MathML support in calibre editor/previewer

[wanderson]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Because they are starting with LaTeX documents and don't want to translate to MathML?

But it is easy with tools like this: https://temml.org

I'm trying to edit a math-heavy epub document. My goal is to have this document renderable on pure ebook readers (e.g. e-ink devices) as well as in computer-based EPUB renderers. Specifically, I do not wish to rely on having a Javascript engine available to the rendering agent. Therefore, I avoid Mathjax.

I'm working with equations initially written in either LaTeX or ASCIImath code, then rendered into MathML using an online tool like temml (above) or even ASCIImath (https://asciimath.org/). I know that not all HTML or ePub versions directly support MathML, but it is in the current standards. I suppose this is a problem for future me, but right now I use HTML5 / EPUB3 compliant renderers, such as Flow/Firefox on Windows, or a Readium-based app (e.g. R2 reader) on Android-based e-ink devices.

So what (you may be wondering) does this have to do with the Calibre Editor? Well, as far as I can tell, the Calibre Editor still uses Mathjax to render pure MathML. This is not too much of a problem, as it usually gets the general layout correct, but Mathjax version 3 only supports its own fonts, not a specified font which MathML supports natively.

So, if this is indeed the case, is there any way to get the Calibre Editor to render MathML "natively" and avoid piping it through Mathjax?

[kovidgoyal]

In theory it could work, since the editor uses chromium to render which supposedly support mathml and up to date calibre uses a new enough version of Qt WebEngine that it should work, so you can try it without the mathjax canary script and see.

[wanderson]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

In theory it could work, since the editor uses chromium to render which supposedly support mathml and up to date calibre uses a new enough version of Qt WebEngine that it should work, so you can try it without the mathjax canary script and see.

I don't use the mathjax script. In the Calibre source file /src/pyj/editor.pyj, the routine check_for_maths() returns True not only if it sees the so-called canary script name, but also returns True if it sees the MathML xmlns namespace declaration. However, I do need to use that same namespace declaration for native MathML to work. So I need to somehow prevent Mathjax from loading in this circumstance.

Any suggestions are welcome.

[kovidgoyal]

Then you are out of luck. You can edit the source code and run from source at best.