mailing-list for TeXmacs Users

[Joris van der Hoeven <address@hidden>]

On 1 Mar 2002, Jay Belanger wrote:

> Daniel Duparc <address@hidden> writes:
> 
> > A curious behaviour:
> > when typing under TeXmacs
> > \int_a^b f(x) dx
> > (TeX notations)
> > d is in math font then, when typing x,
> > dx is changed in rm font.
> > 
> > However, typing d "space" x gives the desired
> > result (math font).
> > 
> > Is this a bug or a feature?
> 
> Both, perhaps.
> Putting the "d" part of the "dx" in integral in roman (or sometimes
> bold, I think) is often considered good typographical style.  (A quick
> glance at several of my textbooks indicate this is often ignored.
> Shame on them.)  But what about the "x" part?  Should it match the
> style of the variable in the rest of the integral?

TeXmacs consistently invites users to enter formulas which have
a mathematical meaning. Therefore:

1. The multiplication should be entered using "*".
   Example: "x * y" or "a * ( b + c )"

2. A function or symbol operating on a value or something else
   should be entered using brackets or "space".
   Examples: "f ( x )" or "d space x"

3. All successions of roman letters of length > 1
   are considered as operators.
   Example: "s i n space x" or "L i space z"

So this behaviour certainly is not a bug:
it is a feature which is terribly missing in TeX/LaTeX.

-Joris-


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Joris van der Hoeven <address@hidden>
http://www.texmacs.org: GNU TeXmacs scientific text editor
http://www.math.u-psud.fr/~vdhoeven: personal homepage
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