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Re: math syntax and font customization (was: Multiple indices)


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  • From: David Allouche <address@hidden>
  • To: address@hidden
  • Subject: Re: math syntax and font customization (was: Multiple indices)
  • Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 10:13:24 +0200
On Thu, May 22, 2003 at 11:33:56PM +0200, Norbert Nemec wrote:
> On Donnerstag, 22. Mai 2003 20:24, Joris van der Hoeven wrote:
> > > Maybe I am wrong, that is OK with me, I am just wondering 'can it be
> > > done?' Can I have two letters in a row in math mode where both letters
> > > are italics and there is no extra space between them?
> >
> > Yes; it suffices to insert a dummy expression like an empty group.
> > But I am afraid that this is not what you should do here.
>
> Similar situation I had problems with: multiple indices like f^{a b c}
> (stucture constants) The spaces just look ugly within a formula. What I am
> doing at the moment is f^{a^{}b^{}c} - looks fine, but internally, it is,
> of
> course completely ugly. Any ideas for better solutions?

Probably texmacs needs some conterpart to MathML &InvisibleComma;.

But this contradicts a design goal of a WYSIWYG math editor which is:
avoid multiple invisible symbols with different semantics.

This issue is probably related to the larger (mathml related) issue of
math grammar. For example, in your document it would be useful to
identify logically those "structure constants" and have the typesetter
automatically render commas in superscripts as InvisbleComma.

Also it would be nice to be able to customize the math fonts on a
per-document basis. For example, some typesetter customization should
allow me to say: "use this glyph for this symbol". That would make
happy those who insist on italics derivatives.

That italics derivatives are right or wrong is of no concern here.
TeXmacs provides sensible defaults, but some people want it otherwise
(maybe someone with more hierarchic authority is insisting on it). So
it should be possible to do it otherwise.

This again is also related to the still larger issue of allowing
customization of syntax. For example, different people may use
different spacing conventions with punctuations. Currently one can get
the desired layout with customized keybinding which insert rigid and
elastic spaces before punctuation. But this is error prone, does
not rely and logical structure and not customizable by style.

Any thoughts on this issue?

--
-- ddaa

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