FAQ

General Questions

1. Where can I get xfig/TransFig?

2. Do I need to convert old Fig files to the new version?
   (Also, can xfig and fig2dev read older Fig files?)

3. Can I edit PostScript files with xfig?

4. I can't seem to control the drawing order of objects

5. My splines are being changed somehow from version 3.1 of xfig

6. How can I install xfig in a personal directory?

Problems when running xfig or TransFig (fig2dev)

1. I don't get any color in xfig's buttons

2. Icons in the side and bottom panels appear then disappear

3. A warning about some action not found occurs, like ``Warning: Actions not found: ModeOpenCompound''

4. An X error occurs with X_SetClipRectangles as the Request code, or thick line shows through arrowhead in certain orientations

5. When using LaTeX fonts in xfig I always end up with PostScript fonts

6. Arc-boxes don't appear correctly when viewing an exported PostScript file with GhostScript

7. OpenWindows sometimes loses track of xfig's icon

8. On HP machines, the capitalization of some letters in the edit text window are wrong

9. I get a ridiculous %%BoundingBox in my exported PostScript file

10. Patterns are coming out all black when viewing the exported PostScript file with ghostscript 5.50

11. I am exporting to the MetaFont format and the generated file refers to the ``grafbase.mf'' file which I don't have

Problems when compiling xfig

1. On a DEC Alpha the compiler may complain about something like ``.mask must have pcreg from .frame set if any bits are set in .mask or .fmask'' in the file u_bound.c

2. XPointer is undefined or unknown when I compile xfig

3. On Sun machines the linker may give erroneous error messages about _get_applicationShellWidgetClass and _get_wmShellWidgetClass are undefined

4. On some HP computers, the compiler dies with bus error in the file u_undo.c

5. On some HP computers using native cc compiler there is a problem with +O3 optimization

6. On Linux, you may get errors such as ``undefined reference to `jpeg_write_scanlines' ''

General Questions

Where can I get xfig/TransFig?

Do I need to convert old Fig files to the new version?

Can I edit PostScript files with xfig?

I can't seem to control the drawing order of objects

My splines are being changed somehow from version 3.1 of xfig

Caveat: Because spline models of previous versions (quadratic B-splines and Bezier with hidden points) are no longer supported, curves that are present in version 3.1 and older files are automatically converted to X-splines. This translation is only an approximation process. It means that the converted curves are not exactly the same as the original ones. Though the translation usually provides almost identical curves, some hand-fitting may be needed in some pathological cases.

How can I install xfig in a personal directory?

xfig, fig2dev

These files should be put in your command search path.

CompKeyDB

Set the XFIGLIBDIR variable in the Imakefile to the directory you want this file to go into, or specify the file with resource ``Fig*keyFile: your_lib_area/CompKeyDB''.

Fig and Fig-color (from the Fig.ad and Fig-color.ad files)

Set the shell environment variable XAPPLRESDIR to the directory where you want these files to go.

Doc/html

You must copy this whole directory (and its sub-directory) to the directory where XFIGLIBDIR in the Imakefile points (use cp -r).

Doc/xfig-howto.pdf and Doc/xfig.pdf

You must copy these two files to to the directory where XFIGLIBDIR in the Imakefile points.

Problems when running xfig or TransFig (fig2dev)

I don't get any color in xfig's buttons

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

You didn't install the app-defaults files correctly and/or you don't have the customization resource set.

SOLUTION:

You should install the app-defaults files Fig and Fig-color (Fig.ad and Fig-color.ad in xfig source distribution) into the appropriate directory. You should also put the string ``*customization: -color'' in a global resource file that gets loaded into the X server resources (.Xdefaults), and then restart the X server.

Explanation: Since X11R5, there has been a general resource *customization which can be set to the string -color which tells the system to look for an app-default file with the suffix -color (e.g. Fig-color) and read that instead of the usual (Fig). Inside Fig-color is an #include statement to read the normal Fig app-default file to get everything else not pertaining to color.

Icons in side and bottom panels appear then disappear

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

On Linux (2.0.29 at least), the libNextaw version of the Athena Widget set (libXaw) seem to cause this problem.

SOLUTION:

Relink with vanilla libXaw or libXaw3d.

A warning about some action not found occurs, like ``Warning: Actions not found: ModeOpenCompound''

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

You didn't install the current app-defaults files.

SOLUTION:

Install the app-default files (Fig.ad and Fig-color.ad) which comes with the xfig.
This is most easily done with ``make install''.

X error occurs with X_SetClipRectangles as the Request code, or thick line shows through arrowhead in certain orientations

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

In X11R5 Xlib, there was a bug in the clipping algorithm.

