What is the best way to write mathematical equations on the Internet?

Question

I am working on a math related webpage and I am looking for a solution to easily write math equations on a webpage. Currently, several solutions are available:

• Use LaTeX and publish them on my webpage as images.
• Use MathML

Both of these solutions are not perfect and seem somewhat outdated. Replacing what should be in the text with the image is never a good idea, and MathML is not compatible with all browsers / operating systems.

I hope there is a modern solution for using images or MathML, perhaps something using sIFR to display mathematical equations? After a little research, I have not yet found a real solution.

Please note that I am asking for a new way to publish equations. I do not want the images to be the output displayed on the web page, and would prefer that these equations display as text data. MathML is the closest I came, but it is still not perfect. For some time I wondered if it is possible to use a replacement tool, such as sIFR, to create equations in Flash. Anyone have any suggestions on this front?

EDIT: It's been a while since I last updated this post, but with the adoption of HTML5 by browsers, a new player has come into the game that introduces LaTeX and MathML back into the mix, MathJax! . MathJax is definitely the way to go!

A similar question: Mathematical equations on the Internet

Answer 1

The jsMath package is an option that uses LaTeX markup and native fonts. Quote from their web page http://www.math.union.edu/~dpvc/jsMath/ :

The jsMath package provides a method including math in HTML pages that works in several browsers under Windows, Macintosh OS X, Linux and other unix tastes. This overcomes a number of drawbacks of the traditional method of using images to represent mathematics: jsMath uses its own fonts, so they will resize when you resize the text in your browser, they print to the full resolution of your printer, and you do not need to wait for dozens of images to be downloaded to see the math on the web page. There are also advantages to the authors webpage, since there is no need to pre-process your web pages to generate any images and maths entered in the TeX form, so it is easy to create and maintain your web pages.

See, for example, this page or this .

Answer 2

I just wrote a javascript module for this called jqmath. See http://mathscribe.com/author/jqmath.html

This is similar to MathJax, but simpler, smaller and faster.

Answer 3

I use fieldless tables with merged cells on my website to display math equations. It works great for most equations. However, since markup is usually a bit complicated, it will take a lot of time in the case of hard core math sites.

Here is the code:

<style type="text/css"> table.math{font:17px georgia, times, serif;border-collapse:collapse;border:none;} td.a{text-align:center;} td.b{padding:0 2px;} td.c{border-top:1px solid #505050;border-left:1px solid #505050;border-bottom:1px solid #505050;} td.d{border-top:1px solid #505050;border-right:1px solid #505050;border-bottom:1px solid #505050;} td.e{text-align:center;border-top:1px solid #505050;} </style> <table class="math"> <tr> <td class="a">1</td> <td class="b" rowspan="2">&times;</td> <td class="c" rowspan="2">&nbsp;</td> <td class="a">8</td> <td class="b" rowspan="2">+</td> <td class="a">1</td> <td class="d" rowspan="2">&nbsp;</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="e">x + 2</td> <td class="e">x + 2</td> <td class="e">x &minus; 1</td> </tr> </table> 

Here is the result of the above code:

Answer 4

LaTeX is widely used already in the network and in academic circles for rendering equations.

A great example of this is wikipedia, look at this page for 1 example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latitude

I know this is a generalization, but: Using images is a viable way to achieve many goals on the Internet in a browser-compatible way - provided that some of the disadvantages are provided. (e.g. Google Maps, Rounded Corners, Graphics, Advanced Printing)

Also, “dated” can be interpreted as “tested, verified and complete set of functions”

and thanks for pointing out sIFR - something I will look at later, do I already have a list of things to learn with it, for example, printing? (html + images can do this pretty well, maybe sIFR? ....)

Answer 5

I use the LaTeX plugin for the Confluence wiki to write equations on the Internet (well, on the intranet). It displays the image in a web browser, but you can see the source of LaTeX if you are editing the page.

I do not know what you use to host the website, but you could use a similar approach: embed the LaTeX source on the page and display it as an image for a web browser.

Answer 6

MathTran is the nicest solution I've come across:

http://www.mathtran.org/

Answer 7

I like MathBin.net and Roger Speech Equation Editor . The latter allows you to control the quality of the output.

Answer 8

Try my LaTeX2Flash solution! :)

http://validi.fi/latex2flash

http://sourceforge.net/projects/latex2flash/

Answer 9

You can write your latex directly on your HTML page and dynamically display it with the library :

http://www.codecogs.com/components/equationeditor/equationeditor.php

Answer 10

The solution is to use http://www.codecogs.com/components/equationeditor/equationeditor.php

The website allows you to enter your equation in LaTeX format and use its TeX Server, it converts the equation into images, and you can show your mathematical equation there.

let me show you an example, suppose I want to print an integration formula that I just type:

img style = "display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" title = "\ Int_ {a} ^ {b} (x + 2) dx" src = "http: // latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?\int_{a} ^ {b} (x + 2) dx "

Refer to the third of the codes above, LaTex Math Equation is inserted after the question mark in src = " http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?[put of your TeX Code here]"

Answer 11

It will depend on your main goal and audience.

MathML (MathML2) sounds promising, but it still has a lot of compatibility issues between browsers and MathML equation editors (or a generator). Many complex equations will not be supported or displayed the same in different browsers. Many math editors, converters, generators say they support MathML. But the result is not the same, although the result may look similar. And it’s not easy / impossible to define many complex equations in MathML 2. If you just have simple equations, and if you can use your audience in certain browsers, this may be an option. If MathML3 is widely supported, then MathML can be a way.

If your mathematical expressions are not interactive and do not need to be dynamically generated), but rather static on the page, a PNG or JPG image may be a good option. The size of the images in most cases is not so large, and the display of dozens of equations on the page is pretty fast, since most of us today have high-speed Internet. There are not many differences between PNG images and any script-based rendering approaches, since script-based equations often take several kilobytes, and since it takes time to download images from a local computer, it takes time to load all the scripts. In addition, there are many applications that support the re-editing of images of equations based on PNG or JPG. MathMagic (www.mathmagic.com) supports re-editable PNG (transparent PNG), GIF, JPG, BMP. MathType (www.dessci.com) supports re-edited GIFs. MathMagic also reads MathType images.

If a vector image format such as printing is required for a screen image and high quality, SVG may be a way. In addition, PDF may be an option in some cases. Many Mac equation editors support the PDF format because it is a kind of (almost native) Mac OS X format. But only a few support PDF on Windows. It looks like the latest version of MathType Mac supports PDF. MathMagic supports PDF on both Mac and Win. MathMagic seems to support SVG.

If equations are created by some limited writers, there are many options to achieve the best results. For example, using the latest MS Word editor, a built-in equation editor based on MathML / XML, and then converting pages to a network. Or using several third-party WYSIWYG equation editors (e.g., MathType or MathMagic) for quick writing and editing, and then saving the equations in MathML, LaTeX or Wiki format, compatible with the equation format and using it with online equation rendering mechanisms such as codecogs. com or MathJax.

If the content should also be used for other formats, such as eBook / ePub, there must be other factors to consider, including the quality of the equations and integration with the solution, such as InDesign.

please correct me if something is wrong.

Answer 12

iTex2Img is the best I've ever used. Here is a screenshot with an example.