Is Mandatory LaTeX Implementation on PF Beneficial for Members?

  • Context: LaTeX 
  • Thread starter Thread starter Greg Bernhardt
  • Start date Start date
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the implementation of LaTeX on Physics Forums (PF) and its potential benefits for community members. Participants explore the functionality, usability, and challenges associated with using LaTeX for mathematical expressions and equations within forum posts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express excitement about the new LaTeX feature, highlighting its potential to enhance the forum's capabilities.
  • There are discussions about the ease of use of the new LaTeX code, with some members sharing their attempts and experiences.
  • Several participants report issues with the display of LaTeX images, noting that they may not show up in previews or topic reviews.
  • Concerns are raised about the server's performance and the generation of LaTeX images, with some participants experiencing delays and unexpected substitutions of images.
  • Some members question the reliability of the LaTeX implementation, citing instances where the displayed output does not match the input code.
  • Participants share tips and corrections for using LaTeX effectively, including specific commands and syntax adjustments.
  • There is a mention of caveats regarding the current limitations of the LaTeX feature, including issues with image generation and potential platform dependencies.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the excitement surrounding the LaTeX implementation, but multiple competing views remain regarding its reliability and usability. The discussion includes both positive feedback and concerns about technical issues, indicating that the topic is still unresolved.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include unresolved issues with image generation, potential platform-dependent behavior, and discrepancies between input code and displayed output. These factors contribute to ongoing uncertainty about the effectiveness of the LaTeX feature.

  • #121
BTW, if you guys would like to post some examples in the General Physics intro thread, go right ahead! If it's something really complex, a little discussion about how it works might even be in order. :smile:

- Warren
 
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  • #122
Greg, Warren,

I think that the intro thread which Warren posted should be made into a general announcement to all forums.
 
  • #123
Originally posted by enigma
Greg, Warren,

I think that the intro thread which Warren posted should be made into a general announcement to all forums.

Most likely -- I can't do that though.

(except I currently have access to the entire site's code... supermegalomentor, here I come! )

- Warren
 
  • #124


Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Sometimes the equation images take a while to load. Perhaps the TeX source could be squished into an ALT tag for the browser to display while it's loading the images (for those browsers that do that)?
The browser does not display alt tags for images that are loading, it displays them for images that are unloadable -- in other words, images that don't exist on the server.

Are you saying it takes a long time to view a page that has TeX equations on it, because the image files take time to download? Or do you mean it takes time for a newreply (or editpost) operation to complete for a post with images in it?

- Warren
 
  • #125
Wolfenstein parameterization:

<br /> V = \left( \begin{array}{ccc}<br /> 1-\frac{1}{2}\lambda^2 &amp; \lambda &amp; A\lambda^3(\rho-i\eta) \\<br /> -\lambda &amp; 1-\frac{1}{2}\lambda^2 &amp; A\lambda^2 \\<br /> A\lambda^3(1-\rho-i\eta) &amp; -A\lambda^2 &amp; 1<br /> \end{array} \right) + {\cal O}(\lambda^4)<br />
 
  • #126
ahrkron,

Post your examples in the general physics thread. :) Looks very pretty! I thought Wolfenstein was a video game.

- Warren
 
  • #127


Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Some browsers do display ALT tags for images that are loading, and then replace them with the actual images after they have loaded.
Okay -- well, the images already have an alt tag -- so if your browser is not displaying it, I don't know what to tell you.
Yes.
That's surprising. I chose the converters and formatting specifically to limit file sizes. In fact, the largest equation png file generated so far is just a hair over two kilobytes -- files of this size shouldn't be a problem on even an ancient phone modem. (Each image would take about half a second to download.)

As far as I can tell, the images haven't slowed my page loads noticeably at all.

What browser, OS, and internet access medium are you using?

- Warren
 
  • #128


Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Oh. Heh. My browser at home does that, but I never actually checked to see if this one does (I just started using it).
:wink:
Well, my page loads are always slow, even over broadband ... I don't think it's due to image size, but due to the fact that each HTTP request stalls briefly while connecting. I don't think there's anything you can do about that.
Are you using a proxy server? Do you just happen to have some very slow link in your traceroute to physicsforums.com?

- Warren
 
  • #129
Originally posted by chroot
Post your examples in the general physics thread. :) Looks very pretty! I thought Wolfenstein was a video game.

I knew the game too. I should have brought it up with him sometime.:smile:

Ok, General Physics, here it goes!
 
  • #130


Originally posted by Ambitwistor
No, I'm not using a proxy. My traceroute isn't bad, and I get 85 ms pings. It's probably the browser (Konqueror). I was using Mozilla, but I mangled some of my libraries beyond the current limits of my patience to fix them, so it doesn't work right for now.
Yeah, it's entirely possible your browser is opening new connections for each and every HTTP request -- and only opening one connection at a time. Ack!

- Warren
 
  • #131
Tests...

