Add capability to insert MathType objects

[bh]

NeoOffice is developing nicely, but one major impediment keeps me from really using it: I can't insert MathType objects, like can be done in WORD or APPLEWORKS. Much of my work involves math and having this capability would be a major asset for NeoOffice.
Hopefully, this could be an upcoming improvement.
Thanks,
bh

[Guest]

Have you tried dmaths (www.dmaths.org) - a plug-in that works in NeoOffice and OpenOffice

[bh]

I've had a look at dMath. It's interesting, but will take me time to get to know it well (don't have much of that). The real issue is that I can't import MathType from the word processor files I've written in Appleworks or Word. I have done a lot of work using MathType. To make the transition to the NeoOffice word processor would require a wholesale rewriting of my work.

[OPENSTEP]

I have thought about this before, but the biggest problem I've run into is that MathType is proprietary. Microsoft licensed it for use in Office, but I have no idea how the two integrate.

Don't get me wrong, MathType is wonderful. Heck, I used it all the time back with FullWrite and love it to death. Do you have any time to dig up details on how it integrates with other applications?

ed

[PavelS]

Partially on topic - math typesetting:
Would it be possible to integrate with TeX math typesetting via LinkBack?
It is open source ... and TeX is probably even more popular for typesetting math than MathType, and LaTeXiT is a very nice open source frontend / equation editor.

Integrating with LinkBack would of course bring much more in terms of graphics exchange, but that is another story.

[OPENSTEP]

Being an ex-physics geek, I have some friends who frequently use tools that embed TeX within PowerPoint and other documents. You can double-click the layout to edit the TeX and then the plugin will refresh the image layout within Office. I seem to recall someone talking aboiut something similar for OOo, but I really wasn't sure if that was in the context of "I wish I had it" or if it was someone else going "I found this".

For MathType, however, this is the big information:

http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/faqs.htm#compatible_apps

From that list, the object embedding appears to be available on Windows only. Mac OS X applications that do not have specific integration (e.g. Office v.X) can interact only on an image level. As we support copy/paste of images, you should be able to insert the image-based output of MathType.

Any integration beyond that really has to be done by Design Sciences as there seems to be no supported IAC mechanism beyond image files for MathType on Mac OS X.

If there's anyone who's really interested in this, feel free to try to contact Design Sciences and I can serve as a technical liason.

ed

[PaulTopping]

I feel I have to correct some of this mis-information in these posts.

First, MathType and its junior version are much more popular than TeX. We have informally polled scientific journals and MS Word submissions that use MathType or Equation Editor for their equations are over 80% with TeX being the majority of the remaining 20%.

Second, MathType integrates with Mac apps in several ways:

- Cut and paste as a PICT graphic.

- Via file import of GIF, PICT, or EPS.

- Using Microsofts OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) which works only with Microsoft apps and is the same way MathType integrates with many apps on Windows.

- Something called EGO (Edit Graphic Object). This is an extended version of the Apple Event of the same name defined long ago by Apple. The extension was initially created by our competitors, whose product was Expressionist, but has been implemented in a number of applications; MathType, AppleWorks, WordPerfect to name a few. We can send a copy of the EGO spec to any developer who is interested. It is definitely not equation, Design Science specific or proprietary in any way.

Paul Topping
Design Science, Inc.
www.dessci.com

[PaulTopping]

I should have added that EGO is also implemented in Nisus although I don't know about latest versions. They are also the creator of LinkBack which doesn't appear to be appropriate for integrating equations into documents. The LinkBack material specifically states this as a non-goal, presumably because EGO serves that purpose better. It is odd that the authors of LinkBack don't mention EGO if only to contrast the two techniques. Might be a case of not-invented-here syndrome.

Paul Topping
Design Science, Inc.
www.dessci.com

[pluby]

Paul,

Thank you for your very thorough descriptive of MathType in the Mac OS X environment,

[PaulTopping]

I would think that with the EGO protocol it could be hacked in easily but it would be Mac only.

[pluby]

[pluby]

Although implementing insertion and editing of Math Type OLE objects directly in NeoOffice is still not something we can handle, I have just made a big improvement to NeoOffice's underlying OpenOffice.org that makes many Math Type objects that are already embedded in a document render and print correctly.

You can try out my fix by installing the test latest patch near the end of bug 2661.

Note that this improvement only affects embedded objects that contain a PICT image. It is my understanding that Math Type objects created on Mac will have contain such an image but Math Type objects created on Windows may not.

Patrick

[PaulTopping]

MathType objects produced on Windows will not have PICT images but Windows Metafile graphics instead. The two are similar and code could be written to convert one to the other. In fact, I'm sure such code exists in various graphic conversion packages.

Paul Topping
Design Science, Inc.

[PaulTopping]

I should also add that the current version of MathType on Windows, version 6.0, also produces MathML embedded in the WMF as a comment. This will also be done in the next Mac version.

Paul

[pluby]