Using equations and formulæ

From NeoWiki

NeoOffice includes a formula or math module for creating mathematical equations and formulæ for stand-alone use or for insertion in other NeoOffice documents (NeoOffice can also read most equations in Microsoft Office documents, as well as import and export MathML). It may not be as nice as MathType, but it's built-in (and free!).

If your needs are more demanding, there are at least two add-on packages that work with NeoOffice.

Using LATEX equations

LATEX is a long-standing format for mathematical equations. It is still used in math and engineering fields, including some publishers of academic journals.

If you have LATEX equations you wish to include in a NeoOffice or OpenOffice.org document, you may use the OOoLatex macro, which you can find at ooolatex.sourceforge.net/. Warning: some users have reported cases where OOoLatex running in NeoOffice randomly fails to convert Latex to EMF properly so be sure to backup your documents frequently when using OOoLatex in NeoOffice.

At this time, we do not know how to extract LATEX equations from Calc or such thing. If you know of a way, please include it here.

LaTeXiT

Some people still prefer the look of equations typeset by LaTeX, to those created by all other methods. For them, the simplest way to create LaTeX equations and add them to NeoOffice documents may well be to use LaTeXiT, a small standalone app for typesetting LaTeX equations.

LaTeXiT is a freeware application. Templates allow you to generate LaTeX code for complex equations without needing to remember the syntax for every command. With the press of a button LaTeXiT typesets each equation when you finish coding it. The result is then ready for export in a number of formats, including pdf, eps, tiff, png, and jpeg. With LaTeXiT, you can typeset equations without manually creating a LaTeX document. LaTeXiT creates the preamble, etc. for you. Any equations you have from old documents can be copied and pasted into LaTeXiT, typeset by this small app and voilà, you are ready to go. Once they are in the form of an image, you can drop them into your NeoOffice document wherever you please.

LaTeXiT is available via apple.com/downloads or directly from the developer Pierre Chatelier.

Dmaths

Dmaths is a French project working on add-ons for OpenOffice.org and NeoOffice that allow the creation advanced mathematical and scientific formulæ and diagrams.