MadCap Software Forums

QUESTION #1: Has anyone converted a manual from LaTeX to Flare?

BACKGROUND: I've inherited a 250-page manual written in LaTeX. It has 100+ equations in 60 separate TEX files and was written by a LaTeX guru who used all the bells and whistles of LaTeX to their fullest. I am not a LaTeX user, but I understand the concepts. The final output is quite nice, actually. I would like to convert this document to Flare. Oh, and I have this weird instinctive aversion to representing equations as image files. Seems like a travesty to go from LaTeX equations to GIFs. Just sayin.

QUESTION #2: Can I import equations from LaTeX to Flare, or do I have to recreate them in the Equation Editor?
I understand that Flare uses the MathFlow Equation Editor produced by Design Science. This editor is nice, but it does not appear to import anything. It does appear to save the equations in MathML. Is there a way to import equations? Are there any hacks or workarounds, like exporting the LaTeX files to something else (like Word or whatever), then importing those files to Flare?

QUESTION #3: How does MathML stack up against LaTeX for producing equations?
I'm trying to research the differences/advantages/disadvantages between LaTeX and HTML/MathML but I haven't found a succinct comparison (yet). I found a few tidbits on the TeX User Group (TUG) site, but nothing comprehensive or that directly answers this question. Does anyone have opinions or resources for evaluating the two?

QUESTION #4: (somewhat rhetorical) Should I just give up on converting the document to Flare and continue to edit the document in LaTeX instead? I am impressed with the power of LaTeX, now that I've researched a little about it. But, alas, I wouldn't have the content in Flare.

Thanks!
Matt Danda
Overland Park, KS

Hi Matt:

This doesn't answer your question--but just wanted you to know how we use LaTex at my company. Our research dept converts LaTex to pdfs. I create links on Flare pages which allow users to download the separate pdfs.

SG

I think that in order to do the import from LaTeX to Design Science, you need the full blown version of MathType. I don't think you can do it with just the built-in version that MadCap is using. Here is an example of how I took a LaTeX formula from a webpage, pasted it into MathType, then did a Copy and Paste from MathType into Flare.


Wayne

wbrisett wrote:I think that in order to do the import from LaTeX to Design Science, you need the full blown version of MathType. I don't think you can do it with just the built-in version that MadCap is using. Here is an example of how I took a LaTeX formula from a webpage, pasted it into MathType, then did a Copy and Paste from MathType into Flare.


Wayne

Thanks, Wayne!! I was able to use this method to convert a single formula from LaTeX to MathML. That is better than re-typing the formula from scratch. However, I do have at least a hundred equations to convert, plus pages and pages of text and other content from the LaTeX files, so it would be better if I could convert the entire document at once. But this is a start. Thanks!

-Matt

I spoke too soon. There is one problem with the process above: it doesn't handle LaTeX macros. This is a deal-breaker, unless I'm doing something wrong.

For example, here is an equation in LaTeX:

\begin{equation}
(1-\qw) = \prod_{M=1}^{12} \left(1-\kwth{M} \cdot \qwm \right)
\label{eq:qwprod}
\end{equation}

I can paste this into MathType and I get what appears to be a formatted equation. However, this equation includes several macros, and MathType doesn't know what to do with them. For example, the first macro in the above equation is \qw.

Earlier in the LaTeX file, the macro \qw is defined as:

\qw & Annual withdrawal rate for contract year $t\/$.& {\tt qw}&& Calc \\ [.05in] \label{qw}

So my question is, how do I convert LaTeX equations that include macros to MathType (which then allows conversion to Flare)?

Try this:

http://www.mathtowebonline.com