Include Asymptote commands into file

Question

I have several commands I would like to use for different diagrams. For example, I have defined a right 3d angle:

path3 RightAngle(real radius, triple A, triple B, triple C)
{
return B+radius*unit(A-B)--B+radius*(unit(A-B)+unit(C-B))--B+radius*unit(C-B);
} 

Now in the same file I can write

draw(RightAngle(0.3,A,H1,C));

This works. Fine. But now I want to draw a right angle in another diagram. Do I have to copy the first code every single time into the new asy-picture or there is the way to put all commands like that into a file MyAsyCommands.asy (or MyAsyCommands.tex, or MyAsyCommands.Idontknowwhat) and then use it like

input MyAsyCommands;

Here they suggest:

You can create your own package by simply creating a new .asy file (say MyMacros.asy) with your own definitions in it, and saving it in the directory in which Asymptote is installed (C:\Program Files\Asymptote by default). Then import MyMacros; in your document, and you'll be set!

I am using ubuntu and have no idea where asymptote is. Yes, I know, shame on me, but shouldn't it be easier than that? I tried to put the file MyAsyCommands.asy into the folder where my file with asy-picture is. (test.tex with \begin{asy}\end{asy}). It didn't work. Namely, this works:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{asymptote}
\begin{document}
\begin{asy}
settings.outformat = "pdf";
settings.render = 0;
import three;
//import MyAsyCommands;
size(7cm, 0);
currentprojection=orthographic((5,2,3));
triple A=(0,0,1);
triple B=(0,1,0);
triple C=(1,0,0);
draw (A--B--C);
dot(Label("$A$",align=N),A);
dot(Label("$B$",align=E),B);
dot(Label("$C$",align=W),C);
//draw(RightAngle(0.3,A,B,C));
\end{asy}
\end{document}

But when I take comments out, inputing the file MyAsyCommands.asy:

path3 RightAngle(real radius, triple A, triple B, triple C)
{
return B+radius*unit(A-B)--B+radius*(unit(A-B)+unit(C-B))--B+radius*unit(C-B);
}

it doesn't. Probably MyAsyCommands.asy should be somehow specially desined (you know when we do the same in LaTeX we use \RequirePackage instead of \usepackage) or something like that.

What do I do wrong?

Answer 1

This answer contains untested code fragments. I just follow the Asymptote documentation on import.

Within the asy environment, you could try

import "./MyAsyCommands.asy" as MyAsyCommands;

Omitting the ./ may work as well. Alternatively, you can specify an absolute path to your .asy file if you do not want to depend on the current directory.

In your case, the following lower-level command may work as well:

include "./MyAsyCommands.asy";

You can tune the path there as well.