Equations in HTML5 output

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mscaroline
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri May 14, 2021 9:02 am

Equations in HTML5 output

Post by mscaroline »

Am I correct in understanding that equations (be they MathML or LaTeX) are always converted to images during the HTML5 output generation process? That is, there is no way to leave them as equations in the output and simply use MathJax for rendering?

If that is the case, does anyone happen to know if this is something that has been requested in the past? Is MadCap typically responsive to such requests?

I'm in the midst of transferring a large amount of math-heavy material out of its current mediawiki location, with the goal of having an online version such as an HTML5 system and a PDF output. The equation images generated during ouput creation are proving remarkably difficult to align, particularly for inline math expressions. I can live with it for my PDF output, but I'd like the option of actual math in my online output.

Heresy to say here, but I will say it anyway: Are there tools that are better suited to this sort of material than Flare is?
Roelof
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 02, 2021 4:24 am

Re: Equations in HTML5 output

Post by Roelof »

Hi.
I don't have an answer to your questions but I also struggled with aligning the inline equations.
Adding this to the end of my stylesheet helped to align the images better. This was a solution from one of the Flare team who I spoke to but I can't remember who. Hope it will help you as well.


img.mcReset
{
display: inline;
}
trent the thief
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 613
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:21 am
Location: Off in the dark....

Re: Equations in HTML5 output

Post by trent the thief »

Flare uses MathJax to process the equations entered into the equation editor.

I've used prism.js and mermaid.js for syntax highlighting and diagramming in Flare by adding it to the head section of the templates. You ought to be able to manually add mathjax to a template and then have mathjax process the equations without using Madcap's integrated version. I think the mathml tagging would probably be easiest to use in a topic since it actually uses tags rather than any natural language. But I'm not a maths guy, so YMMV with that.

I think that will work with a little tinkering.

I'm still waiting for them to realize how many of us need syntax for JSON and in-house extensions/APIs. Maybe then they'll allow us to add and extend syntax files for the code editor and highlighting.
Trent.

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umm...
I meant MAD Certified.

Official Propeller Beanie Owner :-)

:flare: Are you on Flare's Slack channels? PM me for an invitation! :flare:
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