Comparison service reference

Reference for the MathType comparison service used to determine whether two mathematical expressions are equivalent.

Summary

The MathType comparison service compares two mathematical expressions and determines whether they are mathematically equivalent. This service is commonly used in assessment platforms, automatic grading systems, and applications that need to compare mathematical answers programmatically.

Available interfaces

The comparison service is available through the following interfaces.

HTTP endpoint

The endpoint URL depends on your deployment.

Both GET and POST requests are supported. POST is recommended for large MathML expressions.

Request parameters

The comparison service accepts the following request parameters.

Both expressions must be valid MathML.

Example request

Compare two expressions:

GET /compare?mml=<math>...</math>&mml2=<math>...</math>

Response

The service returns the comparison result indicating whether both expressions are mathematically equivalent.

Error handling

Comparison may fail if:

• One or both MathML expressions are not valid.
• One or both expressions cannot be processed.
• The request exceeds server limits.

In these situations, the service returns an HTTP 5xx error.

Notes

• Both expressions must be valid MathML.
• The service compares the mathematical meaning of the supplied expressions.

Java and .NET APIs

The comparison service is also available through the Java and .NET APIs. For complete method signatures, return types, and implementation details, see:

• Java API reference.
• .NET API reference.

Related articles

• MathType API services.
• Expression evaluation.
• Content MathML.