10 Aug
2009
10 Aug
'09
4:14 p.m.
Hello Community,
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is the
best (Vincent complained). On one hand, this describes better what the
component does: it renders equations. On the other hand, it might cause
confusion with the xwiki-rendering system.
The component currently has three implementations:
- a native one, which relies on the latex system being present. It gives
the best results, from a graphical point of view, but requires the
presence of external programs, and involves a slight overhead for
starting new processes and for working with the disk. Currently it might
have some security problems, I'll have to see if opening input and
output files from TeX is a problem, or how to disable this. Any help
from someone who know more about TeX?
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with running latex, dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
- one which uses MathTran as a remote service through HTTP requests. It
gives results as good as the native one, enhanced with some metadata,
and depending on the configuration of the server, it might have better
performance than the native one. The disadvantage is that it relies
heavily on a remote server. Note that MathTran is free software, and can
be installed locally on the same or a neighboring server. Oh, another
minor problem is that it uses a variant of the TeX syntax, not LaTeX.
- one which uses SnuggleTeX and JEuclid to transform LaTeX into MathML,
and then render it into images. The results are not as eye-pleasing as
those obtained from LaTeX, but it is a self-contained solution, with no
external dependencies.
SnuggleTeX uses the liberal 3-clause BSD license, JEuclid uses the
Apache v2 license, so both can be deployed. Together, they weight in at
730k, so it's not a big impact. The other two implementations are not
contaminated by the licenses of the underlying system, so there's no
license conflict.
Q: Should either one be removed?
Q: Do you know of any other (better) alternative?
By default the native renderer is used, since it gives the best results
and doesn't depend on an external service. SnuggleTeX is configured as a
backup (safe) renderer which kicks in when the default one isn't working
(missing tex subsystem, or communication error with the remote server).
Q: Is this setup OK as the default one? (native by default, snuggletex
as fallback).
The generated images are stored in a cache (using the cache component),
for improved performance. This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for this
component.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu/
10 Aug
10 Aug
4:27 p.m.
Hello Sergiu
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
Nice job, I did not try it as I have no concrete use now, but anyway,
that's a really nice feature as equations are always hard to write for
nice display.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
I think, at least png and jpg should be kept. Png as default, and jpg as
optional (there are still a lot of jpg fans i guess), for the GIF
format, i don't think it is necessary.
Another feature is that the font size can be
specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
I don't think you can find a better one...
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for this
component.
Keep up the good work...
And thanks for this nice feature.
Jean
--
----
Jean Couteau
Code Lutin - http://www.codelutin.com
44 Bd des Pas Enchantés - 44230 St-Sébastien/Loire
Tél : 02 40 50 29 28 - Fax : 09 59 92 29 28
4:33 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 16:14, Sergiu Dumitriu<sergiu(a)xwiki.com> wrote:
Hello Community,
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is the
I don't like this name either "rendering" is too much linked to the
rendering module now and this could be used by anyone, not only the
equation macro.
It's also true that xwiki-equation is not clear enough but you could
maybe find something else.
best (Vincent complained). On one hand, this describes
better what the
component does: it renders equations. On the other hand, it might cause
confusion with the xwiki-rendering system.
The component currently has three implementations:
- a native one, which relies on the latex system being present. It gives
the best results, from a graphical point of view, but requires the
presence of external programs, and involves a slight overhead for
starting new processes and for working with the disk. Currently it might
have some security problems, I'll have to see if opening input and
output files from TeX is a problem, or how to disable this. Any help
from someone who know more about TeX?
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with running latex, dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
- one which uses MathTran as a remote service through HTTP requests. It
gives results as good as the native one, enhanced with some metadata,
and depending on the configuration of the server, it might have better
performance than the native one. The disadvantage is that it relies
heavily on a remote server. Note that MathTran is free software, and can
be installed locally on the same or a neighboring server. Oh, another
minor problem is that it uses a variant of the TeX syntax, not LaTeX.
