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( for mathTeX version 1.04 ) Click for: download mathTeX |
more_examples... |
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This page discusses mathTeX, a program that displays math on the web. See Writing Math on the Web for a more general discussion. | ||
This manual contains more information
than you'll probably need to read. If you follow the
QuickStart instructions below, try installing mathTeX immediately.
If you need more information,
continue reading until you feel comfortable trying to install mathTeX.
Return to the manual as needed.
Prerequisites are: some knowledge of Unix shell, of installing cgi's,
of LaTeX.
"Computers are like Old Testament gods:
lots of rules and no mercy."
Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth
(Doubleday 1988, page 18)
| C o n t e n t s | Q u i c k S t a r t | |||||||
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MathTeX, licensed under the gpl, is a cgi program that lets you easily embed LaTeX math in your own html pages, blogs, wikis, etc. It parses a LaTeX math expression and immediately emits the corresponding gif (or png) image, rather than the usual TeX dvi. So just place an html <img> tag in your document wherever you want to see the corresponding LaTeX expression. For example,
<img src="/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?f(x)=\int_{-\infty}^xe^{-t^2}dt"
alt="" border=0 align="middle">
immediately generates the corresponding gif, displaying wherever you put that <img> tag.
MathTeX's uses the
latex and
dvipng
programs, along with all necessary fonts, etc, from your
TeX distribution. Occasionally, you may need to
download dvipng separately.
If you can't, or don't want to,
install dvipng, then you may optionally specify the
–DDVIPS and –DCONVERT switches when
compiling mathTeX. Then mathTeX uses
dvips
from your TeX distribution,
and convert from the
ImageMagick
package, instead of dvipng.
That is,
cc –DLATEX=\"path/to/latex\" –DDVIPNG=\"path/to/dvipng\" mathtex.c –o mathtex.cgi
compiles mathtex.cgi with dependencies latex and dvipng, whereas,
cc –DLATEX=\"path/to/latex\" –DDVIPS=\"path/to/dvips\" \ –DCONVERT=\"path/to/convert\" mathtex.c –o mathtex.cgi
compiles mathtex.cgi with dependencies latex and dvips and convert.
(Note: dvipng is easily twice as fast
as dvips/convert, and it produces somewhat smaller image files,
with no discernible (to me) loss of quality or other downside.
So I recommend its use if you have it installed or can
install it.)
These dependencies — always latex and either dvipng or dvips/convert — must all be installed on your server before you can run mathTeX. Ask your ISP or sysadmin if you have any questions or problems installing them. Or see mimeTeX if you can't install them.
If you're using dvips and and convert (rather than dvipng), then be advised that recent versions of convert seem to exhibit a minor bug whereby the program's –gamma correction option is ignored when converting postscript images to any other format. The default, and unchangeable, gamma renders acceptable-looking png images, but unacceptably light gif images. Earlier versions of convert seem to respect the –gamma option and, moreover, render acceptable default gif images anyway. So if you're using dvips/convert and are seeing very light images, I'd recommend downloading ImageMagick version 6.2.6 source from http://sourceforge.net/projects/imagemagick/files/ and building your own version of convert. That should fix your problem. Alternatively, an even easier fix is to compile mathtex with the -DPNG switch, which renders acceptable-looking default png images regardless of convert version.
LaTeX's picture environment provides a rudimentary markup for drawing simple diagrams. For example, you can submit a rather complicated <img> tag to mathTeX like
<img src="/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?
\png
\definecolor{blueblack}{RGB}{0,0,135}
\color{blueblack}
\begin{picture}(4,1.75)
\thicklines
\put(2,0.01){\arc{3}{3.53588}{5.8888}}
\put(.375,.575){\line(1,0){3.25}}
\put(1.22,1.375){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$ds$}}
\put(.6,.5){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$x=0$}}
\put(3.36,.5){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$x=\ell$}}
\dottedline{.05}(1.0,.575)(1.0,1.10)
\put(1.0,.5){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$x$}}
\dottedline{.05}(1.5,.575)(1.5,1.40)
\put(1.5,.5){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$x+dx$}}
\put(1.22,.65){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$dx$}}
\dottedline{.04}(0.6,1.12)(1.25,1.12)
\put(1.0,1.14){\vector(-1,-1){.45}}
\put(.58,0.83){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$T$}}
\put(.77,1.05){\makebox(0,0){\scriptsize$\theta(x)$}}
\put(1.18,1.16){\makebox(0,0){\scriptsize$\theta(x)$}}
\dottedline{.04}(1.5,1.41)(2.1,1.41)
\put(1.5,1.44){\vector(4,1){.67}}
\put(2.22,1.59){\makebox(0,0){\footnotesize$T$}}
\put(1.95,1.45){\makebox(0,0){\scriptsize$\theta(x+dx)$}}
\end{picture}"
alt="" border=0 align="middle">
which, in this case, uses LaTeX's \begin{picture}...\end{picture} environment to render the image
Diagrams like this are more often drawn using separate drawing programs. However, for example, if you're posting to a bulletin board/blog/wiki that supports mathTeX but doesn't let you upload separate images, then mathTeX <img> tags may be a satisfactory alternative. And note the special mathTeX \png directive at the very beginning of the example expression above. That's removed before LaTeX sees your expression, but first it directs mathTeX to generate a png image even if the default is gif. Png's seem to produce slightly sharper picture images: try clicking the above image, change the \png to \gif, submit the expression and compare images.
