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This guide describes how to use the MathLive JavaScript library with your own web content.

To contribute to the MathLive project, see the {@tutorial CONTRIBUTOR_GUIDE}.

Getting Started

Use MathLive from a CDN, from NPM or from GitHub.

Using a CDN

Using a CDN is the simplest approach, as it does not require any configuration:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
    <div id="mathfield">f(x)</div>
    <script type="module">
        import MathLive from 'https://unpkg.com/mathlive/dist/mathlive.mjs';
        MathLive.makeMathField('mathfield');
    </script>
</html>

Note that the HTML quirks mode is not supported. This means that the host page must use the strict mode, indicated by a <!doctype html> directive at the top of the page.

Using NPM

$ npm install --save mathlive

Using GitHub

You can find MathLive at https://github.com/arnog/mathlive/

The dist/ directory contains all you need to use MathLive. MathLive has no dependency on other libraries (not even jQuery!) and you do not need to download or install anything else.

The dist/ directory contains the following:

  • mathlive.mjs The MathLive JavaScript library as a native JavaScript module. It is an optimized and minified JavaScript file which exports the {@linkcode module:MathLive MathLive} module which gives access to the MathLive API.
  • mathlive.js Same as mathlive.mjs but as a UMD (Universal Module Definition) file which can be imported using a module loader such as requirejs.
  • fonts/ A directory of fonts used by MathLive. Credit for those fonts goes to the KaTeX project.
  • *.d.ts TypeScript declaration files
  • mathlive-static.css an optional stlysheet which can be used if you need to render some markup created by Mathlive. Use this only if you do not include the Mathlive library in your page. Mathlive will automatically inject any needed CSS in the page. The fonts folder should be placed next to this stylesheet.

Rendering Math Automatically

Call {@linkcode module:MathLive#renderMathInDocument MathLive.renderMathInDocument()} at the end of your document, or in a onload handler to render math contained in the document.

<script type="module">
    import MathLive from 'dist/mathlive.mjs';
    MathLive.renderMathInDocument();
</script>

By default, any LaTeX code that is enclosed with the following delimiters will be rendered as math:

  • $$...$$
  • \[...\]
  • \(...\)
<h1>Taxicab Number</h1>
<p>The second taxicab number is $$1729 = 10^3 + 9^3 = 12^3 + 1^3$$</p>

You can also wrap more complex expressions in a <script> tag with a type of math/tex. This is the recommended approach for stand-alone formulas. One of the benefits of this approach is that the browser will not attempt to display the content of the <script> tag before it is typeset, avoiding an unsightly flash of LaTeX code on screen. If the type is "math/tex; mode=text" the inline text style will be used, otherwise if the type is "math/tex; mode=display", the display style will be used. If no mode is provided, the display style is used.

<h1>Quadratic roots</h1>
<script type="math/tex">
    ax^2+bx+c =
    a
    \left( x - \frac{-b + \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} \right)
    \left( x - \frac{-b - \sqrt {b^2-4ac}}{2a} \right)
</script>

Elements with the following tags will be ignored for conversion: noscript, style, textarea, pre, code, annotation and annotation-xml.

If you dynamically generate content, call {@linkcode module:MathLive#renderMathInElement MathLive.renderMathInElement(element)} to render your element after the page has been loaded. This is a recursive call that will be applied to element and all its children.

It is possible to call MathLive.renderMathInElement() and MathLive.renderMathInDocument on elements and documents that have already been rendered, in which case they will be rendered again. This is useful if something in the environment changes that could require the layout to be updated.