- one which uses SnuggleTeX and JEuclid to transform LaTeX into MathML,
and then render it into images. The results are not as eye-pleasing as
those obtained from LaTeX, but it is a self-contained solution, with no
external dependencies.
SnuggleTeX uses the liberal 3-clause BSD license, JEuclid uses the
Apache v2 license, so both can be deployed. Together, they weight in at
730k, so it's not a big impact. The other two implementations are not
contaminated by the licenses of the underlying system, so there's no
license conflict.
Q: Should either one be removed?
Q: Do you know of any other (better) alternative?
By default the native renderer is used, since it gives the best results
and doesn't depend on an external service. SnuggleTeX is configured as a
backup (safe) renderer which kicks in when the default one isn't working
(missing tex subsystem, or communication error with the remote server).
Q: Is this setup OK as the default one? (native by default, snuggletex
as fallback).
The generated images are stored in a cache (using the cache component),
for improved performance. This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for this
component.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu/
_______________________________________________
users mailing list
users(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
--
Thomas Mortagne
4:38 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Thomas Mortagne
<thomas.mortagne(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
xwiki-equation-displayer maybe ?
I think "equation" is fine.
Good work, thanks Guillaume & Sergiu !
Guillaume
--
Guillaume Lerouge
Product Manager - XWiki
Skype: wikibc
Twitter: glerouge
http://guillaumelerouge.com/
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 16:14, Sergiu
Dumitriu<sergiu(a)xwiki.com> wrote:
I think keeping PNG as the default format is fine too, most browsers accept
it without complaint.
Hello Community,
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is the
I don't like this name either "rendering" is too much linked to the
rendering module now and this could be used by anyone, not only the
equation macro.
It's also true that xwiki-equation is not clear enough but you could
maybe find something else. best (Vincent complained). On one hand, this
describes better what the
component does: it renders equations. On the other hand, it might cause
confusion with the xwiki-rendering system.
The component currently has three implementations:
- a native one, which relies on the latex system being present. It gives
the best results, from a graphical point of view, but requires the
presence of external programs, and involves a slight overhead for
starting new processes and for working with the disk. Currently it might
have some security problems, I'll have to see if opening input and
output files from TeX is a problem, or how to disable this. Any help
from someone who know more about TeX?
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with running latex, dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
- one which uses MathTran as a remote service through HTTP requests. It
gives results as good as the native one, enhanced with some metadata,
and depending on the configuration of the server, it might have better
performance than the native one. The disadvantage is that it relies
heavily on a remote server. Note that MathTran is free software, and can
be installed locally on the same or a neighboring server. Oh, another
minor problem is that it uses a variant of the TeX syntax, not LaTeX.
- one which uses SnuggleTeX and JEuclid to transform LaTeX into MathML,
and then render it into images. The results are not as eye-pleasing as
those obtained from LaTeX, but it is a self-contained solution, with no
external dependencies.
SnuggleTeX uses the liberal 3-clause BSD license, JEuclid uses the
Apache v2 license, so both can be deployed. Together, they weight in at
730k, so it's not a big impact. The other two implementations are not
contaminated by the licenses of the underlying system, so there's no
license conflict.
Q: Should either one be removed?
Q: Do you know of any other (better) alternative?
By default the native renderer is used, since it gives the best results
and doesn't depend on an external service. SnuggleTeX is configured as a
backup (safe) renderer which kicks in when the default one isn't working
(missing tex subsystem, or communication error with the remote server).
Q: Is this setup OK as the default one? (native by default, snuggletex
as fallback).
The generated images are stored in a cache (using the cache component),
for improved performance. This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for this
component.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu/
_______________________________________________
users mailing list
users(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
--
Thomas Mortagne
_______________________________________________
users mailing list
users(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
6:14 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:08 PM, Guillaume Lerouge <guillaume(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Thomas Mortagne
<thomas.mortagne(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
I think keeping PNG as the default format is fine too, most browsers accept
it without complaint.
xwiki-equation-displayer maybe ?
