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Understanding the full version of precompiled configurations

pkra edited this page Mar 7, 2013 · 1 revision

http://www.mathjax.org/docs/2.0/config-files.html#the-tex-mml-am-htmlormml-configuration-file says, "The -full version also loads both the HTML-CSS and NativeMML output jax main code, plus the HTML-CSS mtable extension, which is normally loaded on demand."

I want to know what mtable extension is. I couldn't find any information about it. I want to know enough information about -full version so that I can decide if I should use -full version of config or the standard config.


The input and output jax come in two parts: a small configuration file that defines and registers the jax, and a larger file that implements the functionality of the jax. The small files are designed so that you can load several of them quickly even if they aren't used (so you can include both the MathML and TeX input jax, for example, even if only one or the other is used).

The main difference between the -full and regular configuration files is that the regular ones only load the small configuration file for the jax that it includes, while the -full version includes the main code as well. If most of the pages on your site will include mathematics, then it is probably a good idea to use the -full version, as it will mean that the pages will load faster and the math will display quicker. On the other hand, if most pages DON'T include mathematics, then loading the full input and output jax code on every page would make your site slower. So which is best depends on the distribution of mathematics within your site.

Others have pointed out that the mtable extension implements the MathML element in the HTML-CSS output jax, and it is only loaded when the TeX that you include uses tables or arrays. There are a number of other files of this type that are loaded for less-used MathML elements (like maction, mglyph, mmultiscripts, and so on). Since tables are used relatively often, it is included in the -full configuration files to speed up processing of math that includes tables.

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