Quickie for equations etc.

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-02 11:09

HP EzMath v1.1 is a <img src=/S/free.gif border=0 alt=free width=30 height=15> utility for for embedding mathematical expressions in Web pages. It can also be used as a quick & dirty way of producing graphics (like the attached) for the lounge or other "venues". The code used to generate the attached is the plain text:

a^m over a^n = either a^{m-n} when m > n
or 1 when m = n or 1 over a^{n-m} when m < n

I produced it as a graphic just by using a screen capture. This might be an alternative to "heavyweights" like the equation editor in Office.

Alan

**Rudi** · 2004-09-02 12:03

Wow...I can see a new computer language developing here. VB{4EzMath}A.
Consists of a new Object Library with a host of new Object Properties and methods. Will take months to study and programmers will have to undergo new MCSD developer exams.
What a effort! Just <img src=/S/bagged.gif border=0 alt=bagged width=22 height=22> me! <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>

**bigaldoc** · 2004-09-02 20:59

Hey, thanks for that tip, Alan. I'll have to go take a look and see if it'll to what I want. This probably belongs in Scuttlebut but it's kinda funny so I'll go ahead and put it here. At the nursing home where I am a volunteer, one of the fellas presented a puzzle the other day to several of the residents and none could come up with the answer. I went home later and wrote down what I think is the simple algebraic answer to his puzzle and came up with this Lotus 1-2-3 equivalent which I would like to print out in traditional formula form. I don't have equation editing installed in either Office or WordPerfect.

(((((((( X-1 ) /2 ) -1 ) -1 ) /2 ) -1 ) -1 ) /2 ) -1 = 0

Here's his "oral" of the puzzle. You're about to spend some time in each of THREE clubs. Each one requires that you pay $1 to enter, $1 to leave and that while you're there, you must spend half the money you have. When you pay your last $1 to exit the third club, you will have zero dollars remaining. How much money do you have when you enter the first club?

Solving for X yields: <span style="background-color: #FFFF00; color: #FFFF00; font-weight: bold">21</span hide>

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-02 21:35

Hi Al

Glad you like it. I dumped your equation (as written) straight into EZMath and it produced this.

Alan

BTW, I think your math is correct also. <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>

**bigaldoc** · 2004-09-02 22:07

Absolutely outstanding. I haven't even got round to trying it yet, but YES that's exactly what I was trying to print out for him, so on future occasions where he "does" the puzzle for others, he can (jokingly) give them a copy of the equation to test their algebra skills.

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-02 22:31

The other "nice" thing is that it's just a .ZIP that unpacks; no installation as such, so no registry fiddling, easily removed, floppy-portable etc. Mind you, I've run up against a couple of glitches already, but I think it's output is great for most common usage.

Alan

**Phil Rabichow** · 2004-09-03 00:54

And to think, I did it the hard way. I counted 0,1,2,3,4,8,9,10,20,21 going from what he had when he left the 3rd place to what he had when he entered the first. <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>

**JohnGray** · 2004-09-03 05:11

Al

All I can say is that "we don't have that sort of club over here..."!

John

**diegol** · 2004-09-04 01:55

Here again, thanks for this info. I just download mathematical apps as soon as I get to know about 'em.
I don't know how complex the code may be, but there's also the more sophisticated MiKTeX which I haven't tried yet (I want the full version which is 200+ MB). Maybe the lite ver. (24 MB) can handle stuff like the mentioned in this thread with ease.

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-04 03:37

Hi Diegol

Personally, I like this one because it's so simple and lightweight. The language is very "friendly" too - for example "limit as x tends to infinity of function f(x)" produces exactly what you'd expect. I also like its potential for web pages, but I suspect that will be a while coming. It's lacking in a clipboard copy facility, so I use a screen capture utility to "snap" the result.

For anything else, I use the Equation Editor in Office, which I find meets (nearly) all of my demands. Because I work heavily with math/ scientific/ engineering equations, I can justify using MathType, which can work effectively standalone, or integrate seemlessly into Office as an enhanced Equation Editor. The advantage in using Equation Editor is that you get a scalable vector graphic, which you can copy/paste to the <img src=/S/free.gif border=0 alt=free width=30 height=15>bie I mentioned in <post#=315536>post 315536</post#> and you have it captured in a .WMF file.

Alan

**macropod** · 2004-09-07 08:34

Hi Alan,

You could, of course, use an EQ field in Word which, if it's installed, doesn't even need another 'lightweight' app to do the job. Consider:
{EQ B(F(B(B(F(B(B(F(B(X-1),2))-1)-1,2))-1)-1,2))-1 = 0}
which returns a scalable text result that looks pretty much the same as the graphic you posted and remains editable in Word (unlike even the Equation Editor graphic). Can't save direct to html, though, but even that can be fixed with a copy followed by a trip to 'Paint' and a paste.

Cheers

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-07 11:17

Hi Macropod

I'd be disappointed if you couldn't do it with a Date field <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15>. But it looks like the available EQ switches are rather limited, compared with Equation Editor, or this tool. Or is this a misimpression?

Alan

**macropod** · 2004-09-08 10:25

Hi Alan,

A date field would be too easy <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15> Log & trig fields are more fun (see <post#=365442>post 365442</post#>) <img src=/S/laugh.gif border=0 alt=laugh width=15 height=15>

I've hardly ever used EQ fields, the Equation Editor even less and I've never used new tool you found, so I can't comment on their relative strengths at producing different sorts of mathematic/scientific/statistic equations. Even so, the one I posted only took a couple of minutes - and most of that was spent figuring out the syntax.

Cheers

**AlanMiller** · 2004-09-09 02:16

Quite a piece of work Macropod. It would be too hard to argue with such a venerable tome. <img src=/S/grin.gif border=0 alt=grin width=15 height=15> How many more of these gems are you hiding? I've seen dates, now math calculations. What else do you have to offer?

Alan

**Kiwi Keith** · 2004-09-09 21:52

<hr>The code used to generate the attached is the plain text:

a^m over a^n = either a^{m-n} when m > n
or 1 when m = n or 1 over a^{n-m} when m < n<hr>

Reminds me of the syntax of the "old" equation editor in WordPerfect.
I see on the download page there is also a "Win95/NT" implementation.

Thread: Quickie for equations etc.

Thread Tools