[SciPy-user] typeset math

[Robert Kern]

Alan G Isaac wrote:

> Robert Kern said:
> 
>>No, the point of the project is to be able to typeset math 
>>formulae using TeX font metrics and TeX algorithms without 
>>needing a TeX installation.
> 
> OK, the meaning of "typeset" is a bit obscure to me here.
> I will assume this means: can I go from docstrings including 
> math formulae to PDF without using TeX.

It means going from a string 'x + \sqrt y = z' to a Python object that can tell
renderers (other Python objects conforming to an abstract interface) where to
place glyphs on a canvas. No specific formats. No chains of external processes.
No parsing the output of some other processor. No distributional nightmares.

> Assume the math formulae are in LaTeX format,
> designated clearly.

Extracting equations from the rest of document and then communicating the
rendered formula back to be placed in the rest of the processed output is out of
scope for this project.

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
 that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
 an underlying truth."
  -- Umberto Eco