Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Caryl Gordon -
Number of replies: 17

Hi,

An instructor on our campus cannot copy mathematical symbols from Mathtype into Moodle. We are using Moodle 1.9.5. He is using Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7.

He can copy from Mathtype into Word. However, when he copies the symbol into a quiz question, a blank space or another character, like the corresponding letter equivalent, is displayed.

Can anyone explain what is happening? Thanks in advance for any help!

Caryl Gordon

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In reply to Caryl Gordon

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -
When you copy something, most applications put several flavors of data onto the clipboard. It's then up to the receiving application to decide which flavor it wants. Word has no problem choosing the right one because it can take just about any kind of graphic, and it will accept a MathType equation quite happily.

Pasting any sort of graphic into Moodle is a little problematic, and there's no direct support for pasting an equation. However, if you have the TeX Filter turned on it's easy to set up MathType to produce LaTeX, and then you can paste the LaTeX into Moodle. (If the TeX Filter is not turned on now, it's pretty simple to do, but requires administrator privileges.)

We have an article on our website that describes the exact steps required for this. http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/works_with.htm?target=moodle

Bob Mathews
Design Science
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In reply to Bob Mathews

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Caryl Gordon -
Thanks so much Bob - you ROCK! Caryl
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In reply to Caryl Gordon

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -
Thanks for the follow-up, Caryl. Glad to know it helped.
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Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Carolyn Managan -
I finally got Mathtype to work in forums and chats with Moodle after watching your movie and following the instructions. Unfortunately our site crashed last week. While the administrator was fixing the problem, he upgraded the Moodle site, and when he was done, the Mathtype cut and paste did not work. We have had him reset the filters but still no luck. I saw the announcement about Mathtype 6.7 and planned to do the trial download to see if that helped, but then I realized that we have the most current version for Macs - 6.0. Will there be a new version for Macs? Any ideas about what our problem may be?
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In reply to Carolyn Managan

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -
Carolyn, I don't know for sure why the site wouldn't work. I presume when you say he "reset the filters", afterward the TeX Filter was on? (I have to ask; "reset" could mean "off".)

To answer your question about a MathType upgrade for the Mac, I'll just say that nearly always (well ok, always) when Microsoft releases a new version of Office, something or other doesn't work with MathType because of new features or re-worked code in Office. So, we don't have an official release date yet, but I'll say "shortly after Office 2011's release".
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In reply to Bob Mathews

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Carolyn Managan -
Thanks for the quick response. Our network administrator says that the filter is on. He is trying to figure out what changed with the Moodle upgrade.
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In reply to Carolyn Managan

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -
There are other filters that will interfere with the TeX filter, and shouldn't both be turned on at the same time, so this could be the problem. Going from memory here, so this may be incorrect, but it seems like ASCIIMathML is one of those.
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In reply to Carolyn Managan

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Mauno Korpelainen -

I suspect this is a permission issue - not a filter conflict (I have never had conflicts between asciimathml and tex filter - if they use the same tokens tex filter is "stronger" and renders images).

When your site administrator upgraded he/she might have not noticed that executable files of tex filter need to be executable by all users and subfolders of moodledata where images are created need write permissions. Old files remain in cache but new images can't be created without correct permissions...

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Carolyn Managan -
That's it! After trying a variety of filter mixes while sitting next to with our network administrator with no success, he looked at your note and found the permissions area of our moodle site. This fixed the problem. The main problem now is low resolution, so he's trying to find a LaTex filter with higher resolution. Thanks!
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In reply to Caryl Gordon

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Ravi Vare -
I am facing the problem.Let's see what happen. but there is any problem,shall i ask? Mathtype version is not updated. there is no 'above Option' which is required.
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In reply to Ravi Vare

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Ravi Vare -
Yes it is quite working. thanks moodle. thanks everybody.
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In reply to Caryl Gordon

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Wendy Riggs -

Did you ever figure out how to fix the low resolution problem?  I am working to get Mathtype to work with Moodle (how do I tell which version of Moodle I'm using?) and don't really have an "administrator" who's done this before.

Thank you for any help you can offer!

Wendy

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In reply to Wendy Riggs

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -

Wendy, if you follow the instructions in the article that I linked earlier in the thread (this one: http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/works_with.htm?target=moodle), you should be all set. The only administrator action should be to turn on the TeX Filter. If your administrator is unfamiliar with controlling various Moodle filters, here's the documentation on the TeX filter: http://docs.moodle.org/20/en/TeX_notation_filter

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In reply to Bob Mathews

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Wendy Riggs -

Hi Bob!

Thank you for the speedy response.  We followed all instructions on your website (including getting the TeX filter turned on) and still couldn't get the equations to show up in Moodle (they showed up as links, and when you clicked on the link, they just opened another window showing the same mathtype language...).  Then we asked our "administrator" to attend to it...and it worked.  However, the resolution is VERY low (almost unreadable).  See screenshot below.

screenshot 

I'm also including the email sent by the administrator....maybe there are some clues here to explain the low resolution?  Thank you thank you thank you!

Wendy

I needed to install some things on the server for you:

 -LaTex (texlive)
 -dvips-fontdata-n2bk
 -ImageMagick

 now the binaries actually exist as follows:
 /usr/bin/latex /usr/bin/dvips /usr/bin/convert
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In reply to Wendy Riggs

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Mauno Korpelainen -

It's caused by a very tiny thing - output format of convert binary should be set to PNG in settings of tex filter (under the path to convert)

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Wendy Riggs -

Mauno!

You are a HERO!!!  This very easy thing FIXED it!  Thank you thank you thank you!

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In reply to Mauno Korpelainen

Re: Can't copy from Mathtype into Moodle

by Bob Mathews -

Thanks Mauno; I keep forgetting that little detail. I'll change our "MathType works with Moodle" page to include that, and to include the information from Wendy's administrator. This is in the Moodle docs for the TeX Filter, but we (Design Science) can make it easier to find from our site.

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