FAQ

Q: Will iMath work in LibreOffice on Windows platform?

A: Yes, the current version of iMath (from 2.0.0 upwards) now works on the Windows platform. Note that MS Visual C++ 2010 redistributable is required for it to work properly.

Q: Is it possible to make decimal numbers using "," instead of "."?

A: No, because the "," is also used to separate arguments to commands. But if your locale is set accordingly, iMath will convert the "." to a "," automatically when printing your formulas

Q: I get an error message that says "syntax error, unexpected '\n'" and iMath marks the end of my formula as the place where the error occurs. But I think that the formula is totally in order.

A: This happens frequently if you work with vectors, but the left-hand side of the equation has not been defined as a vector. In other words, your expression creates a vector, but you are trying to assign it to a normal variable. Use "iFormula - Define vector" to define your variable to be a vector before using it.

Q: How do I include a *.imath file in the document?

A: Go to File->Properties->User defined properties->Include file *.imath, or use this line in iFormula %%ii READFILE {"*.imath"}. For example, if you have created 1.imath file in some directory, after READFILE the full path must be given. Here are examples of proper lines under Windows and Ubuntu.

Windows: %%ii READFILE {"C:/Document/1.imath"}

Ubuntu: %%ii READFILE {"/home/user/Documents/1.imath"}

Q: There is nothing under File->Properties->User defined properties, why is that?

A: This happens while working on a new document, the user defined properties will appear after saving that document and reloading it.

Q: Is it possible to clear only chosen equations?

A: You can clear equations by label (select it and choose Edit - Clear from the menu), or use this line in a formula %%ii DELETE{#equation_label#}. A list of labels is also possible.

Q: The iFormula and standard formula are placed differently from the left margin, is there a fast way to unify them?

A: There is no fast way to do this. Each formula would have to be manually edited. This happens because the standard formula is created with 2mm left margin (right-click -> Object to see these margins), while iFormula is created with 0mm margin.

Q: I have an equation x = 100 m. How do I tell iMath that the value is in meters?

A: In the new iFormula dialog write this x=100 "m" . The "m" tells iMath that the value is in meters. This will only work if you have included the units.imath file with File->Properties->User defined properties->Include file units.imath

Q: How do I access Euler's number e in an equation?

A: There are two ways: Using the exp() function or using the built-in constant %e. In the latter case you probably want to turn on auto-formatting for the equation to get nicer output (without the % sign).

Q: How do I hide an equation?

A: Select the formula and choose iMath->Edit->Hide/show , alternatively put * after EQDEF.

Q: Is it possible to hide units after evaluation?

A: Yes, in evaluation formula use NUMVAL instead of VAL.

Q: It's such a hassle to type differential(x) all the time. Can't this be shorter, like d(x)?

A: Just define a short-cut function yourself, e.g.

%%ii FUNCTION {{expand}, d, y_{_y_}}

%%ii @3@ FUNCDEF* d(y_{_y_}) = differential(y_{_y_})

Q: Why do I get a wrong result in the following example?

%%ii FUNCTION {{none}, z, y;x} %%ii FUNCTION {{none}, y, x} %%ii @eq:1@ EQDEF z = sin {y} + x^2 %%ii TEXT newline %%ii @eq:2@ EQDEF DIFFERENTIATE(@eq:1@, x, 1) ?

A: You need to define FUNCTION {{none}, y, x} before function z(). In the example, you have two different versions of y: When defining function z(), it is a normal variable. After that, you define it to be a function, and then use y() to define the value of z(). When you differentiate z(), the left-hand side is a total differential, but since y is a variable here, dy/dx is zero, so only the second part remains. On the right-hand side, the chain rule is applied to sin(y), since here it is a function.