MathFlow F.A.Q

MathType 7 and MathFlow were initially developed independently of each other; therefore, they are different equation editors from both a developer's perspective and an end user's perspective. MathFlow was designed to implement the MathML specification and to facilitate math on the web, while MathType 7 is a well-known desktop application. There are some features available in MathFlow not available in MathType 7 and vice versa. If you have questions about which is right for your organization or project, please contact MathFlow Premium Support.

Design Science will provide maintenance and technical support on any releases for one year after its replacement by a subsequent release.

The grey background signifies a MathFlow license has not been checked out. If you have a license available, double-clicking an equation will remove the grey background. There is no style information on the MathML to suggest a grey background, so if the MathML is being processed, the grey background will not be translated.

Look for and install fonts with those characters. Suggested fonts include: Code2000, Everson Mono, and the MathType fonts. These three fonts will likely cover most of the math characters a user needs.

No, this functionality is not currently available.

The toolbar is completely modifiable with XML. Please see the Toolbar Configuration Language in the MathFlow documentation for information on how to customize the toolbar.

Yes, MathFlow supports custom fonts. Please see the documentation for information on how to extend MathFlow font knowledge.

For example, change: <mrow><mi>I</mi><mi>D</mi><mi>T</mi></mrow> to: <mrow><mi>IDT</mi></mrow>.

To group several individual identifiers into a single identifier, highlight the identifiers and navigate to the

menu item. You can also split a single token item into individual token items using the Ungroup feature. (This feature is not available in the MathFlow Simple Editor.)

For example, if I insert a superscript template, then want to remove the superscript, but keep the inline variable characters. Or, if I have a series of token elements representing the numerator in a fraction, but I want to edit the equation to remove the denominator and leave the numerator as inline token elements, is that possible without cutting and pasting?

There is currently no way to delete part of a template. The workaround is to cut or copy the portion you want to keep, delete the whole template, and paste the contents on the clipboard into the equation.

For example: Change: <mo>=</mo><mi>r</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>u</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>n</mi> To: <mo>=</mo><mtext>return</mtext>

Yes, group the series of variables by highlighting the characters and choosing the

menu item. Then select the Text template, which is in the Layout Template Palette of the standard toolbar (first button on the toolbar, the icon is a 'T' in a dotted box). Alternatively, you can apply the text mode with the Ctrl+T keyboard shortcut. (This feature is not available in the MathFlow Simple Editor.)

The sum and integral symbols do not render as stretchy, although you can place the stretchy=true attribute on the operators in the

dialog. You can also manually change the size of the operator by highlighting the operator and going to

. (This feature is not available in the MathFlow Simple Editor.)

MathFlow assumes when you leave any template empty, it is intentional — you will want to return to it later to add the proper content. To get the red question mark or template box to go away, you need to insert a space or invisible character (such as &invisibletimes;) into the empty cell.

Theoretically, your MathML equations inherit the font from a parent element. However, few if any MathML processing applications take into account fonts further up in the XML tree. Even if they did, setting one font for an entire equation is a tricky matter because it's possible the font you specify does not carry every character you use in your equations. In such a case, many of the characters might drop out. Instead of specifying a global font you might consider putting the fontfamily attribute on all of your <mn>, <mi>, and <mtext> elements with XSL before processing the MathML. However, the Windows rendering engine supports a "basefont" setting for alphanumeric characters, and the Java rendering engine makes use of a FontMapping file allowing you to specify default fonts for the different character sets. Please see the documentation for more information.

No, you will have to use XSLT or a scripting language to process the document to set the attribute scriptlevel.

There are three main attributes for controlling the presentation of the integral and sum symbols and the limits around them. First, you can highlight all or part of an equation, select

, and choose 'true' or 'false' from the Layout in Display Style drop-down menu. With a setting of true, the sum and integral symbols will be enlarged. With a setting of false, the limits will be shifted to the script position. You can change these default properties by highlighting the sum or integral symbol and going to

. The two properties "Enlarge in display style" and "Move limits to script positions in inline style" are the relevant controls.

Shilling fractions are just set using the slash on your keyboard. The MathML will look like:

‹math›
  <mi>a</mi>
  <mo>/</mo>
  <mi>b</mi>
‹/math›

Bevelled fractions can be set on an existing fraction by double-clicking the <mfrac> element in the MathML ancestry bar (or alternatively, highlighting the fraction and opening the

dialog) and choosing "True" from the Beveled drop-down menu. Whether the fraction appears large or small is determined by the "Layout in Display Style" property in the same dialog box. When the property is set to "True," the fraction will appear slightly larger than when it is set to "False."