Using \begin{picture}...\end{picture} has a few mathTeX dependency requirements. The dvipng program doesn't recognize LaTeX postscript \specials generated in the picture environment. So you must compile mathTeX with the –DDVIPS and –DCONVERT switches described above, and (of course) these two programs must be available on your server. Moreover, even dvips has problems generating encapsulated postscript (which is what mathTeX uses) containing these \specials. So a separate script, ps2epsi, that's usually included with ghostscript distributions, is used by mathTeX to "encapsulate" dvips's output. Therefore, the ps2epsi script must also be available on your server, and you must compile mathTeX with the additional switch –DPS2EPSI=\"path/to/ps2epsi\" that specifies the path to it.
Note that you can, and should if possible, also compile mathTeX with the –DDVIPNG switch if the dvipng program is also available on your server. Then your compile line will look something like
cc –DLATEX=\"path/to/latex\" –DDVIPNG=\"path/to/dvipng\" –DDVIPS=\"path/to/dvips\" \ –DCONVERT=\"path/to/convert\" –DPS2EPSI=\"path/to/ps2epsi\" mathtex.c –o mathtex.cgi
In this case mathTeX defaults to dvipng unless your expression contains \begin{picture}, when it automatically uses dvips/ps2epsi/convert instead. And when your expression contains \begin{picture}, mathTeX also automatically runs LaTeX with \usepackage{eepic}.
There's no inherent need to repeatedly write the cumbersome <img> tag illustrated above. You can write your own custom tags, or write a wrapper script around mathTeX to simplify the notation.
For example,
the following javascript snippet (based on
mathtran's
mathtran_img.js) lets you just write
<img alt="mathtex:c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}">
wherever you want to see
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
// Create a namespace to hold variables and functions
mathtex = new Object();
// Change this to use your server
mathtex.imgSrc = "http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?";
// Transform the whole document: add src to each img with
// alt text starting with "mathtex:", unless img already has a src.
mathtex.init = function () {
if (! document.getElementsByTagName) return;
var objs = document.getElementsByTagName("img");
var len = objs.length;
for (i=0; i<len; i++) {
var img = objs[i];
if (img.alt.substring(0,8) == 'mathtex:')
if (!img.src) {
var tex_src = img.alt.substring(8);
img.src = mathtex.imgSrc + encodeURIComponent(tex_src);
// Append TEX to the class of the IMG.
img.className +=' tex'; }
}
mathtex.hideElementById("mathtex.error"); }
// Utility function
mathtex.hideElementById = function (id) {
var obj = document.getElementById(id);
if (obj) obj.style.display = 'none'; }
// resolve a cross-browser issue (see CBS events)
mathtex.addEvent = function (obj, evType, fn, useCapture) {
if (obj.addEventListener) { //For Mozilla.
obj.addEventListener(evType, fn, useCapture);
return true; }
else if (obj.attachEvent) { //For Internet Explorer.
var r = obj.attachEvent("on"+evType, fn);
return r; }
}
// Initialize after entire document is loaded
mathtex.addEvent(window, 'load', mathtex.init, false);
-->
</script>
Bulletin boards, wikis, etc, can also incorporate mathTeX images with short scripts. For example, if you're using phpBB2, then Jameson contributed the following one-line mod that lets you write [tex] ... [/tex] for mathTeX images:
#--------[open]-----------------------------------------------------
/includes/bbcode.php
#--------[find]-----------------------------------------------------
// Remove our padding from the string..
