Dear LyX devels and users, an issue has come up in our current efforts to produce a reliable LibreOffice exporter/converter from LyX that concerns how to export mathematical expressions. We need some user input and common use cases to make sensible design choices. Feel free to skip the technical details below and jump directly to the questions at the end, if you want.
======================PROBLEM====================== Here is the problem: We can export a math expression to a LibreOffice/ODt file as MathML (there are still issues, but assume for the moment that the export will be perfect). However, LIbreOffice's supports only a limited subset of the MathML standard, and does not even use such MathML internally (it uses a format called StarMath that resembles very much the troff/eqn format but is much less expressive, for those who are interested in this kind of things). Moreover, LibreOffice uses the "Semantic" version of MathML, whereas the exporter uses the "Presentation" version, which further complicates issues. We are thus faced with a design choice: 1. Leave the exporter as it is and be left with imperfect and sometimes incomplete but editable math expressions when LaTeX is used at its fullest 2. Instruct the exporter to produces images of math expressions instead of MathML, and leave the job to create a perfect-looking math expression in LibreOffice/Word to the publisher/typesetter. Notice that in either case we could store the original LaTeX expression in the XML file for further processing (for instance for a return conversion to LyX). The choice between (1) and (2), in my opinion, depends on the most common use cases. A. If the "consumer" of an exported word file is a publisher and the mathematical expressions are complicated, then option (2) seems more reasonable. LibreOffice intrinsic limitations makes it very difficult if not impossible to produce a satisfactory, editable formula from a complex LaTeX expression. B. On the other hand, if the math expressions are relatively simple, then aiming for editable formulas may be an achievable goal C. Finally, if the "consumer" is a colleague with whom you collaborate, (2) seems to make more sense: editing will be carried out on the LyX/LaTeX side. ======================= QUESTIONS==================== So the questions are: 1. Are you a potential user of a Word/LibreOffice export converters? 2. If so, do you use routinely use mathematical expressions in your documents? 3. Why do you/would you need to export to LibreOffice/Word format? (to send the documents to publishers, mentors, advisors, colleagues, and so on) ================================================== Feedback welcome!! Cheers, Stefano -- __________________________________________________ Stefano Franchi Associate Research Professor Department of Hispanic Studies Ph: +1 (979) 845-2125 Texas A&M University Fax: +1 (979) 845-6421 College Station, Texas, USA stef...@tamu.edu http://stefano.cleinias.org