See the MathFlow documentation for the XML editor you're using:

These are the requirements for MathFlow 2.1. If you're using a version earlier than that, please let us know your version of MathFlow and your configuration, and we'll let you know if your configuration meets the requirements for that version of MathFlow

MathFlow Editor, MathFlow Import/Export and MathFlow Composer. These components run with Arbortext Editor, Arbortext Import/Export, and Arbortext Composer on Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris.

Yes, to obtain a basic XSL script to begin the conversion, please contact MathFlow Premium Support.

If you have checked to make sure MathFlow is installed properly and you can open MathFlow from axdocbook_math demo.xml, MathFlow is not recognizing your doctype. Make sure your DTD properly imports the MathML DTD and your <custom>/scripts/mathml_user.acl file has the proper entries. For example:

$mathml_doctypes[2] = "your_doctype_name";
$display_parents[$mathml_doctypes[2]] = "display_element";
$inline_parents[$mathml_doctypes[2]] = "inline_element";
$paralike_parents[$mathml_doctypes[2]] = "paralike_element";
$nsprefix[$mathml_doctypes[2]]="m";

Pixels, but one should not need to adjust this attribute.

Yes, the procedure for customizing your doctype with XML Schemas is the same as DTDs. The .dcf, .style, and mathml_user.acl files all require modification. Please see the MathFlow for Arbortext documentation for details.

The font size in the images MathFlow creates for Arbortext Editor is determined by the current font size in the document. For instance, if a table cell has a font size set at 9pt font, the equation inside the table cell will also appear at 9pt. This is set in the stylesheet(s) associated with the Editor view.

Make sure your Styler stylesheet includes the MathML module. For instructions on how to add the MathML Style module to your stylesheet, please see the MathFlow for Arbortext documentation.

If the MathML is not passed through the composition pipeline correctly, MathFlow will not be able to convert the MathML to EPS. Instead, Arbortext will use the preview images that display in the Arbortext Editor window.

The differences between MathFlow and the Formula Editor include:

The installer should have already copied all the files mentioned above into the custom location of your choice. As mentioned above, a copy is also located in your MathFlow directory. Complete the following steps to complete the installation.

The next step in the installation is to set an environment variable, APTCHENTPATH, which points Arbortext to a supplemental file of character codes. Again, what you need to set it to depends on where you have installed custom:

In order to be able to use MathFlow you should have a license file installed. This file, dessci.lic, should be placed in

in each of the machines where MathFlow is installed. For details about getting a license, and installing and using the license server, see the MathFlow Licensing" in the MathFlow documentation.

When you have completed the installation, you can test it by starting Arbortext, and opening the file 

 Try double-clicking one of the equations to open it in the MathFlow Editor.

MathFlow Import/Export is installed as part of the MathFlow for Arbortext installation.  If you are using MathFlow Import/Export, copy all the .dot files from

to one of the following directories:

MathFlow Import/Export will allow importing Microsoft Word files containing MathType equations into the sample doctype axdocbook_math and exporting of an XML file of the axdocbook_math doctype to an RTF document with MathType equations. To set up your own doctypes for import and export, consult "Setting Up a Custom Doctype" in the MathFlow documentation.

MathFlow Composer it installed as part of the MathFlow for Arbortext installation.  MathFlow Composer integrates with the Arbortext Publishing Engine.

You must configure your fonts for Arbortext's Direct PDF. For more information, see Creating high quality math images with Direct PDF.

We cannot support silent installers because there are too many input parameters, so it's not real practical to establish a default configuration.

MathFlow Editor. It runs with XMetaL Author and XMAX, on Windows.

Yes. Please contact MathFlow Premium Support about receiving the files necessary to avoid conflicts with Documentum Webtop.

The installer places a file called icons.ini.new in the <path-to-xmetal>/Author/Icons directory. This file contains the reference to the MathFlow icon. If you have not changed the original icons.ini file, you can simply rename the icons.ini file to icons.ini.old and rename the icons.ini.new file to icons.ini.

If you have modified the original icons.ini file, add the following line to the end of the file:

You will need to give it a different number than 11 if that number has already been used.

In order to be able to use MathFlow you should have a license file installed. This file, dessci.lic, should be placed in

in each of the machines where MathFlow is installed. For details about getting a license, and installing and using the License Server, see the Licensing pages in the MathFlow documentation.

The installer should have already copied all the files mentioned above into the XMetaL Author directory.

When you have completed the installation, you can test it by starting XMetaL, and opening the file

Try double-clicking one of the equations to open it in the MathFlow Editor.

