\drawline

SYNOPSIS:
\drawline[stretch](x₁,y₁)(x₂,y₂)...(x_n,y_n)
where stretch is an integer between -100 and infinity.

The above command connects the specified points by drawing a line between each pair of coordinates using line segments of the closest slope available in the fonts. At the minimum two points must be specified. Since there are only finite number of slopes available in the line segment fonts, some lines appear jagged. A \drawline can be thick or thin depending on the \thinlines or \thicklines declaration in effect; these are the only two thicknesses available for such lines. This is also the most efficient, in terms of memory and cpu usage, way of drawing lines of arbitrary slopes.

The stretch parameter has properties similar to those described earlier in the context of dashlines. It is again a percentage and implies a certain ``stretch'' or ``shrink''; it is optional and by default is ``0'' unless the default itself has been changed (described later). The same rules apply to the range of the stretch value. In this case, the number ``0'' signifies that a minimum number of dashes be put such that the line appears solid and each dash ``connected'' at the ends. By reducing the number of dashes by specifying a -ve stretch, one effectively gets a dashed line. On the other hand, by specifying a +ve stretch, more dashes will be used in constructing the line, giving a less jagged appearance.

A parameter, namely, \drawlinestretch, has been provided for \drawline's and its usage is identical to \dashlinestretch described earlier in the context of \dashline.

A limitation of drawing lines using line-segment fonts is that the length of segments is fixed and is not user-controllable. If explicit control over the line-segment length is desired, then \dashline may be used. If the length of the line to be drawn is smaller than the length of available line segment, then a solid line is constructed using \dottedline with dots being very close; the thickness of the line thus constructed is chosen appropriately. Note that in such a case, only a solid line can be constructed between the two points, i.e., dashed appearance can not be given to such small lines, and any -ve stretch is ignored.