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Re: Which editor do you use for math articles

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg95426] Re: Which editor do you use for math articles
  • From: Murray Eisenberg <murray at math.umass.edu>
  • Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:31:52 -0500 (EST)
  • Organization: Mathematics & Statistics, Univ. of Mass./Amherst
  • References: <200901161109.GAA14132@smc.vnet.net> <200901171027.FAA14287@smc.vnet.net> <op.unw1jsv7tgfoz2@bobbys-imac.local>
  • Reply-to: murray at math.umass.edu

There are several distributions of TeX, which include the LaTeX macro 
package along with scads of other packages that modify the default 
behavior of, or add new functionality to, LaTeX.  Some of these 
distributions, except for Linux, include a "front end" editor that 
integrates into the input -> dvi (or pdf) viewer -> print chain.

For some recommendations, see the menu item "About Math 370" at:

   http://bcrc.bio.umass.edu/courses/fall2008/math/math370/

And you may be interested in the items under "LaTeX resources" at that site.

For a more complete listing of TeX/LaTeX distributions

   http://www.latex-project.org/ftp.html

and the links there.

There are both free and commercial distributions.

For an easy-to-install Windows distribution that includes a front end 
editor, I recommend ProTeXt. Personally I most often use the free MiKTeX 
distribution (which is part of ProTeXt) together with the low-cost front 
end editor WinEdt (which is more powerful than the editor that comes 
with ProTeXt but is more complicated to configure). Sometimes I use the 
nicely integrated, commercial PCTeX system (www.pctex.com) just because 
some of the LaTeX packages it includes make it much easier to use the 
non-default Lucida fonts or the MathTime Pro fonts.


DrMajorBob wrote:
> What application creates, edits, and maintains LaTex?
> 
> Sign me curious,
> Bobby
> 
> On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:27:37 -0600, Murray Eisenberg 
> <murray at math.umass.edu> wrote:
> 
>> If you want an interactive document, then there's little, if anything,
>> that can touch Mathematica.
>>
>> If you want a more-or-less static document, then the gold standard in
>> the mathematical community, and in a good part of the scientific
>> community, is LaTeX. You can include any Mathematica-produced graphic
>> there by exporting it as EPS.
>>
>> And LaTeX documents today typically wind up as PDF, with embedded
>> hyperlinks and even animation and some interactive effects.
>>
>> TL wrote:
>>> Although Mathematica 7 is a very powerful peace of software as far as
>>> the computational part goes it turns out to be quite limited and
>>> unstable when it comes to word editing and processing, despite the
>>> claims in the help that it is almost as powerful as WinWord.
>>> For example it crashed multiple times on me while I was trying to setup
>>> the right fonts and sizes, as  a result I lost all my work several
>>> times, it also messed up my fonts, sizes, styles, settings for the
>>> equations, its undo is totally useless and I couldn't figure out how to
>>> format a text and a graphic in two or more columns and display them side
>>> by side in a notebook as well as how to control what goes on what page
>>> and while printing to PDF often it wouldn't print all pages, but just
>>> the first 2-3.
>>>
>>> All that said I'm wondering what program to use to write my work in, and
>>> I'm asking for advice - is WinWord any better when it comes to handling
>>> equations?
>>> Any other choices?
>>>
>>> What is the best way to export Mathematica 7 equations and graphics?
>>>
>>>
>>
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Murray Eisenberg                     murray at math.umass.edu
Mathematics & Statistics Dept.
Lederle Graduate Research Tower      phone 413 549-1020 (H)
University of Massachusetts                413 545-2859 (W)
710 North Pleasant Street            fax   413 545-1801
Amherst, MA 01003-9305


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