#--------[before, add]----------------------------------------------
$text = preg_replace('/\[tex\](.*?)\[\/tex\]/ie',
"'<img src=\"/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?'.rawurlencode('$1').'\" align=\"middle\" />'",
$text);
Similarly, if you're using phpBB3, then no mod is even needed. Just click Postings from the Administrator Control Panel, and add the Custom BBCode [tex]{TEXT}[/tex] with the HTML replacement <img src="/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?{TEXT}" align=middle> Now you can also write [tex] ... [/tex] to obtain mathTeX images of the enclosed expression.
Plugins for several additional packages already exist for my other math-rendering program, mimeTeX, which runs without dependencies, but produces slightly lower quality images than LaTeX. These plugins also work with mathTeX. Just substitute mathtex.cgi wherever the instructions say mimetex.cgi.
| Package | Plugin | |
| PmWiki | mimeTeX plugin | |
| MediaWiki | "mimeTeX alternative" | |
| MathWiki | "mimeTeX Parser" | |
| PunBB | mimeTeX plugin | |
| Movable Type | mimeTeX plugin | |
| WordPress | mimeTeX plugin |
Please note: If you're writing your own plugin for mathTeX, please write code using system( ), or any other shell escape mechanisms, carefully. system( ) raises security issues, either real ones if used carelessly, or just in the minds of system administrators. Either way, I've received emails from people unable to use mathTeX because of unnecessary system( ) calls prohibited by security-conscious sysadmins. MathTeX itself poses minimal risk when used as illustrated above, but you're responsible for any plugin/wrapper script you write around it.
An image like
doesn't look as good as the same image
that's vertically aligned with your surrounding text.
Along with several standard
HTTP header fields, mathTeX can also emit a special
Vertical-Align: –nn
header, where –nn is the number of pixels
(usually negative as illustrated) needed for a
style="Vertical-Align: –nn px"
attribute in the <img> tag used to
render your expression.
To obtain its vertical-align information, mathTeX places
your expression inside a LaTeX lrbox, where additional
environments like
But mathTeX's special Vertical-Align: header is unrecognized and ignored by your browser. You have to get the header, interpret it, and write the corresponding <img> tag. The only feasible way to do all this is using a scripting language, as illustrated by the following, rather naive, php code
<?php
$mathtexurl = "http://www.yourdomain.com/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?";
function verticalalign( $expression ) {
global $mathtexurl;
// note: curl_init() stops at the first whitespace char in $url argument
$expression = ereg_replace(" ","~",$expression); // so remove whitespace
$url = $mathtexurl . "\depth~" . $expression;
$valign = "0";
$ch = curl_init( $url );
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true );
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_HEADER, true );
$gif = curl_exec( $ch );
$errno = curl_errno( $ch );
curl_close( $ch );
if ( $errno == 0 ) {
$fields = explode("Vertical-Align:",$gif);
$vfield = trim($fields[1]);
$fldlen = strspn($vfield,"+-0123456789");
$valign = substr($vfield,0,$fldlen); }
return $valign;
}
function mathtextag( $expression ) {
global $mathtexurl;
$valign = verticalalign($expression);
$url = $mathtexurl . "\depth~" . $expression;
echo ' <img src="',$url,'" ';
echo ' style="Vertical-Align:',$valign,'px" ';
echo ' alt="" border=0>', "\n";
}
?>
Now you can write
<?php mathtextag('\frac12\left(a^2+b^2\right)'); ?>
wherever you want to see
correctly aligned. Note that the php code automatically prepends
\depth to your expression for you.
(And also note that this code calls mathTeX twice
to render each expression, once to get the Vertical-Align: header
and build an <img> tag, and then again to render that tag.
If you're a good php programmer and write better code,
please email me a copy.)
Other math-on-the-web solutions are discussed at www.tug.org/interest.html, and in the tex-faq/LaTex2Html and tex-faq/mathml. Several LaTeX-based solutions similar to mathTeX that you may want to look at are latexrender, mathtran, textogif, and gladTeX. However, if you can't install a TeX distribution on your server, then you may prefer to look at a stand-alone math rendering program like mimeTeX, which has no dependencies whatsoever, but which produces slightly lower quality images than LaTeX. Alternative kinds of solutions that you may want to look at are jsmath and techexplorer.
