[metapost] a problem of label when using metapost

[source liu]

>> 1.  TeX
>> when it comes to the first line of
>> -------------------------------------------
>> label.top(btex *somethinghere* etex, z1)
>> -------------------------------------------
>>
>> it would be fine,  but the situation changes when a second similar
>> label is invoking as above.
>>
>> the error message is always be something like , >> mpx file can't be create.
>
> with all such problem, please post a minimal example.
>
>> 2. LaTeX
>>
>> it is said that one can changed the defaut TeX system by placing
>> %&latex at the beginning.
>>
>> yet, it is true, except for it works not the same as i found through
>> the internet, which i found
>> %&latex is after vebatimtex,
>>
>> such as
>> -----------------------------------------
>> vebatimtex
>>    %&latex
>> *something else here*
>>
>> etex
>> -----------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> is not work for me, 'cause it not recognize the \documentstyle command
>>  but
>> ----------------------------------------
>> %&latex
>> verbatimtex
>> *something else here*
>>
>> etex
>> ---------------------------------------
>> works,  though with error message
>> "/somedir/.texmf/tex/latex/latex.fmt. is not an latex mem file"
>>
>> still failed to generate label.
>
> If I were you I would use ConTeXt with MetaFun [1][2] which takes care
> of that automatically. The following example is taken from the ConTeXt
> Wiki [3] but I had to adapt it.
>
>        \starttext
>
>        % earth and sun
>        \startreusableMPgraphic{fig}
>          z0 = (2in,0);
>          draw fullcircle scaled 3cm;
>          label("sun", origin);
>          draw fullcircle scaled 1.5cm shifted z0;
>          label("earth", z0);
>        \stopreusableMPgraphic
>
>        \reuseMPgraphic{fig}
>
>        \stoptext
>
> And then run the following.
>
> $ context mf.tex



>> Any suggestion on this, or has someone involved the same problem as well as me?
>>
>> My TeX system is TeXLive 2010,  got it from the apt source of debian,
>
> Really? I thought TeXLive 2009 is currently packaged. Anyway you could
> use the ConTeXt suite to install ConTeXt [4].

maybe it was I who made a mistake.  I dont know how to check the
version of TeXlive

Sound great, thank you.  I'll test it later whether is work well on my computer


>> without any specific configure for myself.
>
> […]
>
>> BTW, is there any way to change the displayed name of myself in the
>> maillist,  i clicked applied before i
>> realized that i left my email address as displayed name.
>
> What do you mean? »source liu« is displayed as your name and your email
> address is included in the From field because you sent an email.

That's great, i would never be worried about that

> Thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
> [1] http://www.pragma-ade.com/general/manuals/metafun-s.pdf
> [2] http://wiki.contextgarden.net/MetaFun
> [3] http://wiki.contextgarden.net/Mpgraphic
> [4] http://wiki.contextgarden.net/ConTeXt_Standalone
>
> --
> http://tug.org/metapost/
>



-- 
Liu An
Institution of modern physics, Shanghai, China