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From: scavo@cie.uoregon.edu (Tom Scavo)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Info on MathWriter 2.0
Message-ID: <1991May23.165133.29738@ariel.unm.edu>
Date: 23 May 91 16:51:33 GMT
References: <0E010025.dhbxgc@tidbits.UUCP>
Reply-To: scavo@cie.uoregon.edu (Tom Scavo)
Organization: University of Oregon Campus Information Exchange
Lines: 146

In article <0E010025.dhbxgc@tidbits.UUCP> ace@tidbits.UUCP writes:
>
>Some of the features that you might like include 
>
>- text-based mathematical equations that are fully editable (so you 
>don't have to exit to another program to edit them) (mega-cool)

An integrated equation editor is one of MathWriter's strong
points, but equations are not particularly easy to edit.

>- automatic numbering of equations, tables, figures, etc.

Super!  Can't imagine how I managed without this for so long.

>- automatic revision control for editing purposes (this is snazzy!)

Not tested, but looks good.

>- a library for storing repeated bits of text, equations, or pictures

Excellent, much better than Word's glossary.  Library entries
are inserted into the text as you type.  Great!

>- excellent table-making abilities

MW doesn't do tables like Word.  Can't press return within
a cell.  Can't collapse columns and/or rows.  Can't modify
the column width or apply paragraph formats to cell entries.
Not really tables at all, but an extension of the matrix
concept (which is very nice, btw).

>- a science/math/engineering supplemental dictionary

Very nice, but only one user dictionary can be open at a
time.

>- user styles

Abominable.  Can not apply ruler or paragraph formatting
to a style entry.  Yes, these are character styles which
Word users have asked for repeatedly, but MW's stylesheet
just doesn't measure up to Word's powerful, hierarchically
organized styles.  Sorry.

>- spelling checker

A bit clumsy to use, but probably as good as Word's.

>- ability to print to the ImageWriter, LaserWriters, or any higher 
>resolution PostScript device without file modification
>- on-screen line numbering

Not tested, but I can see where this would come in handy.

>- hidden memos within text

Excellent feature.

>- on-screen editing of multiple columns

Limited to four.  Note that MathWriter has nothing like
Word's concept of a _section_ in its organizational
hierarchy.

>- ability to view pages in different scales

MathWriter's page preview (called Overview) is not as
nice as Word's---less functional and less useful.  (I
still think FrameMaker, with its zoom feature, is best.)

>- Thesaurus and Hyphenation

Thesaurus is the same one bundled with Word; no user control
of the hyphenation utility.

>- online help

Not context sensitive.

>- text and graphics sidebars

In contrast to Word's Position command, these are easy to
use but somewhat limited in page layout capability.

>- Find/Replace for mathematical expressions

But it's impossible to paste into the text boxes of Find/
Replace, which I find very frustrating.  On the other hand,
the Find/Replace has its own menu bar (!) and is loaded
with options.

>- automatic line spacing for two-dimensional equations

Nice feature.

>- ability to handle PostScript, bitmapped, and object graphics

I've tried some SuperPaint images with no problem.  No hot links,
however.

>- ability to align on user selected characters, such as equal sign

Great!  But it's better to use MW tables as an "eqnarray"
environment.  This eliminates the need for tabbing.

>- ability to import RTF documents (so you can just throw out Word)

Excellent feature...even translates complex Word formulas.
Not perfect, but eases the transition from Word to MW
tremendously.  An export RTF filter is in the works (oops!
Was I supposed to say that!  Oh well...)

Other nice features include default files, a font table, and
a menu of diacritical marks.

>As far as the details go, there is an "educational version" which is 
>somewhat stripped down but will run better on slower machines (i.e., 
>less than an LC) with less than 2 MB of RAM, which is the requirement 
>for the "professional version." The educational version is $99 and 
>the professional version is $395. You can get a free demo disk - call 
>408/373-0728 and ask the Brooks/Cole representative. Alternately, 
>write to
>
>Brooks/Cole Publishing Company
>Dept. JK001 A
>511 Forest Lodge Road
>Pacific Grove, CA  93950  USA

The Educational Version is *very* much stripped down, and its
cost can not be applied to the Professional Version.  Site
licensing options are available (but they're expensive).

Professional Version definitely requires '030 Mac; oversized
screen is recommended.  The more memory, the better, since
MW documents are memory based.

>I don't believe there's an email address for them at all.

Yes, there is.  It's d2248@applelink.apple.com

I can comment on MathWriter's handling of mathematical
text and formulas if there's interest.  (I'm one of the
beta testers and have used it extensively.)

Tom Scavo
scavo@cie.uoregon.edu