On Tue, Sep 16, 2008 at 02:13:49PM +0200, G. Milde wrote:
> On 9.09.08, G. Milde wrote:
> > Dear LyX users,
> ...
> but I was told that this is rather somethign for lyx-devel. So, please send
> me a copy of eventual replies, as I am just a user.
>
> With LyX 1.6, using unicode characters other than Basic Latin is possible
> also in math mode. This is a vast improvement over the silent failure in
> LyX 1.5, my thanks go out to the relevant developer(s)!
>
>
> However, there remain some inconsistencies, as the character in question
> is either replaced by a math-equivalent (if defined in the
> "unicodesymbols" file) or by "text in math" with the text-equivalent.
>
>
> * while A is typeset italic, Ã (and other accented characters) as well as
> Î (and other Greek characters) are typeset upright (and in the text font).
>
> The question is
>
> * should the "input->math" conversion only be done for characters
> from "Basic Latin" and "Mathematical Alphanumeric Symbols", or
I think so, as this is what TeX does.
> * should "latin-1 supplement" characters for which a math equivalent exists
> use this instead of a text-version (e.g. Ã be replaced with \ddot{A} in
> math), and/or
>
> * should Greek characters from the "Greek and Coptic" unicode block use
> the math-equivalent?
No, I don't think so.
Note that in math mode TeX (and even XeTeX) doesn't support anything
outside the ASCII set, so thinking that Ä should be typeset in italic
is pretty arbitrary. The rationale is that when you use a non-ascii
char in math mode, you really want to use it as a math symbol, so LyX
takes care that no error occurs without changing the shape of the symbol,
as it would be arbitrary to do so. Even if it may seem natural to turn
non-ascii latin chars into italic, this feature is not thought for using
Ä as a substitute for \ddot{A}. If you want an italic Ä, you can use
\textit{Ä} in math mode, which is a perfectly legal latex construct.
--
Enrico