Few more suggestions: xwiki-equation-plotter, xwiki-formula-plotter,
xwiki-formula
- Asiri
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 16:14, Sergiu
Dumitriu<sergiu(a)xwiki.com> wrote:
> Hello Community,
>
> I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
> rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
> standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
>
>
>
> About the functionality.
>
> Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
> and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in
other
> wikis, too. The macro can distinguish
between inline and block
equations
and
render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
>
> Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
> render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
> LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a
more
easy to
understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is the
I don't like this name either "rendering" is too much linked to the
rendering module now and this could be used by anyone, not only the
equation macro.
It's also true that xwiki-equation is not clear enough but you could
maybe find something else.
6:18 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:44 PM, Asiri Rathnayake <
asiri.rathnayake(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:08 PM, Guillaume Lerouge <guillaume(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
Another idea:
xwiki-plotting
|-xwiki-plotting-equation
|-xwiki-plotting-graph
- Asiri
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Thomas Mortagne
<thomas.mortagne(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
I think keeping PNG as the default format is fine too, most browsers
accept
it without complaint.
Few more suggestions: xwiki-equation-plotter, xwiki-formula-plotter,
xwiki-formula
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 16:14, Sergiu
Dumitriu<sergiu(a)xwiki.com> wrote:
> Hello Community,
>
> I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki
feature:
> rendering mathematical equations into
images. It is available as a
> standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
>
>
>
> About the functionality.
>
> Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
> and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in
other
> wikis, too. The macro can distinguish
between inline and block
equations
and
render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
>
> Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
> render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
> LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a
more
> easy to understand name (also because the
configuration is case
> insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
>
> By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
> with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
> disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default
font
> size.
>
> Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
>
>
>
> Second, a few technical details:
>
> The standalone component is located in
> platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is
the
I don't like this name either "rendering" is too much linked to the
rendering module now and this could be used by anyone, not only the
equation macro.
It's also true that xwiki-equation is not clear enough but you could
maybe find something else.
xwiki-equation-displayer maybe ?
6:19 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:48 PM, Asiri Rathnayake <
asiri.rathnayake(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:44 PM, Asiri Rathnayake <
asiri.rathnayake(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Sorry, I meant xwiki-plotting-chart not "graph". Anyway, I think both are
same :-?
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 8:08 PM, Guillaume Lerouge <guillaume(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
Another idea:
xwiki-plotting
|-xwiki-plotting-equation
|-xwiki-plotting-graph
Hi,
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 4:33 PM, Thomas Mortagne
<thomas.mortagne(a)xwiki.com>wrote;wrote:
Few more suggestions: xwiki-equation-plotter, xwiki-formula-plotter,
xwiki-formula
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 16:14, Sergiu
Dumitriu<sergiu(a)xwiki.com>
wrote:
> Hello Community,
>
> I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki
feature:
> rendering mathematical equations into
images. It is available as a
> standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
>
>
>
> About the functionality.
>
> Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty
simple,
> and seems to be the syntax of choice for
mathematical equations in
other
> wikis, too. The macro can distinguish
between inline and block
equations
> and render them accordingly. The output can
be either PNG (the
default
> one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely
the best, I kept the other
> two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
> understand GIF.
>
> Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
I think keeping PNG as the default format is fine too, most browsers
accept
it without complaint.
>
> Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
> render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
> LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a
more
> easy to understand name (also because the
configuration is case
> insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
>
> By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
> with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might
look
> disproportionate with a different DPI, or
with a different default
font
> size.
>
> Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
>
>
>
> Second, a few technical details:
>
> The standalone component is located in
> platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is
the
I don't like this name either "rendering" is too much linked to the
rendering module now and this could be used by anyone, not only the
equation macro.
It's also true that xwiki-equation is not clear enough but you could
maybe find something else.
xwiki-equation-displayer maybe ?
- Asiri
6:27 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
I haven't read the mail yet, I'm just reacting to the name.
