🚀 go-pugleaf

"Horace Smith" <horace.smith@sercelus.com> wrote in message news:<1de55779.51@WebX.la2eafNXanI>...
> Jim, 
> 
> Having a math degree, I found the FM equation thing not all that bad. You do have to know pretty much what you want before you start. 
> 
> What other package would you consider?

The problem with FM math are two-fold. First, the formatting -- while
adequate for a term paper -- is not adequate for publication. Nothing
aligns properly, and nothing is "sized" particularly well. There are
over-rides and a complicated method for overriding some but not all
occurences, but these are not really adequate. Secondly, almost none
of the now-standard keyboard shortcuts work in the equation editor,
like "shift-arrow" to select the character to the right. This means
that the equation editor is not only like a separate program, but
almost a separate operating system, and it is very hostile especially
to occasional users.

Imagine a truly integrated equation editor for a moment. 

Tabs in equations align with tabs in the paragraph style. Now you can
make a series of numbered equations that align on the equals sign!

Equations adopt the text style of the paragraph they're in. Now you
can copy a math element into a heading or footnote and it will be
formatted properly!

For an alternate -- which can't help with the two dream integration
features I just mentioned, but at least has a logical user interface
-- I recommend MathType. It allows you to copy equations in and out of
FrameMaker for duplication and editing, and gives considerably better
control over formatting.