🚀 go-pugleaf

shanega@athena.mit.edu (Shane G. Artis) writes:
: In article <1992Aug20.195523.4994@hamblin.math.byu.edu> bill@mathnx.math.byu.edu (Bill Smith) writes:
: >A few questions for those of you who are using equation builder:
: 
: I'd like to keep it simple: How (precisely) does EquationBuilder
: compare to TeX and LaTeX?  In which areas does EquationBuilder match
: up or fall short in creating mathematical expressions (not counting
: EquationBuilder's lack of tables).  As I would use EquationBuilder to
: replace TeX and LaTeX, this is an important point for me.

As a confirmed TeX-o-phile, and also an EqB beta tester and now owner
I'd like to say your "postulate" is probably a poor starting point. I.e.
if you already are familiar with TeX and/or LaTeX then you shoudl look
upon EqB as a *complement* to what you already have, rather than a replacement.
As has been detailed by several people (myself included) in the past, 
EqB is possibly the best WYSWIG equation editor on any platform (it's
certainly better than the Mac ones, which I've used extensively in my
previous life as a Mac owner).  At the same time, EqB is not, as of
yet, capable of generating typesetter quality documents.  Display math
is fantastic, but trying to do in line stuff (as has been noted 
elsewhere) is problematic.  I use EqB a lot for making overheads, 
since it's much easier to make something in Diagram! or Illustrator
and drop a little EPS math into it than to have to make awhole TeX 
document that you crib the figure into.  Also, as someone who's TeX 
fluent I really appreciate the "two-way" TeX compatibility of EqB.  
That is, you can take an equation and copy it into TeX (HINT:  in 
your preferences set it so that the EqB header is not included) and
you can also give TeX commands to EqB --- BTW, part of the reason I
appreciate these features so much is that I argued for both of them with
the EqB developers --- *on the fly*.  That is, if you hit a \ EqB 
automatically goes into TeX input mode and accepts commands.  I find myself
sliding 'tween using the mouse and typing at the keyboard quite transparently.

Look, you've got an EDU mail address, so the cost is (probably) only
$50 for you.  There's a demo on Sonata.  Check  it out and I bet you'll
find it's a steal at the price.

Tom