Typesetting mathematical equations for print/digital outputs is currently a serious pain point for many publishers. Two common workflow solutions are to either: 1. Use a specialized typesetting tool with rich mathematical rendering support (e.g., LaTeX) 2. Convert all equations to images for use in traditional desktop publishing tools (e.g., InDesign) However, there are key downsides to both these approaches. For publishers that don’t focus exclusively on math and science titles, spinning up a LaTeX-based production program may require too much overhead in time/resources to justify the investment. And converting equations to images is not ideal either, as it decreases ease of maintainability and poses challenges for digital outputs in terms of both scalability for different form factors and accessibility for visually impaired readers. As a tech publisher that produces many titles a year with mathematical content, O’Reilly Media was unsatisfied with the compromises entailed by the above workflow choices, and developed an alternative solution: a mathematics API called “STIX” that slots into its XML/ HTML-based single-source workflow.

1. Automated Workflows for
Mathematical Equation
Processing and Rendering
EDUPUB 2013
October 29, 2013
Sanders Kleinfeld
O’Reilly Media, Inc.

2. Or:
b ! 4ac
!b ±
2a
2
≠

3. How should I
produce books with
complex
mathematical
content?

4. Publishers often
go one of two
routes for source
files…

5. Typeset with
AT
L
X!
E
section{Bayes's Theorem}
At this point we have everything we need to derive Bayes's
Theorem.
We'll start with the observation that conjunction is commutative;
that is
%
[ p{A AND B} = p{B AND A} ]
%
for any events $A$ and $B$.
index{Bayes's Theorem derivation}
index{conjunction}
Next, we write the probability of a conjunction:
%
[ p{A AND B} = p{A}~p{B|A} ]
%
(Source From Think Bayes [O’Reilly Media]:
http://code.google.com/p/thinkstats/source/browse/trunk/thinkbayes/
book.tex#634)

6. OR…

7. Just Embed Images!
(From Head First Algebra [O’Reilly Media])

8. Downsides of LATEX approach:
•
•
What if you don’t want to build a TEX
toolchain?
LATEX is great for PDF export, but
what about output to EPUB/Mobi?
Downsides of image approach:
•
•
Maintenance is a pain!
How to scale/optimize for different
output formats?

9. O’Reilly’s Solution:
Embed LATEX
in Standard ASC or DB Source
Instead, we start with a small congestion window and double it
for every roundtrip--i.e., exponential growth. As a result, the
time required to reach a specific throughput target is a function
(<<SS_TIME>>) of both the roundtrip time between the client and
server and the initial congestion window size.
[[SS_TIME]]
[latexmath]
.Time to reach the cwnd size of size N
++++
begin{aligned}
mathrm{Time} = mathrm{RTT} times leftlceil log_2 left
( frac{mathrm{N}}{mathrm{initial cwnd}} right) rightrceil
end{aligned}
++++
(From High Performance Browser Networking [O’Reilly Media])

10. BUT…

11. How do I render
AT X for
embedded L E
all my different
(e)book outputs?

12. What about MathML?
(http://www.w3.org/Math/)

13. MathML Rendered to PDF*
* With AntennaHouse Formatter

14. MathML in EPUB (iBooks)

15. MathML in EPUB (NOOK)

16. MathML in Mobi (Kindle Fire)

17. OK, what about SVG?
(http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/)

18. SVG Rendered to PDF*
* With AntennaHouse Formatter

19. SVG in EPUB (iBooks)

20. SVG in Mobi (Kindle Paperwhite)

21. SVG in Mobi (Kindle “classic”)

22. Gah, what’s left?
JPEG or PNG?

23. Well, yes.
Only standard
bitmap image
formats work
reliably
everywhere

24. BUT…

25. Why do we need a
one-size-fits-all
solution?

26. Can’t we optimize
equation output
separately for
each format?

27. “Frustrated man at a desk” (by LaurMG; http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frustrated_man_at_a_desk_(cropped).jpg)

28. Don’t Worry!

29. Make an API!

30. O’Reilly Media’s Math Conversion API
(a.k.a. STIX)
EPUB Equation
LATEX Source
MathML Source
STIX
Mobi Equation
PDF Equation
Web Equation

31. STIX: Under the Hood
LATE X
tralics
MathML
(http://www-sop.inria.fr/marelle/tralics/)
MathML
SVGMath (http://sourceforge.net/projects/svgmath/)
SVG
rsvg
PNG
Source Format
Conversion Tool
Intermediate Format
Output Format
(https://developer.gnome.org/rsvg/stable/)

32. Equation Output Formats
Per Ebook Format
EBOOK Format
Equation Output Format
EPUB
PNG
Mobi
PNG
PDF
MathML (rendered by AntennaHouse Formatter*)
HTML (for Web)
LATEX or MathML (with MathJax** for rendering)
* http://www.antennahouse.com/
** http://www.mathjax.org/

33. Future Improvements
•
MathJax-based engine for STIX
(à la svgtex)
https://github.com/agrbin/svgtex
•
Improved Accessibility!
(alt text for PNG via ChromeVox)
http://kefletcher.blogspot.com/2013/07/next-stepsfrom-accessibility-sprint.html

34. Contact Me!
Email: sanders@oreilly.com
Twitter: @sandersk