If you have trouble installing mathTeX on your own server, a mathTeX web service is currently available. An <img> tag of the form
<img src="http://www.forkosh.com/mathtex.cgi?c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2}"
alt="" border=0 align=middle>
displays
wherever you put that <img> tag
in your own document. Note that the typical
/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi? has been replaced by
http://www.forkosh.com/mathtex.cgi?
in this <img> tag, using mathTeX on my
server to render your expression for you.
For production use, please install mathTeX on your own server.
Installing mathTeX on your own server sets up a de facto web service, unless you compile it with the –DREFERER=\"domain\" switch, restricting requests to that specific domain. Until mathML becomes widespread, LaTeX-based web services, like mathTeX or alternatives, may be the best math-on-the-web solutions. If you set one up that's intended for public access, email me its url, and I'll add it to the following list...
| url of service | test |
| http://www.forkosh.com/mathtex.cgi | |
| http://www.cyberroadie.org/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi |
|
| http://www.problem-solving.be/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi | unavailable |
| http://www.openmaths.org/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi | unavailable |
The "test" column just exercises the link to its left. Thanks to everyone.
An alternative mathTeX-based public web service you may also want to
consider is Embedding math with replacemath.js,
which allows you to embed math in your html pages without any
<img> tags at all, just by writing LaTeX math markup
between
<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE> test page </TITLE> </HEAD>
<BODY>
Put any LaTeX math expression you like between $$...$$,
for example $$y=\frac1{1-x^2}$$ renders 
</BODY>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://mathcache.s3.amazonaws.com/replacemath.js"> </script>
<script type="text/javascript">
replaceMath( document.body ); </script>
</HTML>
That is, near the bottom of your document,
after the </BODY> tag, place exactly the
two <script> tags shown. Then, anywhere in
your document, any LaTeX math expressions surrounded
by
MathTeX uses latex to render images, and you must already be familiar with LaTeX math markup to use it. If you're not, many online LaTeX tutorials are readily available. You may also want to browse Andrew Roberts' Latex Math I and Latex Math II, or my own LaTeX math tutorial. You can also download and read the AMS's Short math guide.
Now, to try out mathTeX, just enter any expression you like in the Query Box below. I've started you out with a little example already in the box, or you can Click any of the Examples below to place that corresponding expression in the Query Box. Then press the Submit button, and mathTeX's rendering should be displayed in the little window immediately below it.
|
Now click Submit to see it rendered below... |
You should see
if you submit the sample expression
already in the box.
Here are various additional random examples further demonstrating mathTeX's features and usage. To see how they're done, Click any one of them to place its corresponding expression in the Query Box above. Then press Submit to re-render it, or you can edit the expression first to suit your own purposes.
| (1) |
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| (2) |
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| (3) |
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illustrating \left\{...\right. and note the accents |
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| (4) |
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\overbrace{}^{} and \underbrace{}_{} (TeXbook page 181, Exercise 18.41) |
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| (5) |
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| (6) |
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using \begin{eqnarray*} to align equations | ||||
To facilitate its use in html <img> tags, mathTeX recognizes several special \directives that modify latex's behavior. These \directives are usually interpreted by mathTeX, and then removed from your expression before it's submitted to latex for rendering.
For example,
You can have as many special mathTeX \directives in an expression as you like. They're recognized anywhere at all in an expression, though these examples show them at the beginning. To simplify readability, additional examples below are more tersely illustrated as "query-string" rather than as <img src="/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi?query-string">.
| dpi | \scriptsize | \normalsize |
| 100 | |
|
| 120 | |
|
| 160 | |
|
| 200 | |
|
| gamma | dvipng | dvips/convert |
| 0.25 | |
|
| 0.50 | |
|
| 1.0 | |
|
| 2.0 | |
|
| 4.0 | |
|
| directive | renders |
| \which{latex} | |
| \which{dvipng} | |
| \which{dvips} | |
| \which{convert} | |
cc mathtex.c –o mathtex.cgiwithout any required switches at all. When compiled like this, mathTeX uses which to determine the required paths. If they're found, then mathTeX will run and display them; if not, you'll likely see message 7 or message 9 instead. If mathTeX does run, and displays the required paths, you should immediately re-compile it with the required –Dswitches. Execution time can be doubled, or even worse, when mathTeX has to find these paths itself.
