Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!unixhub!shelby!siegman@sierra
From: siegman@sierra.STANFORD.EDU (siegman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Summary of info received on math equation formatters
Message-ID: <20@sierra.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 6 Oct 90 22:40:18 GMT
References: <1990Oct3.142236.14143@maths.tcd.ie> <10@sierra.STANFORD.EDU> <8898@jarthur.Claremont.EDU>
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 20

I'm probably now well identified as a strong TeX supporter in these
discussions, but I'm asking the following question genuinely for
information, NOT to hassle anyone: (I haven't used any of the other
equation formatters for some time.)

1) Are _global_ changes possible in equations generated by the WYSIWYG
equation formatters like Expression, MathType, etc?

That is, if you have a document that contains a bunch of equations
prepared using one of these programs, with Greek betas sprinkled
through the equations, can you give one global command and
change all the betas to gammas, say?

2) What macro capabilities are there?  That is, if you have some
complicated expression which appears multiple times, for example as a
denominator in multiple equations, can you replace it by a macro or
named variable, and just type the variable name in?  (And if you want
to change some detail inside the expression, can
you just change the macro definition and have the change appear in all
the places where the macro is/was used?)