The {@linkcode module:mathlive#renderMathInElement | MathLive.renderMathInElement()} and {@linkcode module:mathlive#renderMathInDocument | MathLive.renderMathInDocument()} functions take an optional options object which can be used to customize their behavior:

  • skipTags: an array of tag names whose content will not be scanned for delimiters
  • processScriptType: <script> tags of the indicated type will be processed while others will be ignored. Default: "math/tex".
  • ignoreClass: a string used as a regular expression of class names of elements whose content will not be scanned for delimiters ('tex2jax_ignore' by default)
  • processClass: a string used as a regular expression of class names of elements whose content will be scanned for delimiters, even if their tag name or parent class name would have prevented them from doing so. ('tex2jax_process' by default)
  • TeX.processEnvironments: if false, math expression that start with \begin{ will not automatically be rendered. (true by default)
  • TeX.delimiters.inline and TeX.delimiters.display arrays of delimiters that will trigger a render of the content in 'textstyle' or 'displaystyle' style, respectively.
MathLive.renderMathInElement(document.getElementById('formulas'), {
    // Elements with a class of "instruction" or "source will be skipped
    ignoreClass: 'instruction|source',
    TeX: {
        delimiters: {
            // Allow math formulas surround by $...$ or \(...\)
            // to be rendered as textstyle content.
            inline: [
                ['$', '$'],
                ['\\(', '\\)'],
            ],
        },
    },
});

Using the Math Editor with JavaScript

To transform an existing HTML element into a mathfield, call {@linkcode module:mathlive#makeMathField | MathLive.makeMathField(element, options)}.

Think of this original element as a placeholder. Typically, a <div> would be appropriate. If the element contains some LaTeX text, it will be used as the initial value of the mathfield.

For example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-US">
    <body>
        <div id="mathfield" style="border: 1px solid #999;padding:5px;">
            f(x)=
        </div>
        <script type="module">
            import MathLive from 'dist/mathlive.mjs';
            const mathfield = MathLive.makeMathField(
                document.getElementById('mathfield')
            );
        </script>
    </body>
</html>

You can control the mathfield using the public methods of Mathfield. Here's a short list for some common operations:

  • $el() the DOM element associated with this mathfield
  • $text(format) return a textual representation of the content of the math field, format can be either "latex" (default), "spoken" or "mathML".
  • $insert(content, options) insert the specified content at the current insertion point. With options it is possible to specify the insertion mode, as well as what will be selected after the insertion. If the content contains a #? a placeholder will be indicated in its stead. The #0 sequence will be replaced by the item currently selected (or a placeholder if nothing is selected)
  • $setConfig() customize how the mathfield behaves, as well as provide notification handlers, for example when the selection changes, or when navigation exists the mathfield.
  • $select() select all the items in the mathfield
  • $clearSelection() deletes the selection
  • $perform() executes a command such as moving the insertion point. Typically invoked in response to a user action, such as pressing a keyboard shortcut or pushing a button. The command will be undoable. See the list of available commands in the Selectors section below.

Selectors

User initiated commands that control the mathfield can be dispatched using the [perform()]{@link Mathfield#perform} commands. Commands are identified by a string called the selector. Most commands take no parameters. When a command does have a parameter, an array made up of the selector and the commands arguments can be passed to [Mathfield.$perform()]{@link Mathfield#$perform}. For example:

mf.$perform(['insert', '(#0)']);

will insert an open and close parenthesis around the selection (the #0 sequence is replaced with the current selection).

See {@tutorial SELECTORS} for a complete list.

Editing

  • insert. This selector takes two arguments. The first one is required and is the content to be inserted, as a string. The second one is an optional set of key value pairs:
    • insertionMode: one of "replaceSelection", "replaceAll", "insertBefore" or "insertAfter".
    • selectionMode: one of "placeholder" (the selection will be the first available placeholder in the item that has been inserted), "after" (the selection will be an insertion point after the item that has been inserted), "before" (the selection will be an insertion point before the item that has been inserted) or "item" (the item that was inserted will be selected).
  • delete synonym for deleteNextChar
  • deleteNextChar, deletePreviousChar
  • deleteNextWord, deletePreviousWord
  • deleteToGroupStart, deleteToGroupEnd
  • deleteToMathFieldEnd
  • transpose

