MathML rendering for PDF

[BB_[A]]

Greetings,

We are working with a client to migrate their PDF plugin (based on the demo plugin from 1.5.2) to DITA-OT 3.6. They have some pretty complex equations, so we’re not sure that Antenna House MathML support is sufficient. Any recommendations for rendering complex MathML equations in PDF transforms?

Thanks,
Bill Burns
bb@simplea.com
512-646-2100
--
We are [A]
simplea.com

[julien_lacour]

Hello Bill,

If you use Antenna House for creating your PDF outputs you should ask their support team which MathML library they are using.

If you want to use Oxygen PDF Chemistry, within the DITA Map PDF - based on HTML5 & CSS transformation, MathML equations will be rendered using JEuclid library.

We plan to change this library to MathJax in a future release, if this is the library you want for equation rendering, I can add your vote into our feature request.

Regards,
Julien

[chrispitude]

Julien - you already have our vote for MathJax.

[jhanna]

You can add my vote for MathJax too!

Jonathan

[julien_lacour]

Hello Jonathan,

I added your vote to the feature request

Julien

[catterall]

I'd go for mathjax as well

[julien_lacour]

Hello,

I also added your vote to the feature request.

Julien

[chrispitude]

If PDF Chemistry does end up developing some piece of MathJax MathML-to-SVG machinery, it would nice to have the option to enable it in HTML5 and WebHelp transformations as well. This could help ensure consistent equation rendering for cases where HTML-like content is "baked" into a product's standalone installation image.

[julien_lacour]

Hi Chris,

In fact, WebHelp Responsive output already process MathML equations using MathJax library. But depending on the conclusions of the issue related to MathJax support in Chemistry, a modification in WebHelp Responsive output (or even in all HTML5 outputs) can be considered.

I will indicate here the conclusion of the analysis and if outputs other than PDFs are impacted.

Regards,
Julien

[chrispitude]

Thanks Julien!

To clarify my thought, it would be interesting to have a WebHelp parameter like webhelp.mathml.to.svg to convert MathML to SVG images at transformation time, instead of relying on MathJax to do dynamic rendering at viewing time. It could be useful in some situations (increasing page load performance, embedding custom fonts, supporting simple/limited HTML renderers in embedded environments, etc.).

[julien_lacour]

Hi Chris,

I added a feature request to study the possibility to convert MathML into SVG using MathJax library in WebHelp Responsive output.
I will post again here where the feature will be available.

Regards,
Julien

[chrispitude]

Hi Julien,

Is there any news on rendering MathML to SVG image files at publishing time for HTML-based transformations?

This is a requirement for the new project I am working on. We are using the html5 transformation in Oxygen Publishing Engine to publish DITA content for use by a large language model (LLM) AI chatbot. If you have something under development and you would like testing, I happily volunteer!

I filed a request for this feature here:

Convert MathML/LaTeX equations to SVG files during HTML transformations