Author: paul.gray

Changing the font size.

In LibreOffice Math, we can change the font size of the formulas. To change the font size of the formulas, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Font Size’. This will open the ‘Font Sizes’ dialog box. In this dialog box, select the appropriate ‘Base size’ in order to change the font size of the formulas. After selecting the required value, click on ‘OK’. This will change the font size of the formulas.
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Changing the font.

To change the font of the formulas in Math, click on ‘Format’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Fonts’. This will open the ‘Fonts’ dialog box. In this dialog box, under ‘Formula Fonts’, we can change the fonts for the various parts of a formula.
To make more custom changes, click on ‘Modify’. This will display a list of the names of the various parts of a formula. Click on the one for which the font needs to be changed.

This will open another dialog box. In this dialog box, under ‘Font’, select the required font for the selected part of the formula. After selecting the font, click on ‘OK’. This will return the control to the previous dialog.

After making all the changes, click on ‘OK’. The fonts will get changed accordingly.

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Adding limits to a sum or an integral.

In Math, the ‘sum’ and ‘int’ commands are used for sum and limits respectively. These commands can take the parameters ‘from’ and ‘to’. These are used for lower and upper limits respectively. These parameters can be used singly or together. The usage of these commands and parameters has been shown in the below given illustrations.

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Writing a derivative

Writing derivatives in Math is very simple. We simply need to use a fraction.

In other words, we need to use the ‘over’ command. Combine this with either the letter d (for a total derivative) or the ‘partial’ command (for a partial derivative) to achieve the effect of a derivative.

The examples have been shown below.

Markup characters as regular characters.

In LibreOffice Math, the characters that are used for controlling the markup codes cannot be entered directly as normal characters. These characters are: ‘%’, ‘{’, ‘}’, ‘&’, ‘|’, ‘_’, ‘^’ and ‘”’. So, for example, we cannot write ‘2% = 0.02’ or ‘1″ = 2.56cm’. Two methods can be used to solve this problem:

• Using double quotes to mark the character as text, for example ‘2″%”= 0.02’. Obviously this is not possible for the double-quote character itself.
• Adding the character to the catalog. This will be discussed in detail in the later chapters.

Text in a formula.

To include text in a formula, enclose the text in straight double-quotes. All characters except double quotes are permissible in text. Unfortunately the special characters dialog is not available in Math. If necessary, we can write the text in a text document and copy it into the equation editor via the clipboard. In this way, special characters can also be inserted.

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In the basic installation, Math outputs variables in italics. If we enter a function, Math usually recognizes it and outputs it normally. If Math fails to recognize a function, we can inform Math about it by entering the markup code ‘func’ before the function. By using this code, the text following the code will be recognized as a function.
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Some functions recognized by Math need to be followed by numbers or variables. If these are missing, Math puts an inverted red question mark ‘¿’ in their place, which we can only remove by correcting the formula: enter a variable or a number, or a pair of empty braces ‘{ }’ as a placeholder.

An example has been shown below. The factorial function ‘fact’, when written without a variable throws an error.

But when the variable is provided, the error gets removed by itself.

Equations over more than one line.

Suppose we need to make an equation covering more than one line, the simplest and the most conventional method we can think of is to simply press the ‘Enter’ key from the keyboard. However, if we press the ‘Enter’ key, although the markup goes to a new line, the resulting equation does not. We need to use the ‘newline’ command explicitly. This has been illustrated below.

If it is required to continue the calculation on a new line without writing a complete new equation, this is not directly possible, because Math expects a term on the left hand side of an equals sign. We can substitute empty braces ‘{ }’ on the left hand side to achieve this. This has been shown in the below given illustration.

Here the inverted ‘?’ appears because there is no tern on the left hand side of ‘=’.

Here the equation shifts to the next line as empty braces have been used.

Also, spacing between elements in formulas is not set by space characters in the code. We need to use special markup to add spaces: ` (grave) for a small space, ~ for a large space. Another solution would be to add space characters between quotes, to be considered as text.
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Using Brackets in Formulas

The most difficult part in using LibreOffice Math is when writing complicated formulas. This is because LibreOffice Math knows nothing about the order of operations. We need to use brackets in order to state the order of operations explicitly. Consider the example which has been shown in the below given illustration.
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Now consider the one shown below:

These two examples make it perfectly clear as to how the order of operations needs to be set using brackets. The use of brackets changes the formula completely.

