Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!noao!arizona!gerhard
From: gerhard@cs.arizona.edu (Gerhard Mehldau)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Applications that create mathematical formulae
Summary: Expressionist?  So-so.
Message-ID: <24592@megaron.cs.arizona.edu>
Date: 25 Aug 90 17:22:27 GMT
References: <3218@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson
Lines: 28

In article <3218@dftsrv.gsfc.nasa.gov>, jim@jagmac2.gsfc.nasa.gov (Jim Jagielski) writes:
> Does anyone know of any applications out there whose sole purpose is to
> create mathematical formulae for inclusion to the word processor of your
> choice. I recall this one program called MathWriter that allowed for
> very EASY generation of formulae, but I can no longer find it.

I've been using Expressionist for about a year now.  It was recommended as
the best of its kind (there are a few others out there, but I don't recall
their names).

While it certainly is much more capable and easier to use than Word's Formula
feature, I still don't consider it a good product.  It crashes frequently
on me, and, in the process, seems to corrupt its own files.  I've resorted
to just using it in Scratchpad mode, creating one formula at a time, and
copying that into Word.  If I later need to modify or tweak it, I have to
copy it back from Word to Expressionist.

Also, screen update is _very_ slow (on a Mac II), and its habit of always
centering the current insertion point on the screen is, at least, very
annoying.

- Gerhard

-- 
-> Gerhard Mehldau
   Dept. of Computer Science	internet: gerhard@cs.arizona.edu
   University of Arizona	uucp:     {cmcl2,noao,uunet}!arizona!gerhard
   Tucson, AZ 85721, U.S.A.	voice:    +1 (602) 621-4632