Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!kelvin
From: kelvin@cs.utexas.edu (Kelvin Thompson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Request for info on math equation formatters
Message-ID: <12777@cs.utexas.edu>
Date: 23 Sep 90 00:13:13 GMT
References: <1990Sep14.160536.1376@eddie.mit.edu> <1583.26f64d34@waikato.ac.nz> <ianh.653844970@morgana>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 62

In article <ianh.653844970@morgana>, ianh@bhpmrl.oz.au (Ian Hoyle) writes:
| phil@waikato.ac.nz writes:
| 
| >In article <1990Sep14.160536.1376@eddie.mit.edu>, rabbit@eddie.mit.edu (Warren J. Madden) writes:
| >> Could anybody who has experience with such
| >> programs as Expressionist, MacEqn, etc. fill me in on the
| >> strengths/weaknesses of each?
| 
| > Both of these work best with WriteNow, which recognises embedded code
| > in a PICT object to align an expression vertically within a line.
| > There is an FKEY which I've yet to try out which is supposed to make
| > Word do the same
| 
| I had thought that Word 4.00b can now use the embedded info.
| Anyone care to clarify ??

Word 4.00B does not recognize the baseline information in Expressionist
PICT resources.  The same should hold for MathType PICTs, since they
supposedly use the same system.

The FKEY mentioned above works as advertised, but doesn't solve all the
problems of pasting equations.  The FKEY makes the inserted PICT a
subscript -- it lowers the graphic enough so that the equation's
baseline is aligned with the regular text baseline.

However, stupid Word doesn't adjust the line spacing accordingly.
Word assumes that the equation takes up as much space above the
baseline as it would if it wasn't subscripted.  This means the
equation is aligned correctly, but there is a ridiculous amount
of white space above the line.  If you have the equation isolated in
its own paragraph, then you can adjust the line leading to remove
some of the excess white space (but that's a pain, and the white 
space isn't as much of a problem on isolated paragraphs anyway).
If the equation is embedded in a long paragraph, then the paragraph
ends up looking chopped in two, and I know of no fix.

Another drawback of using the FKEY with Word is that Word can only
subscript by up to 72 points, so the FKEY won't work on largish 
equations.

Here's my compromise (I'm writing my dissertation with Word and
Expressionist presently):

  [1]  I isolate larger expressions into their own paragraphs, as
       do most technincal books.  I *don't* subscript these
       equations -- they just sit on the baseline.  They don't
       line up with equation numbers and other punctuation, but
       it doesn't look too bad.

  [2]  I use the FKEY to paste small equations in with other text.
       I only do this on equations that don't take up much more space
       than the height of a line.

  [3]  When reasonable, I use Word's embedded equation features.
       They're okay for very simple expressions.

Sorry I don't remember the name of the FKEY.  It does as good a job
as it can.

-- 
-- Kelvin Thompson, Lone Rider of the Apocalypse
   kelvin@cs.utexas.edu  {...,uunet}!cs.utexas.edu!kelvin