The brackets belong solely to the layout of the markup code and are not printed. If you wish to print the brackets in the formula, you need to use the commands, ‘lbrace’ and ‘rbrace’. The usage has been shown in the below given illustration.

LibreOffice Math also provides scalable brackets. This means that the brackets grow in size to match the size of the contents. We can use the commands left (and right) to make scalable brackets.

Before using scalable brackets, let us see what happens when properly scaled brackets are not used. For this we need to write a matrix. A matrix has been written in the below given illustration. Rows are separated by two ‘#’s and entries within each row are separated by one ‘#’.

As can be seen, the brackets are not properly scaled. Now when we use the left and right commands, properly scaled brackets will get printed.

One important point which needs to be always considered is that Math expects that for every opening bracket there will be a closing one. If you forget a bracket, Math places an inverted question mark by the corresponding bracket. The inverted question mark disappears when all the brackets are matched. Sometimes forgetting a bracket causes the whole structure of the formula to fall apart.

However, an unpaired bracket is sometimes necessary. In such cases, we have two options. With non-scalable brackets, we need to use a preceding backslash ‘\’ to indicate that the following character should not be regarded as a bracket but as a literal character. So the half-open interval ‘[a;b[’ is represented by ‘\[ a;b \[’.

Scalable brackets can also be unpaired. The same half-open interval is represented by ‘left[ a;b right[’.
For scalable brackets, you can also use the command ‘none’ to replace a non-existent paired bracket.

Greek characters (α, β, γ, θ, etc.) are common in mathematical formulas. These characters are not available in the Elements window or the right-click context menu in Math. Fortunately, the markup code for Greek characters is very simple. We just need to type a ‘%’ sign followed by the name of the character, in English.
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• To write a lowercase character, type the name of the character in lowercase.
• To write an uppercase character, type the name of the character in uppercase.
• To write in italic, add an ‘i’ between ‘%’ sign and the name of the character.

So as an example, if we need to write ‘β’, simply write ‘%beta’ in the editor window.

Another way to enter Greek characters is by using the Symbols catalog window. To open the catalog window, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and from the resulting menu, click on ‘Catalog’. In this window, under ‘Symbol set’, select ‘Greek’ and then double-click on the required Greek letter from the list. The markup name of the character gets displayed below the list window. After selecting the required Greek character from this list, click on ‘Insert’. This will insert the selected Greek symbol.

Changing a formula after it has been written

Changing a formula is very simple in LibreOffice Math. Simply double-click on the portion of the formula that needs to be changed. This will highlight the markup code for that portion in the editor window. Now replace this markup code with the code for the required symbols and the formula will get changed accordingly.
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Another way of entering formulas into Math is by using the context menu. This menu can be accessed by right-clicking inside the editor window. The steps to be followed are almost similar to what were followed for using the elements window.

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To insert ‘7 x 8’, right-click inside the editor window and this will display the context menu. This menu displays the different symbol categories. Select ‘Unary/Binary Operators’ and this will give a new menu which displays all the symbols under this category. From this list, select ‘a times b’. This will display the markup, ‘<?> times <?>’ in the editor window.

Here, replace ‘<?>’ with the required numbers. We will insert the numbers ‘7’ and ‘8’. After replacing the values, the required formula, ‘7 x 8’ will get inserted into Math.

We can insert other formulas using the same steps by choosing the appropriate category and symbols.

Markup

Using markup codes is the fastest way of entering a formula in Math. In this method, we need to simply write the markup code of the formula in the editor window and the formula will get inserted in Math. So to insert ‘7 x 8’, we need to simply write ‘7 times 8’ in the editor window.

Though this method is the fastest, but it also requires that the user knows the markup codes for all the formulas which is not always possible. So the best practice is to use a combination of all the three methods which have been discussed here.
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The Elements Window is the simplest method of entering a formula in Math. The Elements window is divided into two main parts. The top part shows the symbol categories. These can be used to change the list of symbols. The bottom part shows the symbols available in the current category.

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So the different symbols can be inserted by choosing the right category and then selecting the appropriate symbol from that category. Here we want to insert ‘7 x 8’. This will fall under the ‘Unary/Binary Operators’ category. Select this category and then from the bottom part of the Elements Window, select ‘a x b’. This will display the markup, ‘ times ’ in the editor window.

Here, replace ‘’ with the required numbers. We will insert the numbers ‘7’ and ‘8’. After replacing the values, the required formula, ‘7 x 8’ will get inserted into Math.

