (x1,y1)
• If only one coordinate pair is specified, the first point is automatically set to the
origin of ordinates (0, 0).
• Arrows may be set with the own parameter or with the optional parameter with
arrows=<...-...>.
• For \psCoil the coils are principally drawn without “arms”.
The asterisk version are in principle pointless, since they do not allow a meaningful
representation. Some could be seen with the description of parameters, but will not be
described further in the following.
2.1 \pscoil
Since \pscoil is nothing else than a polygon line, also all parameters are available
which apply for lines.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4)
2 \pscoil[coilarm=.5cm,linewidth=1.5pt,coilwidth=.5cm
]{|->}(4,3)
3 \pscoil[linecolor=red,coilheight=0.25](3,4)(3,1)
4 \pscoil[doubleline=true,linecolor=cyan,coilheight
=0.75](0,4)(3,0)
5 \end{pspicture}
2.2 \psCoil 10
2.2 \psCoil
\psCoil draws starting at the current point to the angle α an invisible line and then from
α to β a helix. \rput has to be used if they are to be placed at a particular position. The
advantage is that with \psCoil the number of helixes to draw can be specified exactly.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4)
2 \psCoil[linewidth=1.5pt,coilwidth=.5cm]{1800}{3600}
3 \rput{-90}(3,4){\psCoil[linecolor=red,coilheight
=0.25]{0}{3600}}
4 \rput{-45}(0,3.5){\psCoil[doubleline=true,linecolor=cyan
,coilheight=0.75]{100}{2700}}
5 \end{pspicture}
2.3 \pszigzag
This macro represents the two dimensional variant and is correspondly easy to use. Es-
pecially the linearc option can bring good results for \pszigzag. The specification of
the “arm length” is not absolute here, since the line is principally ended in the geomet-
rical middle and then led to the specified arm length.
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,4)
2 \pszigzag[coilarm=.5cm,linewidth=1.5pt,coilwidth=.5cm
]{|->}(4,3)
3 \pszigzag[linecolor=red,coilheight=0.2](3,4)(3,1)
4 \pszigzag[doubleline=true,linecolor=cyan,coilheight
=0.75](0,4)(3,0)
5 \end{pspicture}
3 Node connections
Prerequisite for this macro is that pst-node is loaded, then the following node connec-
tions are available:
\nccoil * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
\nczigzag * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
\pccoil * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
\pczigzag * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
\ncsin * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
\pcsin * [Options] {arrows} {nodeA}{nodeB}
3 Node connections 11
1 \begin{pspicture}(4,3)
2 \pnode(0.5,0.5){A}
3 \pnode(3.5,2.5){B}
4 \ncsin{<->}{A}{B}
5 \end{pspicture}
1 \begin{pspicture}(5,2)
2 \pnode(0,1){A}
3 \pnode(5,1){B}
4 \ncsin[amplitude=0.5,periods=30,coilarm=5pt,
5 function=dup 0.1 mul sin exch sin add]{A}{B}
6 \end{pspicture}
Th other connections behave completely analogue to those dealt with the package
pst-node so that no further explanations are needed here.
References 12
4 List of all optional arguments for pst-coil
Key Type Default
coilwidth ordinary 1cm
coilheight ordinary 1
coilarmA ordinary 0.5cm
coilarmB ordinary 0.5cm
coilarm ordinary 0.5cm
coilaspect ordinary 45
coilinc ordinary 10
periods ordinary 1
amplitude ordinary 1
ppoints ordinary 360
function ordinary sin
References
[1] Denis Girou. Présentation de PSTricks. Cahier GUTenberg, 16:21–70, April 1994.
[2] Michel Goosens, Frank Mittelbach, Sebastian Rahtz, Dennis Roegel, and Herbert
Voß. The LATEX Graphics Companion. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Boston,
Mass., second edition, 2007.
[3] Nikolai G. Kollock. PostScript richtig eingesetzt: vom Konzept zum praktischen
Einsatz. IWT, Vaterstetten, 1989.
[4] Herbert Voß. PSTricks – Grafik für TEX und LATEX. DANTE – Lehmanns, Heidel-
berg/Hamburg, fifth edition, 2008.
[5] Timothy Van Zandt. multido.tex - a loop macro, that supports fixed-point addition.
CTAN:/macros/generic/multido.tex, 1997.
[6] Timothy Van Zandt and Denis Girou. Inside PSTricks. TUGboat, 15:239–246,
September 1994.
Index
amplitude, 4, 8
arrows, 9
coil, 4
coil, 7
coilarm, 4, 6
coilarmA, 4, 6
coilarmB, 4, 6
coilaspect, 4, 7
coilheight, 4, 5
coilinc, 4, 7
coilwidth, 4, 5
diameter, 4
function, 4, 8
Keyword
amplitude, 4, 8
arrows, 9
coil, 7
coilarm, 4, 6
coilarmA, 4, 6
coilarmB, 4, 6
coilaspect, 4, 7
coilheight, 4, 5
coilinc, 4, 7
coilwidth, 4, 5
function, 4, 8
linearc, 10
periods, 4, 8
ppoints, 4
linearc, 10
lineto, 7
Macro
\nccoil*, 10
\ncsin*, 10
\nczigzag*, 10
\pccoil*, 10
\pcsin*, 10
\pczigzag*, 10
\psCoil*, 9
\psCoil, 6, 9, 10
\pscoil*, 9
\pscoil, 9
\pssin*, 9
\psyunit, 8
\pszigzag*, 9
\pszigzag, 10
\rput, 10
\nccoil*, 10
\ncsin*, 10
\nczigzag*, 10
Package
pst-coil, 4, 9
pst-node, 10, 11
\pccoil*, 10
\pcsin*, 10
\pczigzag*, 10
periods, 4, 8
PostScript
lineto, 7
ppoints, 4
\psCoil, 6, 9, 10
\pscoil, 9
\psCoil*, 9
\pscoil*, 9
\pssin*, 9
pst-coil, 4, 9
pst-node, 10, 11
\psyunit, 8
\pszigzag, 10
\pszigzag*, 9
\rput, 10
three dimensional representation, 5
winding, 5
zigzag line, 4, 9
13
Parameters
coilwidth
coilheight
coilarm, coilarmA and coilarmB
coilaspect
coilinc
ppoints
periods
amplitude
function
Makros
\pscoil
\psCoil
\pszigzag
Node connections
List of all optional arguments for pst-coil
References
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