Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by markus keller -
Number of replies: 7

Hello,

is there any possibility to view equations in the HTML-Editor like they were displayed in preview?
I think the comercial tool WIRIs will do this, is this true?
Are there some other open-source possibilies?

And if not, how is it possible to edit existing equations with the DragMath-Editor? For me it looks like, that i have to write everthing of the equations again.

Thanks

markus

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In reply to markus keller

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by Ramon Eixarch -
Markus,

as you say WIRIS Editor allows a WYSIWYG edition of formulas.

If you don't want to install it have a look at a video
http://www.wiris.com/demo/moodle/formulas.htm

WIRIS Editor does not support LaTeX, so you really have to write the formulas. We expect to give support to use preexisting content in LaTeX soon.

Ramon Eixarch
Maths for More
creators of WIRIS Tools
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In reply to markus keller

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by John Isner -
is there any possibility to view equations in the HTML-Editor like they were displayed in preview?

I assume by "equations" you mean LaTeX markup. If so, the answer is No. The HTML must be sent to the server in order to have the LaTeX rendered by the TeX filter. Depending on your context, however, you may be able to submit the page, view it, and then edit it. For example, in a Forum, after you submit a post, you have 30 minutes to change it. It would be nice to have such a feature in Quiz (save my quiz and review what I've submitted exactly as the teacher will see it), but there is no such feature as far as I can tell (you can review your answers, but they're not rendered).

how is it possible to edit existing equations with the DragMath-Editor

It would a nice feature, but it is theoretically impossible. There is no function from 1-D notation to 2-D notation (a given LaTeX string may have more than one interpretation). It is a theoretical limitation, not a limitation of DragMath. Chris Sangwin explained it very nicely in a forum post which I cannot find.




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In reply to John Isner

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by John Ryan -
I have just installed the DragMath editor into my test version of moodle.

Though you cannot edit the Tex version of an equation in DragMath you can save (within DragMath itself -saves a local copy not to moodle) any equation you produce and then Open and redit this. More fiddly than being able to do it from the HTMLarea but useful if you have a particularly complex equation that you may want to edit in future.

John
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In reply to John Ryan

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by markus keller -

Yes, that would be se solution. It makes collaborative work a bit complicated, but the author  could upload the DragMath-Files int Moodle for internal use.

I also testet the commercial Tool WIRIS, it works fine, providing WYSIWYG-Preview in the HTML-Editor and edititing existing equations. But it works not with LaTeX, so if i d'like to change sometimes the tool, i had to do the work again or do some convetion. And the price model is'nt very clear in the website of WIRIS.

@John Isner: thanks for your good comments, i see the case now clearly

kind regards markus

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In reply to John Ryan

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by John Isner -
Hi John,
Excellent suggestion! But you're right, it's not something you would do routinely, but only if you had a solution or a proof with many lines. Then, a student could attach the .drgm file to an upload assignment and the teacher could open the .drgm file and give feedback directly in the file. I'll add some notes to the wiki article about this issue. It's an important one.
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In reply to John Ryan

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by John Isner -
Hi John,
I just updated the DragMath article to include your suggestion.

Do you know if it is possible create multi-line input using DragMath? I simulated it using an N x 1 matrix, but hopefully there is a better way.
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In reply to markus keller

Re: Equation as wysiwyg in the HTML-Editor

by Bob Mathews -

And if not, how is it possible to edit existing equations with the DragMath-Editor?

Another way to edit DragMath equations or others using TeX markup is to use MathType 6. You can copy the equation image directly from the rendered page and paste it into MathType and edit it as you would any other MathType equation. Since MathType recognizes the image's ALT text, it converts that into an editable MathType equation. You can also copy the TeX from either the text editor or the HTML editor, paste it into MathType, edit it, then paste it back into the Moodle editor as TeX.

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