<br /> \newcommand{\colv}[2] {\left(\begin{array}{c} #1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right)}<br /> L_L &amp;=&amp; \left(<br /> {\colv{\nu_e}{e}}_L,<br /> {\colv{\nu_\mu}{\mu}}_L,<br /> {\colv{\nu_\tau}{\tau}}_L\,<br /> \right), \qquad Y_L = -\frac{1}{2}<br />

<br /> \newcommand{\colv}[2] {\left(\begin{array}{c} #1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right)}<br /> Q_L &amp;=&amp; \left(<br /> {\colv{u}{d}}_L,<br /> {\colv{c}{s}}_L,<br /> {\colv{t}{b}}_L\,<br /> \right), \qquad\quad\ Y_Q = \frac{1}{6}<br />
 
Last edited:
  • #132
OK, my attempt to make a chemical equation::

^{33}_{17}Cl^16~\xrightarrow{n,n)~^{31}_{15}P^{16}~+~^4_2He^2
 
  • #133
ahhh! why!?

breaking it down::


^{33}_{17}Cl^{16}

\xrightarrow{n,n}

^{31}_{15}P^{16}

^4_2He^2

^{33}_{17}Cl^{16} ~ \xrightarrow{n,n) ~ ^{31}_{15}P^{16} ~ + ~ ^4_2He^2
 
Last edited:
  • #134
ok, I am probably putting the spaces or the + in in the wrong way?
 
  • #135
^{33}_{17}Cl^{16}\xrightarrow{n,n)^{31}_{15}P^{16}+^4_2He^2


..wtf! :P ?

I don't see what's wrong with this.. it worked individually?

^{33}_{17}Cl^{16}~\xrightarrow{n,n}~^{31}_{15}P^{16}~+~^4_2He^2

ah, a wrong bracket..
 
Last edited:
  • #136
COOLLLL!
 
  • #137
what happened there?
 
  • #138
I also made a sticky in Chemistry, since it is very usefull to be used there too, maybe I should lock it an provide a link to the General Physics thread??
 
  • #139
Post the code with [ tex] and [ /tex], with spaces instead, so I can see it.

- Warren
 
  • #140
I can't even get your code to work properly in tex on my local machine...

I'm trying

\newcommand{\atom}[4]{{x}^{#1}_{#2} {#3}^{#4}}

\atom{33}{17}{Cl}{16}
\xrightarrow{n,n}
\atom{31}{15}{P}{16} + \atom{4}{2}{He}{2}

I'll have to look into what's making it fail.

- Warren
 
  • #141
I never consider people putting "smilie" code inside [ tex ] brackets -- I may need to change the precedence of the parsing code to prevent this. I'll let you know -- right now I don't have access to the site's code.

- Warren
 
  • #142
\frac{[A^-]}{[HA]}
 
  • #143
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Another attempt:

<br /> \newcommand{\atom}[4]{{}^{#1}_{#2}#3^{#4}}<br /> <br /> \atom{33}{17}{Cl}{16} \xrightarrow{n,n} \atom{31}{15}{P}{16} + \atom{4}{2}{He}{2}<br />
 
  • #144
Originally posted by Ambitwistor
Another attempt:

<br /> \newcommand{\atom}[ 4 ]{{}^{#1}_{#2}#3^{#4}}<br /> <br /> \atom{33}{17}{Cl}{16} \xrightarrow{n,n} \atom{31}{15}{P}{16} + \atom{4}{2}{He}{2}<br />
 
  • #145
Okay Ambi

It's the [ 4 ] that's causing problems, since it's being parsed by the smilie parser before being sent to latex. Here are two solutions:

1) Write [ 4 ] with spaces inside the tag, so the smilie parser won't touch it. LaTeX doesn't care about spaces.

2) Disable smilies in the post to stop the smilie parser from messing with it.

I'll update the code to put the smilie parser AFTER the latex parser when I get a chance.

- Warren
 
  • #146
Could the font be made slightly smaller? A longer formula will be cut off it seems.

How about automatic spaces? Do I always have to put in spacers, or will it be automatically done with some characters?

{one}+{one}={one}~+~{one}

ah, apparently it already does that :P
 
  • #147
<br /> \begin{array}{rcccl}<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp; \ &amp; \ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \mathrm{H}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{OH}<br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \mathrm{H}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{OH}<br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \mathrm{H}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{OH}<br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp; \ &amp; \ <br /> <br /> \end{array}<br />

Glycerin

<br /> \begin{array}{ccccccccc}<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp; \ &amp; \ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \mathrm{H}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; -&amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; -&amp;\mathrm{C}&amp; - &amp;\mathrm{H}<br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp; \ &amp; \ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{C}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> \\<br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}\ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ <br /> <br /> \end{array}<br />

Isobutane
 
  • #148
I was thinking about doing that.. a little too complicated for me though..
 
  • #149
<br /> \begin{array}{ccccccc}<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;/\!\!/\backslash &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{C}\ \mathrm{C}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{H}\\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mid\ \|&amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{C}\ \mathrm{C}&amp;-&amp;\mathrm{H}\\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\backslash\!\!\backslash / &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{C}&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mid&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> <br /> \ &amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\mathrm{H}&amp;\ &amp;\ &amp;\ \\<br /> \end{array}<br /> <br />

Benzene
\mathrm{C}_{\mathrm{6}}\mathrm{H}_{\mathrm{6}}

This could look better if I had actual diagonal lines to work with rather than slashs; something like\nwarrow and \swarrow without the arrow tips.
 
  • #150
More tests...

<br /> \begin{array}{cc}<br /> \begin{picture}(10,10)(0,0)<br /> \put(0,0){\line(1,1){10}}<br /> \put(2,0){\line(1,1){10}}<br /> \end{picture} &amp;<br /> \begin{picture}(10,10)(0,0)<br /> \put(0,10){\line(1,-1){10}}<br /> \end{picture} \\<br /> \begin{picture}(10,10)(0,0)<br /> \put(0,10){\line(1,-1){10}}<br /> \end{picture} &amp;<br /> \begin{picture}(10,10)(0,0)<br /> \put(0,0){\line(1,1){10}}<br /> \put(2,0){\line(1,1){10}}<br /> \end{picture}<br /> \end{array}<br />
 

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