| c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2} | \advertisement c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2} | |
|
|
|
| \version c=\sqrt{a^2+b^2} |
|
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Very quickly --- First, install mathTeX's dependencies: | |
| a recent TeX distribution
with dvipng,
on your server, or see mimeTeX if you can't. | |
| Then, download mathtex.zip and type | |
| unzip mathtex.zip cc mathtex.c –DLATEX=\"$(which latex)\" \ –DDVIPNG=\"$(which dvipng)\" \ –o mathtex.cgi | |
| Finally, | |
| mv mathtex.cgi to your
cgi-bin/ directory, chmod permissions as necessary, and you're all done. | |
|
Read the rest of this section only if you want
more information. |
|
mathTeX's source code is standard Unix C, which should compile and run without change on any posix-compliant Unix platform. The current release of mathTeX only runs under Unix-like operating systems. The three steps needed to compile, install and test mathTeX are:
| README | mathTeX release notes |
| COPYING | GPL license, version 3, under which you may use mathTeX |
| mathtex.c | mathTeX source program and all required functions |
| mathtex.html | this file, the mathTeX user manual |
mathTeX> running image: ./mathtex.cgi
mathTeX> input expression: "x^2+y^2"
mathTeX> working directory: 8dfaf8281769c217b7e78b27a4747285/
mathTeX> output image file: test.gif
Bring up the output file test.gif in your browser,
which should display the rendered image of x^2+y^2.
If it does, you can rm -r that working directory
and proceed to the next (Install) step.
If not, there's some error that _must_ be fixed before
proceeding: mathTeX is not going to emit gifs from
your server if it won't run from the command line. Gif images for 15 messages are embedded in mathTeX, displayable so long as mathtex.cgi can run from your server, even without latex and without rw permissions in your cgi-bin/ directory. In addition, your server may display the first two messages below if mathtex.cgi can't run. Any embedded mathTeX message can be intentionally displayed by submitting an expression containing the special mathTeX directive \message{1} through \message{15} (an out-of-bounds argument, or \message with no argument, displays message 1). Otherwise, various errors signal "unintentional" displays of the corresponding message, e.g., if your –DLATEX switch specifies the wrong path to latex, then you'll see message 7 (unless some earlier error supercedes it).
| Message | Description |
| The requested URL was not found. | You typed the wrong url, or mathtex.cgi is not installed where you think it is. |
| Internal server error 500 | If mathtex.cgi's permissions are chmod'ed improperly, if your account isn't set up to run cgi's, etc, then mathTeX will not run at all. You'll probably see this error message emitted by your server instead. |
|
|
Immediately after installing mathtex.cgi
to your cgi-bin/ directory, type a url of the form into your browser. You should see this message. It means mathtex.cgi ran successfully, its permissions are set properly, and the account hosting yourdomain can run cgi's. |
|
|
Traps any otherwise unidentified error condition. |
|
|
The combination of permissions/ownerships on mathtex.cgi itself, and on the cgi-bin/ directory where it's installed, prohibit mathTeX from creating its cache directory mathtex/ underneath cgi-bin/. Change permissions/ownerships as needed. |
|
|
Same problem as message 3 above, except this time mathTeX can't create a temporary work directory under cgi-bin/. |
|
|
Unanticipated error. MathTeX should be able to cd to a directory it just created. |
|
|
Unanticipated error. MathTeX should be able to open a file (for write) in a directory it just created. |
|
|
Either latex is not installed, or your –DLATEX path to it is incorrect. It's also possible that the shell host on which you compiled mathTeX has different volumes or mount points than your server (see path switches). Check with your ISP or sysadmin, or try mathTeX's \which directive. |
|
|
A simple latex error, like \alfa instead of \alpha, should not cause this problem (unless your expression contains \noquiet). It's more likely caused by a missing font or package, etc. Simplify your expression until it works, and see if that helps identify the cause. Or add \msglevel{9} to your expression, and check files latex.out and latex.err for error messages. |
|
|
Either dvipng is not installed, or your –DDVIPNG path to it is incorrect. Also see the remark in message 7. |
|
|
Rerun the same expression with \msglevel{9} added. Then check files latex.out and latex.err, and dvipng.out and dvipng.err for any clues to the cause of this error. |
|
|
Either dvips is not installed, or your –DDVIPS path to it is incorrect. Also see the remark in message 7. |
|
|
Rerun the same expression with \msglevel{9} added. Then check files latex.out and latex.err, and dvips.out and dvips.err for any clues to the cause of this error. |
|
|
Either convert is not installed, or your –DCONVERT path to it is incorrect. Also see the remark in message 7. |
|
|
Rerun the same expression with \msglevel{9} added. Then check files latex.out and latex.err, dvips.out and dvips.err, and convert.out and convert.err for any clues to the cause of this error. |
|
|
An image file was apparently created successfully, but is now inaccessible to mathTeX. Rerun the same expression. If it fails again, rerun it with \msglevel{9} added. Then check all .out and .err files for any clues to the cause of this error. |
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2007-10-11:09:00:53am f8ccc8dd93c8eeb1d9c40b353ef781e0.gif
\LARGE x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}
http://www.forkosh.com/mathtex.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------MathTeX is usually run by your web server as a cgi program, obtaining its input expression from the query-string of an html <img> tag. But you can also run mathTeX from your Unix shell, supplying all input on the command line. For example, ./mathtex.cgi "x^2+y^2" –o equation1 renders an image of x^2+y^2 in file equation1.gif. And with the –m 9 switch, it's also useful for testing.