Equations means there is an equal sign (see http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Equation).
I'd prefer formula which is more generic.
Thanks
-Vincent
On Aug 10, 2009, at 4:14 PM, Sergiu Dumitriu wrote:
Hello Community,
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki
feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in
other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block
equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
Another feature is that the font size can be specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a
more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default
font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is
the
best (Vincent complained). On one hand, this describes better what the
component does: it renders equations. On the other hand, it might
cause
confusion with the xwiki-rendering system.
The component currently has three implementations:
- a native one, which relies on the latex system being present. It
gives
the best results, from a graphical point of view, but requires the
presence of external programs, and involves a slight overhead for
starting new processes and for working with the disk. Currently it
might
have some security problems, I'll have to see if opening input and
output files from TeX is a problem, or how to disable this. Any help
from someone who know more about TeX?
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with running latex,
dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
- one which uses MathTran as a remote service through HTTP requests.
It
gives results as good as the native one, enhanced with some metadata,
and depending on the configuration of the server, it might have better
performance than the native one. The disadvantage is that it relies
heavily on a remote server. Note that MathTran is free software, and
can
be installed locally on the same or a neighboring server. Oh, another
minor problem is that it uses a variant of the TeX syntax, not LaTeX.
- one which uses SnuggleTeX and JEuclid to transform LaTeX into
MathML,
and then render it into images. The results are not as eye-pleasing as
those obtained from LaTeX, but it is a self-contained solution, with
no
external dependencies.
SnuggleTeX uses the liberal 3-clause BSD license, JEuclid uses the
Apache v2 license, so both can be deployed. Together, they weight in
at
730k, so it's not a big impact. The other two implementations are not
contaminated by the licenses of the underlying system, so there's no
license conflict.
Q: Should either one be removed?
Q: Do you know of any other (better) alternative?
By default the native renderer is used, since it gives the best
results
and doesn't depend on an external service. SnuggleTeX is configured
as a
backup (safe) renderer which kicks in when the default one isn't
working
(missing tex subsystem, or communication error with the remote
server).
Q: Is this setup OK as the default one? (native by default, snuggletex
as fallback).
The generated images are stored in a cache (using the cache
component),
for improved performance. This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-
macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for
this
component.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu/
_______________________________________________
users mailing list
users(a)xwiki.org
http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/users
6:29 p.m.
Sergiu Dumitriu wrote:
Hello Community,
I have committed today the first implementation of a new XWiki feature:
rendering mathematical equations into images. It is available as a
standalone component, and as a syntax 2.0 macro.
About the functionality.
Equations are written in the TeX/LaTeX syntax, which is pretty simple,
and seems to be the syntax of choice for mathematical equations in other
wikis, too. The macro can distinguish between inline and block equations
and render them accordingly. The output can be either PNG (the default
one), GIF or JPEG. While PNG is definitely the best, I kept the other
two in case somebody really wants to use ancient browsers that only
understand GIF.
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
I would like the PNG output as default, but also keep the GIF and JPEG
since there are some problems with PNG images on "ancient" IE6.
Oana
Another feature is that the font size can be
specified, in order to
render larger or smaller equations. All the font size commands from
LaTeX (from \tiny to \Huge) have an equivalent. I renamed them to a more
easy to understand name (also because the configuration is case
insensitive, so there's no difference between large and LARGE).
By default images are generated so that the font looks relatively OK
with the default XWiki skin on a 72 or 96 DPI display. They might look
disproportionate with a different DPI, or with a different default font
size.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Second, a few technical details:
The standalone component is located in
platform/core/xwiki-equation-rendering. I don't know if the name is the
best (Vincent complained). On one hand, this describes better what the
component does: it renders equations. On the other hand, it might cause
confusion with the xwiki-rendering system.
