I am very impressed with DragMath and have successfully installed it on Ubuntu following the clear instructions here:
http://docs.moodle.org/en/DragMath_equation_editor
My current server is unfortunately Suse Enterprise.
I attempted to install Dragmath previously on Suse and encountered problems. So I'd like some advise before I start.
I downloaded Texlive from here:
http://ftp.leg.uct.ac.za/pub/packages/ctan/systems/texlive/tlnet
But was uncertain which package to select. I chose Tetex, but perhaps I should have chosen the full Latex? Or is there another package I should be using all together?
I'd really appreciate any tips you might have.
In reply to heli g
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by Marc Grober -
You're going to insult my OS first and then ask for help - LOL
I am pretty sure that Suse 11 implements TexLive...
What version are you using??
I am pretty sure that Suse 11 implements TexLive...
What version are you using??
In reply to Marc Grober
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by heli g -
I'm pretty new to server side admin (but have the luxury of root access) and I've found Ubuntu such a pleasure. The amount of support material and up-to-date howtos freely available go a long way to compensate for my lack of experience. For instance, to install DragMath I followed the instructions in Moodle docs.
Using apt-get is far easier than the huge amount of trawling I have had to do to acquire rpms that are not in the Suse distribution disks. So yes, I am not impressed with Suse. But no offence intended.
I spent hours trying to locate Tetex and came across TexLive - but perhaps there's a better way to go?
The OS is Suse Enterprise 10.3
Heli
Using apt-get is far easier than the huge amount of trawling I have had to do to acquire rpms that are not in the Suse distribution disks. So yes, I am not impressed with Suse. But no offence intended.
I spent hours trying to locate Tetex and came across TexLive - but perhaps there's a better way to go?
The OS is Suse Enterprise 10.3
Heli
In reply to heli g
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by Marc Grober -
All in what you are accustomed to and what you expect.... and you can use apt-get with Suse- one still has to make sure one is installing the right stuff ;)
I would suggest that you update your SLES to 11 and I believe you will find upon doing the update that TexLive is available via the click of a radio box....
Stick with TexLive as it includes the kitchen sink and it is core for SLES 11. SLES' GUI will keep you on the straight and narrow vis-a-vis installs, but you need to read up on adding additional repositories to your install sources (this is not the place to go into that but you can find docs on that easily enough elsewhere.) It looks like Texlive was included in Suse 10 and SLED 10 but not in SLES 10 - lol - Novell has often been out of sync like that, and some folk have gone to openSuse which results in loss of Novell support but a wider community.... You could also go with the vanilla version of Suse, which is typically ahead of SLES and then address specific server issues separately.
I can tell you that adding software outside of the admin GUI in suse is really not that difficult, but you have to be careful as you can get crosswise when it comes to updates easily enough.
The easiest way to go is to not bother with tex until you decide to upgrade to SLES 11 and just install asciimathml short term or consider using MathJax. in either case you would likely want to keep tex filter turned off (if you want to try the mathjax beta, download and install, then reference the mathjax scripts in the same we we explain how to reference the asciimathml scripts via meta.php. You can then even set Mathjax that way to parse the double dollar signs just like tex. while mathjax is beta code, you may find you like it, and then you can tell us all about your install ;)
I would suggest that you update your SLES to 11 and I believe you will find upon doing the update that TexLive is available via the click of a radio box....
Stick with TexLive as it includes the kitchen sink and it is core for SLES 11. SLES' GUI will keep you on the straight and narrow vis-a-vis installs, but you need to read up on adding additional repositories to your install sources (this is not the place to go into that but you can find docs on that easily enough elsewhere.) It looks like Texlive was included in Suse 10 and SLED 10 but not in SLES 10 - lol - Novell has often been out of sync like that, and some folk have gone to openSuse which results in loss of Novell support but a wider community.... You could also go with the vanilla version of Suse, which is typically ahead of SLES and then address specific server issues separately.
I can tell you that adding software outside of the admin GUI in suse is really not that difficult, but you have to be careful as you can get crosswise when it comes to updates easily enough.
The easiest way to go is to not bother with tex until you decide to upgrade to SLES 11 and just install asciimathml short term or consider using MathJax. in either case you would likely want to keep tex filter turned off (if you want to try the mathjax beta, download and install, then reference the mathjax scripts in the same we we explain how to reference the asciimathml scripts via meta.php. You can then even set Mathjax that way to parse the double dollar signs just like tex. while mathjax is beta code, you may find you like it, and then you can tell us all about your install ;)
In reply to Marc Grober
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by heli g -
Thanks so much for getting back to me Marc. I've checked in with the powers that be and I'm awaiting feedback. The general consensus seems to be to follow your advice and upgrade to SLES11. I'll find out the final decision in the course of this week.
Heli
Heli
In reply to Marc Grober
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by heli g -
Hi Marc,
As you may recollect my PM was not impressed with the need for MathPayer in IE with asciimathml so Dragmath was put on hold. (Thanks so much for following up with me btw - I cannot get over this wonderful and supportive community!) We now have a new SLES11 webserver and after my previous nightmare it was a such a pleasure to see TexLive in Yast. But I'm afraid I'm still baffled as to what and how to install.
Installing just the 'texlive' and 'texlive-latex' packages gave me the /usr/bin/dvips/ and /usr/bin/latex binaries, while installing imagemagick produced /usr/bin/convert - but I doubt this is how it should be done (elsewhere in the forum I have seen reference to a 2G "full install").
I see that the section on installing the binaries http://docs.moodle.org/en/TeX_filter has changed since I last looked at it. Whereas previously the Ubuntu (still my favorite OS) instructions were
"apt-get install tetex-base tetex-bin tetex-extra imagemagick ghostscript" they are now "apt-get install texlive". The section reads "On modern Linux implementations you should look for the 'texlive' package (e.g. "apt-get install texlive ")... If you cannot find texlive you may have to install LaTeX, Ghostscript and ImageMagick separately."
So I gather that TexLive should also contain the convert binary - or am I wrong?
Below are 2 of my results from the Tex Filter debug for graphic image of the algebraic expression rendered with Tex/Ghostscript
circle
f(x)=\Bigint_{-\infty}^x~e^{-t^2}dt
I'd appreciate any advice on how to proceed.
Heli
In reply to heli g
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by Marc Grober -
You have what you need: convert is not part of TexLive. SLES went to texlive rpms in version 11 as we discussed earlier. But for rpm the texlive distribution is chopped up into pieces, so if you want more than what you have, you can continue to add the additional rpms (though as I said, you have the two tex binaries that present core moodle require, and the convert binary from imagemagick
You can however avoid using convert by using dvipng which is packaged with texlive now, but I am not sure about which of the tex packages as put together for SLES includes it. I started working on a patch for this (see, http://tracker.moodle.org/browse/MDL-23350) but got sidetracked as a result of some family medical issues..... but you could easily tweak the code yourself to avoid calling convert at all once you have dvipng installed.
You could alternatively install texlive manually (small download from their site then you can manage it via the tex live manager and CPAN) but I WOULD NOT mix the two methods as that will give you headaches. And you seem to have what you need in place.
I am not sure what your current issue is......
In reply to Marc Grober
Re: Which Texlive package ahould I use for Dragmath install (SElinux)?
by heli g -
Thanks for the reassurance. I was concerned because I recollect my previous encounters with tetex and texlive took several hours to install - and this seemed to painless to believe...