The complete command-line syntax for mathTeX is
./mathtex.cgi "expression" expression in quotes, e.g., "x^2+y^2",
| -f input_file or read (unquoted) expression from input_file
[ -o output_file ] write image to ouput_file instead of cache
[ -m msglevel ] verbosity of debugging message level
[ -c cache_directory ] path to cache directory
"expression" Either place LaTeX expression directly on
the command line, between "quotes", with no -switch
preceding it, or.....
-f input_file .....read (unquoted) expression from input_file.
The input_file may contain the expression on one line
or spread out over many lines. If -o is not also given,
it defaults to the same filename, e.g., -f expression.tex
produces output file expression.tex.gif unless an
explicit -o switch is given.
-o output_file write output gif or png image to this filename,
with .gif or .png extension added to it. If you want the
image file written in a directory other than your pwd,
then specify -o path/output_file instead.
-m msglevel 0-99, controls verbosity/message level for
debugging output. If msglevel>=9 then the temporary
directory containing latex-dvips-convert output is
not removed. This is your major debugging aid.
-c cache_directory If you specify -o output_file then no
cache directory is used (-c is ignored even if you supply it).
But if you don't specify -o output_file then mathTeX writes
the rendered image to a filename in its usual cache directory
path. This switch maintains the standard mathTeX filename
convention, but writes files into the specified cache directory
instead.
Test or Debugging Example:
./mathtex.cgi "\Large\frac1{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}" -o equation1 -m 9
creates file equation1.gif and saves all the intermediate
work in temp subdirectory 673d88e172f77f0aafabf6d72e5777ba/
which is the MD5 hash of the input expression.
After the copyright notice, screen output from the above command
should look something like
mathTeX> running image: ./mathtex.cgi
mathTeX> input expression: "\Large\frac1{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}"
mathTeX> working directory: 673d88e172f77f0aafabf6d72e5777ba/
mathTeX> output image file: equation1.gif
Production Example (same as above, but without -m 9):
./mathtex.cgi "\Large\frac1{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}" -o equation1
creates file equation1.gif containing an image of
the expression (all intermediate work files are removed).
After the copyright notice, screen output from the above command
should look something like
mathTeX> input expression: "\Large\frac1{\sqrt{x^2+y^2}}"
mathTeX> output image file: equation1.gif
Redirect stdout to /dev/null if you don't want to see it.
MathTeX's copyright is registered by me with the US Copyright Office, and I hereby license it to you under the terms and conditions of the GPL. There is no official support of any kind whatsoever, and you use mathTeX entirely at your own risk, with no guarantee of any kind, in particular with no warranty of merchantability.
By using mathTeX, you warrant that you have read, understood and agreed to these terms and conditions, and that you possess the legal right and ability to enter into this agreement and to use mathTeX in accordance with it.
Hopefully, the law and ethics regarding computer programs will evolve to make this kind of obnoxious banter unnecessary. In the meantime, please forgive me my paranoia.
To protect your own intellectual property, I recommend (both pdf) Copyright Basics from The Library of Congress, in particular Circular 61, Copyright Registration for Computer Programs. Very briefly, download Form TX and follow the included instructions. In principle, you automatically own the copyright to anything you write the moment it's on paper. In practice, if the matter comes under dispute, the courts look _very_ favorably on you for demonstrating your intent by registering the copyright. For example, courts will stop unauthorized use of unregistered material, but monetary damages are awarded _only_ if you register the copyright before infringement occurs.
I hope you find mathTeX useful. If so, a contribution to your country's TeX Users Group, or to the GNU project, is suggested, especially if you're a company that's currently profitable.
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email: john@forkosh.com |
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