The component currently has three implementations:
- a native one, which relies on the latex system being present. It gives
the best results, from a graphical point of view, but requires the
presence of external programs, and involves a slight overhead for
starting new processes and for working with the disk. Currently it might
have some security problems, I'll have to see if opening input and
output files from TeX is a problem, or how to disable this. Any help
from someone who know more about TeX?
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with running latex, dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
- one which uses MathTran as a remote service through HTTP requests. It
gives results as good as the native one, enhanced with some metadata,
and depending on the configuration of the server, it might have better
performance than the native one. The disadvantage is that it relies
heavily on a remote server. Note that MathTran is free software, and can
be installed locally on the same or a neighboring server. Oh, another
minor problem is that it uses a variant of the TeX syntax, not LaTeX.
- one which uses SnuggleTeX and JEuclid to transform LaTeX into MathML,
and then render it into images. The results are not as eye-pleasing as
those obtained from LaTeX, but it is a self-contained solution, with no
external dependencies.
SnuggleTeX uses the liberal 3-clause BSD license, JEuclid uses the
Apache v2 license, so both can be deployed. Together, they weight in at
730k, so it's not a big impact. The other two implementations are not
contaminated by the licenses of the underlying system, so there's no
license conflict.
Q: Should either one be removed?
Q: Do you know of any other (better) alternative?
By default the native renderer is used, since it gives the best results
and doesn't depend on an external service. SnuggleTeX is configured as a
backup (safe) renderer which kicks in when the default one isn't working
(missing tex subsystem, or communication error with the remote server).
Q: Is this setup OK as the default one? (native by default, snuggletex
as fallback).
The generated images are stored in a cache (using the cache component),
for improved performance. This new cache might increase the memory
requirements, but fortunately it is easy to configure.
The rendering macro is located in
platform/core/xwiki-rendering/xwiki-renderig-macros/xwiki-rendering-macro-equation,
and the macro can be used with
{{equation}}\sum_{i=0}^{\infty}{{/equation}}.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a better one?
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Many thanks to Guillaume Legris who provided the starting point for this
component.
11 Aug
11 Aug
3:14 p.m.
New subject: [xwiki-users] Introducing the equation rendering component and the equation macro
Answering the questions:
Sergiu Dumitriu wrote:
Q: Should I leave just PNG as the output format?
It seems that keeping JPG and GIF is still needed. Now, I'm thinking
that my initial approach (making this a per image option) is not good,
and instead it should be a per user/global option. It is more likely
that one user would want to see all images in the .gif format than an
author wanting to create an image in the .gif format for everybody else.
Q: Is the default DPI setting OK?
Nobody commented on this, so I'm going to assume it's OK.
Q: Does anybody know of any security issues with
running latex, dvips or
convert? Especially with the \openin and \openout commands?
This question still needs some answers.
Q: Is the macro name appropriate? Do you know of a
better one?
Point taken: formula is better than equation. Actually, initially it was
named "formula", but I didn't like it that much. Anyway, the community
has spoken.
Point not taken: rendering is the right name IMO. Before xwiki-rendering
as a syntax converter, rendering has a widely accepted sense as
generating raster graphics. From Wikipedia: "Rendering is the process of
generating an image from a model, by means of computer programs". This
is what the module does, and the fact that we have another thing called
"rendering" doesn't mean that we must invent new names for something
standard.
Plotting is different, it involves vectorial graphics, and I tend to
associate it with Logo and its turtle. Displayer is different, it means
actually presenting the image to the user. LCDs display, papers display,
but this module is just creating raster images in memory.
Future work:
- make sure that there are no security issues with the Native backend
- add support for MathML display for the clients that understand it
- improve the alignment of images (especially for the Native backend),
as right now they are a bit raised above the text baseline
Add: making it work with PDFs and other exports.
--
Sergiu Dumitriu
http://purl.org/net/sergiu/
5612
days inactive
5613
days old
9 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
Asiri Rathnayake -
Guillaume Lerouge -
Jean Couteau -
Oana Tabaranu -
Sergiu Dumitriu -
Thomas Mortagne -
Vincent Massol