SOLUTION:

Switch to X11R6 or apply the following patch to mit/lib/X/XPolyReg.c in the X11R5 library:

*** XPolyReg.c.orig	Tue Dec 15 12:01:22 1992
--- XPolyReg.c	Wed Nov 15 09:41:13 1995
***************
*** 402,408 ****
  	    if (numRects && pts->x == rects->x1 && pts->y == rects->y2 &&
  		pts[1].x == rects->x2 &&
  		(numRects == 1 || rects[-1].y1 != rects->y1) &&
! 		(!i || pts[2].y > pts[1].y)) {
  		rects->y2 = pts[1].y + 1;
  		continue;
  	    }
--- 402,409 ----
  	    if (numRects && pts->x == rects->x1 && pts->y == rects->y2 &&
  		pts[1].x == rects->x2 &&
  		(numRects == 1 || rects[-1].y1 != rects->y1) &&
! 		/* Fixed version from X11 R6 */
! 		(i && pts[2].y > pts[1].y)) {
  		rects->y2 = pts[1].y + 1;
  		continue;
  	    }

When using LaTeX fonts in xfig I always end up with PostScript fonts

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

To put fonts under the control of LaTeX when generating PostScript output, you must tag the text object as ``special'' and then use Combined PostScript/LaTeX (pstex) output mode. This mode forces special text objects to be passed through to LaTeX, allowing the use of Math mode and Computer Modern fonts among other things.

Arc-boxes don't appear correctly when viewing an exported PostScript file with GhostScript

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

Ghostscript version 4.01 has a bug with the arcto operators.

SOLUTION:

Get Ghostscript 4.03 or newer.

OpenWindows sometimes loses track of xfig's icon

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

Cause unknown.

SOLUTION:

Here is a temporary kludge. Place the line:

  Fig*iconPixmap:  your_lib_area/fig.icon.X

in your .Xdefaults file and copy the file fig.icon.X into directory your_lib_area.

On HP machines, the capitalization of some letters in the edit text window are wrong

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

Make sure that the CompKeyDB file has the lowercase letter definitions before the uppercase definitions. This should be the case for the CompKeyDB file shipped with xfig 2.1.5 and later.

I get a ridiculous %%BoundingBox in my exported PostScript file

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

The Solaris cc compiler version 4.2 has a bug in the optimizer. Recompile fig2dev with only -O2 or -O1 optimization.

Patterns are coming out all black when viewing the exported PostScript file with ghostscript 5.50

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

Ghostscript versions 5.10-5.50 have a bug which causes this to happen.
Get a newer version of Ghostscript.

I am exporting to the MetaFont format and the generated file refers to the ``grafbase.mf'' file which I don't have

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

The grafbase.mf file should be on your system if you have MetaFont, but if you don't have it you can get it from ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/graphics/fig2mf/

Problems when compiling xfig

On a DEC Alpha the compiler may complain about something about something like ``.mask must have pcreg from .frame set if any bits are set in .mask or .fmask'' in the file u_bound.c

POSSIBLE CAUSE AND SOLUTION:

Set the optimization level to -O1 at least for that file.

XPointer is undefined or unknown when I compile xfig

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

You are probably trying to compile xfig on an old OpenWindows system which doesn't have the XPointer typedef.

SOLUTION:

You will have to either upgrade to a newer version of OpenWindows or switch to the public X server from the Open Group.

On Sun machines the linker may give erroneous error messages about _get_applicationShellWidgetClass and _get_wmShellWidgetClass are undefined

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

It is a problem with the Sun shared libraries and the way X11 builds the shared Xmu library.

SOLUTION:

It doesn't affect the operation of xfig and you can ignore it.

Or you may compile with ``-Bstatic -lXmu -Bdynamic''.

To really solve the problem if you are using OpenWindows 3.0 (X11R4-based Xt), please contact your local Sun office and request the following patches:

     Patch i.d.      Description
     100512-02       4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 libXt Jumbo patch
     100573-03       4.1.x OpenWindows 3.0 undefined symbols when using
			     shared libXmu

A source patch for use with the MIT X11R4 libraries was developed by Conrad Kimball (cek@sdc.boeing.com); it retrofits into R4 some fixes made in R5 to get around this problem. The patch is on export in [1/93] contrib/X11R4_sunos4.1.2_patch_version3.Z.

The other option is to use X11R5 or X11R6.

On some HP computers, the compiler dies with bus error in the file u_undo.c

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

There is a bug in the HP compiler. This problem may occur on some HP computers, including HP 750 running HP-UX 8.05.

SOLUTION:

Workaround the problem by adding an extra statement between two statements in u_undo.c:

Original:

undo_glue()
{
    list_delete_compound(&objects.compounds, saved_objects.compounds);
    tail(&objects, &object_tails);

New:

undo_glue()
{
    list_delete_compound(&objects.compounds, saved_objects.compounds);
>>>	    /* HP-UX 8.05 compiler bug fix -- don't ask */
>>>	    last_action = last_action;
    tail(&objects, &object_tails);

On some HP computers using native cc compiler there is a problem with +O3 optimization

SOLUTION:

Use +O2 instead of +O3 or get patch from HP for the compiler; connect to http://support.mayfield.hp.com/ and choose Patch Browsing and Downloading.

On Linux, you may get errors such as ``undefined reference to `jpeg_write_scanlines' ''

POSSIBLE CAUSE:

On most Linux machines, there is an old version of the JPEG library already installed, and is incompatible with xfig. xfig can't use a JPEG library older than Version 5b.

SOLUTION:

Delete its library files (usually /usr/local/lib/libjpeg.so and /usr/local/lib/libjpeg.a) and the header file (usually /usr/local/include/jpegdata.h).