Minse

[Ka-Ping Yee]

On Sat, 24 Mar 2001, Pearu Peterson wrote:
> 
> Dear Ka-Ping Yee,
> 
> I am writing a GiNaC (www.ginac.de) interface to Python and by now I have
> wrapped most of the GiNaC library. Now I looking for
> (preferably GPL,LGPL) tools that can render mathematical formulae to be
> displayed on text screens. I just learned about the Minse and it seems to
> me that it does exactly what is needed in PyGiNaC. 

Hi!  This sounds like a pretty neat project.  It would be cool if my
MINSE work could help you in this endeavour.

> I am writing to you to ask if you are interested in sharing Minse code in
> this project? Only the part that renders a formula to a text is needed.

I have put up a preliminary source distribution on my home page
(http://www.lfw.org/ping/).  It is not documented but i hope you will
be able to find your way around it.  Download both .tar.gz archives;
each one unpacks separately.  The "glyphd" archive is the renderer;
run "make" there and try 

    ./textren text.cfg lat1 5

It will accept typesetting expressions such as

    @bar(a + b, at rad(3))

The "minse" archive is the stylesheet engine.  It will accept MINSE
expressions and turn them into typesetting expressions for the
rendering machinery.  Try running

    ./ftext

in that directory and typing in MINSE expressions, e.g.

    skuld[1029]% ./ftext
    =: a + b
     ->
    a + b


    =: a/b
     ->
     a
    ---
     b


    =: 'lim((f(x+h)-f(x))/h, h .approach 0)
     ->
            f(x + h) - f(x)
      lim  -----------------
    h -> 0         h



-- ?!ng

        I never dreamt that i would get to be
        The creature that i always meant to be
        But i thought, in spite of dreams,
        You'd be sitting somewhere here with me.