Once you have verified MathFlow is working properly, you will likely want to set up MathFlow to work with your own doctypes. Consult "Configuring MathFlow Main Ideas" in the MathFlow documentation.

We cannot support silent installers because there are too many input parameters, so it's not real practical to establish a default configuration.

We have an experienced full-time training staff and they will typically travel to your facility, with an agreed upon program and training materials designed to suit the level of training your staff needs. We can teach you how to use our products, about MathML, and as in-depth as needed. Please contact us if you are interested in training.

The most likely reason is that the renderer cannot find the proper fonts for the character. We recommend installing fonts such as Code2000 (a comprehensive shareware sans-serif font), Everson Mono (a comprehensive shareware monospace font), and the Adobe MathPi fonts. Between them, they will mostly provide the missing characters. More information can be found in our article about missing characters.  

The MathFlow Components include several components for converting MathML to an image, any of which can be inserted into your XML publishing workflow. For more information about the MathFlow Components, please see the MathFlow Components Overview.

If you are using Arbortext Editor and have Arbortext Composer licensed and are using it in your workflow, MathFlow Composer is integrated with Arbortext Composer to process an entire page and turn the MathML equations into PNG images for HTML files and into EPS images for PDF files. When Arbortext Editor converts the XML to HTML/PDF and encounters MathML, MathFlow takes over and generates the image and the necessary code so the image appears in the output. If you are interested in evaluating the MathFlow Composer for Arbortext, please contact our sales staff.

We do not have out-of-the-box support for Apache FOP, but the MathFlow Equation Composer or Document Composer (Windows only) can be used to pre-process the MathML to EPS output. For more information about the MathFlow Composers, please see the MathFlow Components Overview.

If you are using Arbortext, FrameMaker, Oxygen, or XMetaL or if you would like to add equation editing/rendering to a 3rd party application, we invite you to evaluate MathFlow Please write our support staff, and we will send you download instructions and a temporary license file.

Fixed licenses are good for organizations having specific computers for working with math. You will need to install a MathFlow license file on each machine running MathFlow If you would like to use MathFlow on more than one machine, you need to purchase multiple licenses, and we will provide multiple license files. Fixed licenses are available for Windows machines only.

Concurrent licenses are good for organizations wanting to enable access to a large number of users, but not all at the same time. MathFlow is installed on each user's machine, and the number of simultaneous users is controlled by the license management system on your server. One concurrent license allows for one user at a time. If it's in use and a second person tries to access it, that person will get a message saying the license is in use. You should purchase enough concurrent licenses to cover the number of people who will be working with math simultaneously.

<path-to-mathflow-sdk>/resources/windows/32bitDLL/ <path-to-mathflow-sdk>/resources/windows/64bitDLL/

For MathFlow for Arbortext/XMetaL, an Editor license is checked out the first time the MathFlow Editor is opened or images are re-generated. The license is checked in when all documents of a MathFlow doctype are closed (Arbortext/XMetaL do not need to be closed to check in the license).

A MathFlow Composer license is checked out when Arbortext Composer or the Publishing Engine is run on documents containing MathML. The license is checked in when Arbortext Composer stops running or the Publishing Engine is shut down.

No, you do not need a license to display equations, but since MathFlow generates images, you will need a copy of MathFlow installed (free) to view equations. Equations will appear "grayed-out" if there is no license file installed.

Yes, you need a license to edit equations.

For a fixed license, we need the hostname of the computer running MathFlow The hostname can be found by typing hostname into a command or terminal window (or at a Unix command prompt). This applies to Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. The hostname is case-sensitive. Please send it exactly as it is returned.

Yes, so long as permissions are set properly; however, in some cases a concurrent license is required. When you write to ask for your license, please let us know you intend to use remote access, since the license must be specially configured for remote access.

Send email to support@wiris.com. MathFlow support is covered under your paid annual maintenance agreement and will receive our highest priority response. Support incidents will receive an incident number, and the problem will be worked on until it is resolved.

The first year's annual maintenance fees must be paid in full at the time of the initial order. We will send an invoice prior to each anniversary of each order. Your annual maintenance must be paid up to date to receive technical support and upgrades. When we release a new version, we send email announcements to all customers with instructions to get the latest version.

The MathFlow Components provide the APIs to our Java-based editors and composition engines so that Linux users can integrate MathFlow into their XML publishing process. For more information on the MathFlow Components, please see the MathFlow Components Overview.

The MathFlow Components are available for integration of the MathFlow editors and composition engines with any other XML editor (or other software). If you do not have the in-house resources for such integration work, one of our partners may be interested in doing the work for you. For more information on the MathFlow Components, please see the MathFlow Components Overview.