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Scientific Markup Languages Birds of a Feather Brief Overview of MathML

Scientific Markup Languages Birds of a Feather Brief Overview of MathML. Timothy W. Cole ( t-cole3@uiuc.edu ) Mathematics Librarian & Professor of Library Administration University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign NSDL All Projects Meeting Washington, D.C. 14 October 2003

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Scientific Markup Languages Birds of a Feather Brief Overview of MathML

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  1. Scientific Markup Languages Birds of a FeatherBrief Overview of MathML Timothy W. Cole (t-cole3@uiuc.edu)Mathematics Librarian & Professor of Library AdministrationUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign NSDL All Projects MeetingWashington, D.C. 14 October 2003 http://dli.grainger.uiuc.edu/Publications/TWCole/NSDL2003/ColeMathML.ppt

  2. MathML Antecedents • HTML Math (Dave Raggett, 1994; HTML 3.0/3.2) • Limited functionality • Community preference to keep HTML generic • SGML ISO 12083 (1994) Mathematics DTD • Exclusively presentational • Not as sophisticated as MathML • W3C Math Working Group Formed 1997 • MathML 1.0 released 1998 • MathML 2.0 released 2001 t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  3. MathML – Presentation Markup • 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> t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  4. MathML – Content (Semantic) Markup • 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> t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  5. 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> t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  6. Displaying MathML in Web Browsers • Mozilla / Netscape 7.x renders MathML natively • But not all elements supported, or supported well • Internet Explorer does not render MathML natively • But plug-ins available – TechExplorer, MathPlayer • Syntax for using MathML different between browsers • W3C provides XSLT that allows a page to viewable in both • Rendering quality also depends on fonts available • 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) t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  7. Using MathML • MathML • 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 • E.g., Design Science Java applet controls t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

  8. Current Status & Open Issues • MathML 2.0 is stable, available, & in increasing use, but likely not end • Proving useful for many publication & educational applications • Simpler to use & share than current alternatives on Web • Should be able to maintain backward compatibility • Limitations & Needs • Good enough to display & manipulate up to college-level math? • Still need additional glyphs, character entity definitions • May not yet be good enough for computer understanding, e.g.,- Comparing MathML expressions for degree of equivalence- Searching by MathML expressions t-cole3@uiuc.eduUniversity of Illinois at UC

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