Transcript ColeMathML - NSDL Project Archive

Scientific Markup Languages Birds of a Feather
Brief Overview of MathML
Timothy W. Cole ([email protected])
Mathematics Librarian &
Professor of Library Administration
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NSDL All Projects Meeting
Washington, D.C.
14 October 2003
http://dli.grainger.uiuc.edu/Publications/TWCole/NSDL2003/ColeMathML.ppt
MathML Antecedents
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HTML Math (Dave Raggett, 1994; HTML 3.0/3.2)
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Limited functionality
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Community preference to keep HTML generic
SGML ISO 12083 (1994) Mathematics DTD
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Exclusively presentational
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Not as sophisticated as MathML
W3C Math Working Group Formed 1997
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MathML 1.0 released 1998
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MathML 2.0 released 2001
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003
MathML – Presentation Markup
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Used to describe the layout structure of mathematical notation – focus
on visual constructs (about 30 elements). Includes:
 Token elements – primarily PCData content models
 Layout Schemata, for building expressions – element content models
<math xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML‘>
<mrow>
<msqrt> <mi>z</mi> </msqrt>
<mo>=</mo>
<msup> <mi>z</mi>
<mfrac><mn>1</mn><mn>2</mn></mfrac>
</msup>
</mrow>
</math>
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003
MathML – Content (Semantic) Markup
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Intended to support encoding of the underlying mathematical structure of
an expression, rather than any particular rendering for the expression –
about 150 elements
 Limited scope, designed to express “commonplace mathematical
constructs,” i.e., through about first 2 years of college
<math xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML‘>
<apply><eq/>
<apply><root/>
<degree><cn type='integer'>2</cn></degree><ci>z</ci></apply>
<apply><power/>
<ci>z</ci><cn type='rational'>1<sep/>2</cn></apply>
</apply>
</math>
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003
Combining Presentation & Content MathML
<math xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML’>
<semantics>
<mrow>
<msqrt> <mi>z</mi> </msqrt>
<mo>&#10869;</mo>
<msup> <mi>z</mi>
<mrow><mn>1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn>2</mn></mrow>
</msup>
</mrow>
<annotation-xml encoding='MathML-Content'>
<apply> <eq/>
<apply><root/><ci>z</ci></apply>
<apply><power/><ci>z</ci><cn type='rational'>1<sep/>2</cn></apply>
</apply>
</annotation-xml>
</semantics>
</math>
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003
Displaying MathML in Web Browsers
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Mozilla / Netscape 7.x renders MathML natively
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Internet Explorer does not render MathML natively
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But plug-ins available – TechExplorer, MathPlayer
Syntax for using MathML different between browsers
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But not all elements supported, or supported well
W3C provides XSLT that allows a page to viewable in both
Rendering quality also depends on fonts available
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AIP, ACS, AMS, IEEE, APS, Elsevier creating needed
mathematics glyphs that will be freely available to users
Thousands of code points have been added to Unicode
STIXFonts.org has created 3,700 glyphs; about 450 remain to
be created (rest were pre-existing)
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
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Using MathML
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MathML
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Is designed to facilitate use of mathematics in Web publishing
Serves as lowest common denominator exchange format for
computer algebra systems (Mathematica, Maple, …)
Has potential as an archiving standard
Verbose; not meant for direct human authoring or reading
Arguably not as sophisticated for presentation as TEX
Applications currently available for rendering, displaying,
graphing, and evaluating MathML in Web browser window
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E.g., Design Science Java applet controls
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003
Current Status & Open Issues
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MathML 2.0 is stable, available, & in increasing use, but likely not end
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Proving useful for many publication & educational applications
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Simpler to use & share than current alternatives on Web
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Should be able to maintain backward compatibility
Limitations & Needs
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Good enough to display & manipulate up to college-level math?
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Still need additional glyphs, character entity definitions
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May not yet be good enough for computer understanding, e.g.,
- Comparing MathML expressions for degree of equivalence
- Searching by MathML expressions
[email protected]
University of Illinois at UC
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NSDL – Scientific Markup Languages
14 October 2003