RE: MathML browser test page

Hi Joe,

 

Thanks for the test page.

 

I’m always checking things out re: MathML, so I tried your link. At first, my reaction was underwhelming. Problems with under- and overbraces, awkward-looking radical signs, and others. Overall, I was disappointed with STIX Beta on Firefox 3.0.11.

 

I have a tendency to install/upgrade browsers (FF, IE, Amaya, Opera), plug-ins, and utilities, so I thought it worthwhile to check my Firefox configuration. About:config/Preference Name/font.mathfont-family set for the STIX Beta fonts, yup, AOK. But when I went to the Fonts Control Panel in Windows, the STIX Beta fonts WERE NOT INSTALLED. Geesh, what did I do in my experimenting??

 

Anyway, after going to “Fonts for MathML-enabled Mozilla”, downloading the latest STIXBeta.zip, unzipping to a directory, installing and copying the fonts using the Control Panel, and restarting Firefox, I was pleasantly surprised: MathML display that was comparable to TeX output on your test page. Altogether, the process took only about 2 min and that includes restarting Firefox. Performance is good on page zooming up/down--less than a second.

 

I know there are some who are unhappy with a separate install for math fonts (at least for now), but we’ve all installed Acrobat Reader to view PDFs and other sorts of players for special applications, so I think it’s more than worthwhile to (properly) install the STIX Beta fonts for MathML viewing. As Christoph Lange commented separately, it’s “really easy”.

 

Thanks, that helped. I’m much more optimistic about the future of MathML.

 

Regards,

Mike Waters

 

 

 

From: www-math-request@w3.org [mailto:www-math-request@w3.org] On Behalf Of joe.java@eyeasme.com
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2009 11:54 AM
To: www-math@w3.org
Subject: MathML browser test page

 

Hello MathML Community,

While learning TeX and MathML, I wrote a one page website
that covers a range of mathematical formulas, I use the web-page
for testing some of a browser's MathML (presentation Markup)
capabilities.  It might be of use to others, so here it is:

https://eyeasme.com/Joe/MathML/MathML_browser_test.html


The equations are shown in 3 forms:
(all hyperlinked to the code that generated them)

1) an image the TeX presentation
2) an image of the MathML representation using STIX Beta fonts on Firefox 3.5
3) the present browser's representation of the equation using MathML

This way a person can see how TeX (produces a very good representation of
mathematical equations) compares with MathML on Firefox 3.5 using STIX beta
fonts, and how these both compare with their present browser's MathML
representation.

The page validates as 'XHTML 1.1 plus MathML 2.0', validates as 'CSS level 2.1'
and the page passes the WAI automatic tests

Included on the web-page are a few useful links and some notes about lessons
I learned while making the web-page.

Feel free to make any Comments / suggestions / corrections.

    Joe