Edit Menu

  • undo
  • redo
  • cutToClipboard
  • copyToClipboard
  • pasteFromClipboard

User Interface

  • switchMode
  • complete exit command mode and insert result
  • nextSuggestion and previousSuggestion when the popover panel is selected, display the next/previous suggestion
  • toggleKeystrokeCaption show/hide the keystroke caption panel. This panel displays the keys being typed, including the shortcuts. Great for demos!
  • toggleVirtualKeyboard show/hide the virtual keyboard

Scrolling

  • scrollToStart
  • scrollToEnd
  • scrollIntoView

Navigating

  • moveToNextChar, moveToPreviousChar
  • moveToNextPlaceholder, moveToPreviousPlaceholder
  • moveToNextWord, moveToPreviousWord
  • moveToGroupStart, moveToGroupEnd
  • moveToMathFieldStart, moveToMathFieldEnd
  • moveUp, moveDown
  • moveToSuperscript, moveToSubscript
  • moveToOpposite
  • moveBeforeParent, moveAfterParent

Extending the Selection

  • selectGroup
  • selectAll
  • extendToNextChar, extendToPreviousChar
  • extendToNextWord, extendToPreviousWord
  • extendUp, extendDown
  • extendToNextBoundary, extendToPreviousBoundary
  • extendToGroupStart, extendToGroupEnd
  • extendToMathFieldStart, extendToMathFieldEnd

Arrays

  • addRowAfter, addRowBefore
  • addColumnAfter, addColumnBefore

Speech

  • speak This selector takes two arguments. The first argument is a string that determines what should be spoken. The valid values are:
    • all
    • left
    • right
    • selection
    • parent
    • group The second parameter determines whether what is being spoken should be highlighted. It is an object: {withHighlighting: boolean} (default is false). Note: highlighting currently only works when connected to Amazon's AWS speech synthesizer.

Virtual Keyboards

Entry of expressions can be accomplished using a standard keyboard. In addition to numerous keyboard shortcuts, the 'command mode', which can be entered by pressing the \ key, will allow the entry of less common symbols.

However, on mobile devices in particular, the virtual keyboar of the operating system tends to interfere with the text entry, and is in generally poorly suited to the specialized task of entering math. For this reason, MathLive supports custom virtual keyboards that are displayed on screen and simulate specialized keyboards. Those keyboards are necessary on mobile devices, but they can also be used on desktop systems.

By default on desktop devices the virtual keyboard will be displayed only when the user selects the keyboard button, displayed on the right of the formula. On mobile devices, the virtual keyboard will always be used, and the keyboard button is therefore not displayed.

Each keyboard can be made up of one or more keyboard layers which is a specific configuration of keys. For example, a regular hardware keyboard has a default layer, where the key produce lower case characters when you press them, along with a 'shift' layer that produces upper case characters, and a 'alt' or 'option' layer that provides additional symbols.

The virtual keyboards can be customized using the following keys in the config parameter of makeMathField.

  • 'manual': pressing the virtual keyboard toggle button will show or hide the virtual keyboard. If hidden, the virtual keyboard is not shown when the field is focused until the toggle button is pressed.
  • 'onfocus': the virtual keyboard will be displayed whenever the field is focused and hidden when the field loses focus. In that case, the virtual keyboard toggle button is not displayed.
  • 'off': the virtual keyboard toggle button is not displayed, and the virtual keyboard is never triggered.

If the setting is empty, it will default to 'onfocus' on touch-capable devices and to 'off' otherwise.

  • virtualKeyboards - If 'all', all the virtual keyboards will be made available. Otherwise, this should be a space separated list of the keyboards that should be made available. The supported keyboards are:
    • 'numeric'
    • 'roman'
    • 'greek'
    • 'functions'
    • 'command'

The keyboards will be displayed in the order indicated.

  • virtualKeyboardTheme - The visual theme of the virtual keyboard. If empty, the theme will switch automatically based on the device it's running on. The two supported themes are material and apple.