We can insert other formulas using the same steps by choosing the appropriate category and symbols.

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Entering a Formula in Math

In Math, we can enter formulas to create equations which can be mathematical or chemical in nature. There are three ways in which a formula can be entered in Math.
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• Selecting a symbol from the ‘Elements’ window.
• Right-clicking on the equation editor and selecting the symbol from the context menu.
• Typing markup in the equation editor.

The equation editor uses a markup language to represent formulas. For example, ‘%beta’ creates the Greek character beta (β). This markup has been designed to read similar to English whenever possible. This makes learning and using the Math Markup pretty simple.

The context menu and the Elements window insert the markup corresponding to a symbol. This provides a convenient way to learn the LibreOffice Math markup.

To understand the different methods of entering a formula in Math, we will take an example, say ‘7 x 8’. So here we will try and insert ‘7 x 8’ using the three different methods. This will help us in understanding the three methods in a simple manner.

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Set basic options/preferences in the application: user name, default folder to open, save documents.

To set the basic options in the Math application, click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar. From the resulting drop-down, click on ‘Options’. This will open the ‘Options’ dialog box.
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In the ‘Options’ dialog box, under ‘LibreOffice’, in ‘User Data’ we have options to enter user info. The user name can be set here.

In the same dialog box, under ‘LibreOffice’, we have ‘Paths’. Here, we can set the different default paths for the folders to open and save files.

Use available Help functions.

All the components of LibreOffice offer extensive help system to the users. Math is no different. To get the complete help system, click on ‘Help’ button from the main menu bar. Click on ‘LibreOffice Help’ from the drop down which gets displayed and this will open the full help system.

Additionally, you can click on ‘Tools’ from the main menu bar and then click on ‘Options’ from the resulting drop down menu. Select the ‘LibreOffice > General’ tab from the dialog which gets opened and you can then choose to check or uncheck the available help options like ‘Tips’ and ‘Extended Tips’.

If ‘Tips’ are enabled you can place the mouse pointer over any icon to see a small tooltip box, which provides a small explanation for the functioning of that icon.

If a more detailed explanation is desired, then click on ‘What’s This?’ from the ‘Help’ dropdown on the main menu bar. Holding the pointer above any icon after this will provide a detailed explanation.

Use magnification/zoom tools.

The view magnification can simply be changed by clicking on the + or – sign in the zoom slider on the status bar.

In order to make more custom changes, click on the percentage figure on the status bar. This opens the ‘Zoom & View Layout’ dialog. The appropriate changes can be made by selecting the desired values from this dialog.

Display, hide built-in toolbars. Restore, minimize the ribbon.

Whether to display or hide the different toolbars in Math can be controlled by using the ‘View’ button on the main menu bar. Click on ‘View’ and then click on ‘Toolbars’ from the drop down. You get a list of different toolbars which can be checked or unchecked in order to display or hide them respectively.
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Math is LibreOffice’s component for writing mathematical and chemical equations. It is most commonly used as an equation editor for text documents, but it can also be used with other types of documents or as a stand-alone tool. When used inside Writer, the equation is treated as an object inside the text document.
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Open, close Math.

To start Math, click on the ‘Start’ button on your Windows machine. Click on ‘All Programs’ and then go to the ‘LibreOffice’ folder in the list of all programs which gets displayed. Click on the ‘LibreOffice’ folder and then click on ‘LibreOffice Math’. This will start the Math application.

When Math is started, the main window opens which has been shown below.

The top-most portion shown in the above illustration is the ‘Main Menu Bar’. This is the most important menu bar in the Math application and most of the operations in Math can be performed from here. In this tutorial, we are going to use the main menu bar for performing a variety of different operations.

The upper area in this window is the ‘Preview Window’, where the equation will appear during and after input. The lower area is the ‘Equation Editor’, where the markup code for the equation is entered. The floating ‘Elements’ window has also been shown which is used for entering the formulas into Math equations.

To close Math, simply click on the ‘white cross icon with red background’ on the upper right corner of the Math main window screen. This will close Math.

Switch between open instances.

You can open multiple instances at a time in Math. In such a case, to switch between these instances, just click on the ‘Math’ icon on the task bar of your computer. This icon will always get displayed whenever you are running Math on your machine.

When this icon is clicked, then the names of all the active instances get displayed as has been shown above. Simply click on the name of the instance which you want to open and that instance will get opened. You can switch between different instances using this method.

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