asciimath
v0.0.1
Published
Convert ASCII math notation (and some LaTeX) to Presentation MathML in the browser.
Maintainers
adiusReadme
asciimath
A modern ESM/TypeScript build of the classic ASCIIMathML library. Converts simple, calculator-style math expressions on a web page into Presentation MathML (and, optionally, into LaTeX-rendered images or MathJax input).
Install
npm install asciimathEntry points
| Import | Source | Description |
| ----------------------- | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| asciimath | src/index.ts | Main ASCIIMathML → MathML translator. |
| asciimath/latex | src/latex.ts | LaTeXMathML translator (subset of LaTeX → MathML). |
| asciimath/tex-img | src/tex-img.ts | ASCIIMath → TeX, suitable for image-based rendering pipelines. |
| asciimath/mathjax | src/mathjax.ts | MathJax InputJax.AsciiMath plugin registration. |
Every entry point publishes types alongside the JavaScript, so TypeScript projects get autocomplete and signatures out of the box.
Usage
ASCIIMathML (auto-translate on load)
Importing the main entry point in a browser automatically translates the
<body> of the document on DOMContentLoaded, mirroring the behavior of
the original <script src="ASCIIMathML.js"> drop-in:
import "asciimath";Programmatic API
import {
parseMath,
translate,
AMprocessNode,
newcommand,
newsymbol,
} from "asciimath";
// Convert a string to a MathML <math> Node.
const mathNode = parseMath("sum_(i=1)^n i = n(n+1)/2");
document.body.appendChild(mathNode);
// Re-run translation on a specific subtree.
AMprocessNode(document.getElementById("content"), false);
// Define a custom macro.
newcommand("RR", "\\mathbb{R}");
// Or register a brand-new symbol with its own MathML mapping.
newsymbol({ input: "lub", tag: "mo", output: "⊔", ttype: 0 });See asciimath.org/#syntax for the input language reference.
LaTeXMathML
import { LatexToMathML, LMprocessNode } from "asciimath/latex";
// Convert a LaTeX string to a MathML string.
const html = LatexToMathML("\\frac{a}{b}");
// Translate every LaTeX expression inside a subtree in place.
LMprocessNode(document.getElementById("content"), false);ASCIIMath → TeX (image rendering)
asciimath/tex-img produces TeX source from ASCIIMath, intended for
pipelines that render math as images (e.g. via a CGI LaTeX renderer):
import { AMTparseAMtoTeX, AMTconfig } from "asciimath/tex-img";
// Point at your TeX-to-image endpoint (the original `AMTcgiloc` global).
globalThis.AMTcgiloc = "https://example.com/cgi-bin/mathtex.cgi";
const tex = AMTparseAMtoTeX("int_0^1 x^2 dx");
// → "{\\int_{{0}}^{{1}}}{x}^{{2}}{\\left.{d}{x}\\right.}"MathJax plugin
import { register } from "asciimath/mathjax";
// Call after MathJax has loaded; `MathJax.InputJax.AsciiMath` must exist.
register();Configuration
Defaults match the original ASCIIMathML distribution. To change settings
that the original library exposed via top-level vars (e.g. decimalsign,
listseparator), use the corresponding setters:
import { setdecimal, setlistseparator } from "asciimath";
setdecimal(",");
setlistseparator(";");Development
npm install # install dev dependencies (TypeScript, jsdom)
npm run build # compile src/*.ts to dist/
npm run check # type-check without emitting
npm test # build, then run the Node test suite
npm run serve # build and serve test/index.html via miniserveThe browser test pages in test/ (issue*test.html, livetest.html,
etc.) are smoke-tested headlessly by test/smoke.test.mjs: every
backtick-delimited ASCIIMath expression must parse to a non-empty
<math> node. They are not part of the published package.