Arch Linux

adrian.ratnapala

Member

Registered: 2009-07-27

Posts: 8

Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

Ok, I know forums are for problems, but my problem is that Gecko is too good!  I don't know how to what it does in my own programs.

You see, both Ephiphany and Firefox handle MathML wonderfully well, (go to http://www.mozilla.org/projects/mathml/ … smml.xhtml and see for yourself).

And this happens (on Arch and XUbuntu)  without me consiously installing STIX fonts or Mathematica fonts.  I did install TeXLive, but never told Gecko about it. 

So my questions is how does Gecko do it?  What fonts is it actually using, and how does it ensure they are installed on the system?  I pacmanned my way through the Arch dependency tree and could not find either browser pulling in any fonts. 

Most importantly, is it a good idea to replicate this trick in my own programs, and if so how?

Last edited by adrian.ratnapala (2009-08-02 11:51:05)

thisoldman

Member

From: Pittsburgh

Registered: 2009-04-25

Posts: 1,172

Re: Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

For a start, you might try the links from these:

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Gecko:_FAQs_: … and_MathML
and
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/mathml/

adrian.ratnapala

Member

Registered: 2009-07-27

Posts: 8

Re: Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

Hmm, I'm afraid the world is to good for that.

These links, like everything else I found on the web, are for the Bad Old Days when we had to install fonts ourselves.  Now things Just Work (at least with Gecko, Webkit seems behind).  The trouble is I can't see how it's done.  I've been playing with fontconfig all day and have only found a handful of scalable fonts on my system, and not indication of which ones MathML uses.

On a similar line, I can't find anything that I can identify as PDF "once were guaranteed" fonts (or substitutes thereof), but epdfview still works nicely.

Last edited by adrian.ratnapala (2009-08-02 22:09:33)

thisoldman

Member

From: Pittsburgh

Registered: 2009-04-25

Posts: 1,172

Re: Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

On the test pages at mozilla.org, I get the proper spacing for the fonts, but the superscript and subscript don't always change size to what would be pleasing to my eye. That may be due to my setting for minimum font size. Symbols such as the integral symbol, braces and matrix notation do, wonderfully, display correctly.  My monitor is a 17-inch LCD by HP at 1280 x 1024, the recommended resolution. My eyes are no longer at the manufacturer's original settings.

I did find this:

"However, there is a major new visible feature, too. With the HTML5 parser, you can use SVG and MathML in text/html pages. This means that you can:

    *  Use SVG graphics inline without having to change your HTML content to work with XML parsing and without having to develop an alternative page for IE.
    *  Use properly laid out math without having to change your HTML content to work with XML parsing.
    *  Use SVG effects without external files."

on http://www.w3.org/html/planet/.

adrian.ratnapala

Member

Registered: 2009-07-27

Posts: 8

Re: Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

Hmm, you're right about the torture tests, at least on my work machine the superscripts and even some integrals are a bit rubbish, but still legible.  As for HTML5, it's all exciting, but it depends on what Microsoft does.  MathML works great even  now, but not with IE.   As for my original puzzle, my font research is ongoing, but I will be hacking a font browser called fontmanager.py.  I think I can get it to reveal what fonts support what unicodes.

thisoldman

Member

From: Pittsburgh

Registered: 2009-04-25

Posts: 1,172

Re: Magic Geckos know MathML fonts

For my uses, Fontforge has been more valuable than fontmanager.py.

I just discovered the Firefox add-on, Firemath for an in-browser MathML editor.  I use PortableApps.com Firefox at work (we're supposed to use IE6 in our Windows-only company).  That Firefox add-on will help me a lot, I think.

Last edited by thisoldman (2009-08-03 18:47:21)