[WWdevel] LaTeXMathML.js

[Davide P. C. <dp...@un...>]

Folks:

We recently received the following from Peter Jipsen, the author of  
ASCIIMathML.js:

> Dear WeBWorKers,
>
> I am flattered that ASCIIMathML.js became a display option of  
> WeBWorK a couple of years ago. Unfortunately it never really worked  
> well enough for the LaTeX that is used in most WeBWorK problems, so  
> I am happy to report that Douglas Woodall has recently created a  
> modified version of ASCIIMathML.js, called LaTeXMathML.js that  
> handles a much greater fragment of LaTeX (and disables the  
> ASCIIMath syntax). So this should integrate better with WeBWorK,  
> producing mostly correct MathML output for the LaTeX in the input  
> problems.
>
> Regards,
> Peter

I took a quick look at LaTeXMathML, and it definitely would be a  
useful output mode, and would not be hard to include into WeBWorK.   
I'll volunteer to do it, since I added ASCIIMathML, but I won't be  
able to work on it until after MathFest next month.

Although this will be much more compatible with the existing WeBWorK  
problems, there are still going to be some problems.  One is that he  
has not implemented \sqrt[n], which I know is used in some problems.   
Another is that it looks like he hasn't really implemented the  
difference between in-line and display math (the fact that  
mathematics is on a line by itself is to be handled by the  
surrounding HTML).  I think that everything is typeset as though it  
were in display mode, so that means that things like sums and limits  
that appear in-line will be typeset using large operators with limits  
above and below, rather than the text-style smaller operators with  
limits to the right.  That may not be a big deal, but it is one way  
that the output will differ from what is actually indicated in the  
problem.  (I haven't really checked this carefully, but that's what  
seemed to be indicated in the documentation.)  There will probably be  
some other commands that are used in WeBWorK problems that might not  
be rendered properly by LaTeXMathML, so I think the result will be  
that most, but not all, problems will work with it.

In any case, it looks like a valuable addition to the WeBWorK display  
options.

Davide