# LaTeX problem

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Typing f(x) = 0 within the LaTeX brackets produces $$f(x) = 0$$ whereas typing f(x) := 0 leads to $$f(x) := 0.$$ Is that something fixable, or one just has to be aware of it?

Edited by taeto
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math]f\left( x \right): = 0[/math]

I have  omitted the first [ bracket to show the code.

With the bracket  I get

$f\left( x \right): = 0$

$f\left( x \right): = 0$

But I find I have to increase the font size from 'default' to  say 24 to get something easily readable without a magnifying glass, especially for functions  that have fractions with powers.

Edited by studiot
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Okay, then I try here: $f(x) := 0$. And with parentheses: $$f(x) := 0$$, which should be the same. I see. I cannot trust the \ ( shorthand in this particular case. If I do \ ( f(x) = 0 \ ) and omit the blanks between the backslashes and the brackets, I get $$f(x) = 0,$$ which works fine. Curious.

Apparently the point is that I use \ ( and \ ) instead of math and /math. Is that deprecated?

Edited by taeto
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2 hours ago, taeto said:

Apparently the point is that I use \ ( and \ ) instead of math and /math. Is that deprecated?

It should render the same, at least on my browser. The config in the page source says math and backslash parenthesis can be used:

inlineMath: [ ["$math$","$\/math$"], ["\$$","\$$"], ["$latex$","$\/latex$"] ],

Does MathJax differ between browsers?

Edited by Ghideon
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When you type in $$f(x) := 0$$ does it render correctly with TeX?

Edited by taeto
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Testing a cut and paste of code above :

$$f(x) := 0$$

When I check the HTML the server sends me I get the following for @taeto's line in the previous post:

When you type in $$f(x) <span>:</span>= 0$$ does it render correctly with TeX?

And in my browser it looks like the screenshot above

My own line that i have in this edited post looks different, it is MathJax

<span class="MathJax" id="MathJax-Element-6-Frame" tabindex="0" style=""><nobr>
<span class="math" id="MathJax-Span-44" style="width: 4.903em; display: inline-block;">
<span style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 4.017em; height: 0px; font-size: 121%;">
<span style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1.243em, 1003.958em, 2.6em, -999.997em); top: -2.181em; left: 0em;">
<span class="mrow" id="MathJax-Span-45"><span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-46" style="font-family: MathJax_Math-italic;">f
<span style="display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; height: 1px; width: 0.062em;"></span>
</span>
<span class="mo" id="MathJax-Span-47" style="font-family: MathJax_Main;">(</span>
<span class="mi" id="MathJax-Span-48" style="font-family: MathJax_Math-italic;">x</span>
<span class="mo" id="MathJax-Span-49" style="font-family: MathJax_Main;">)</span><span class="mo" id="MathJax-Span-50" style="font-family: MathJax_Main; padding-left: 0.298em;">:<span style="font-family: MathJax_Main;">=</span>
</span><span class="mn" id="MathJax-Span-51" style="font-family: MathJax_Main; padding-left: 0.298em;">0</span>
</span>
<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; height: 2.187em;"></span>
</span>
</span>
<span style="display: inline-block; overflow: hidden; vertical-align: -0.354em; border-left-width: 0px; border-left-style: solid; width: 0px; height: 1.361em;"></span>
</span>
</nobr>
</span>

Test 2:

$$f(x) := 0$$

Does the above line look wrong?

edit: @taeto I have managed to reproduce your isse in my brower by copy pasting your string as rich text instead of plain text. If I paste as text it renders as math symbols

Edited by Ghideon
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OK, I try two things now.

I type $$x := 0$$ just like that.

Then I type $$x := 0$$, but I edit it to become like in the line above by adding the ":".

Clearly the newly edited expression with added ":" character works differently than when the : is just typed in normally.

Edited by taeto
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Test 1: This is a copy paste from post above

$$x := 0$$

This is a paste as plain text

$$x := 0$$

This is typed into the post

$$x := 0$$

This is a copy paste of the version after "Then I type" from above

$$x := 0$$

edit: There seems to be something weird with the ":" char because it is sent in html surrounded by <span>

<p>
Then I type $$&nbsp; x <span>:</span>= 0$$, but I edit it to become like in the line above by adding the ":".
</p>

Edited by Ghideon
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The : character seems to come in two versions, and one of them breaks the math display. I will have to be careful about it in the future.

Edited by taeto
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The three versions seems ok in my browser.

Try copying and pasting a failing version from earlier post, and make sure to paste as plain text, my guess is that it will work.

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Very well:

"Then I type $$x := 0$$, but I edit it to become like in the line above by adding the ":"."

and indeed it now renders correctly. But if I paste it once again, but I now delete the : and reinsert it I get

"Then I type $$x := 0$$, but I edit it to become like in the line above by adding the ":"."

When I copy/paste the previous line without any editing I get

"Then I type $$x := 0$$, but I edit it to become like in the line above by adding the ":"."

Interesting.

Edited by taeto
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When I paste there is a little box in my browser:

If I paste one of your malfunctioning texts as rich text they are not displayed as math but as $$x := 0$$ .

If I paste and click "paste and plain text instead" i get math $$x := 0$$

Edited by Ghideon
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6 minutes ago, Ghideon said:

When I paste there is a little box in my browser:

If I paste one of your malfunctioning texts as rich text they are not displayed as math but as $$x := 0$$ .

If I paste and click "paste and plain text instead" i get math $$x := 0$$

Anyway, when you are just typing in some math, you are not usually copy-pasting anyway, but you might likely be editing, and it is by editing from "=" to ":=" that this occurs.

Edited by taeto

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