SVGorHTML output processors

I like the new SVG renderer in 2.0. However, in the docs, it says that the SVG processor doesn't work for IE versions < 9. Could there be an TeX-AMS-MML_SVGorHTML config to prefer SVG when it is applicable, then prefer HTML for IE < 9?

On the other hand, I could just prefer HTML for IE via the 'prefer' parameter, but the docs only mention HTML and MML as possible options, not SVG: http://www.mathjax.org/docs/2.0/options/MMLorHTML.html#configure-mmlorhtml

Can I use SVG in the 'prefer' option?

Thanks,

Jason

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I just realized that the prefer config option is for the MMLorHTML block, so of course it shouldn't support SVG.

So the first question still stands: can we have a TeX-AMS-MML_SVGorHTML config that prefers SVG, but falls back to HTML when needed?

Thanks,

Jason

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You are right, the prefer setting is just for the MMLorHTML configuration. There isn't a corresponding one that chooses between SVG and another output jax at the moment.

Before version 2.0 when there were just two input and two output jax, the number of reasonable configurations were fairly small. But now that there are three input and three output jax, the number of possible combinations is much larger. We had tried to keep the number of predefined configurations as small as possible by picking what we thought were the most likely combinations and arranging for the ability to modify that by in-line configuration. With the addition of the AsciiMath input jax and the SVG output jax, it was no longer quite so clear what the most important combinations should be. We still didn't want to have too many predefined configurations, so I only added a few using the new jax. I suppose the TeX-AMS-MML_SVG configuration could be _SVGorHTML.

In any case, here is some configuration that will do the switch for you:

<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
if (MathJax.Hub.Browser.isMSIE && (document.documentMode||0) < 9) {
  MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook("End Config",function () {
    var settings = MathJax.Hub.config.menuSettings;
    if (!settings.renderer) {settings.renderer = "HTML-CSS"}
  });
}
</script>

This will select HTML-CSS for IE when not in IE9 standards mode (or above), and when the user hasn't selected some other renderer by hand. I think that is what you are after.

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Thanks! That seems to work well.

And I agree that an SVGorHTML config would be perfect, as it addresses one of the main concerns with choosing the SVG renderer (which seems superior in most respects to the HTML renderer).

Thanks,

Jason

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Is there an easy way to detect if the browser is Android pre-SVG (I think Android 2.x?)? MathJax.Hub.Browser.is* doesn't seem to cover Android, at least not by the name Android, anyway.

Thanks,

Jason

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Javascript doesn't have direct access to the OS version number, but it is often encoded in the navigator values somewhere. But note that testing for Android 2.x isn't quite the right thing, since Firefox on Android 2.x does handle SVG. It is really the renderer that needs to be tested. One could do a feature test, except that the point when you need to know that is before the document body is ready, and so you can't use DOM inserts to figure out of SVG is supported.

Here is a navigator.appVersion test that probably will work for you:

<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
(function () {
  var HUB = MathJax.Hub, noSVG = false;
  if (HUB.Browser.isMSIE && (document.documentMode||0) < 9) {noSVG = true}
  if (HUB.Browser.isSafari) {
    var match = navigator.appVersion.match(/ Android ((\d+\.)+)/);
    if (match && match[1].split(/\./)[0] < "3") {noSVG = true}
  }
  if (noSVG) {
    HUB.Register.StartupHook("End Config",function () {
      var settings = HUB.config.menuSettings;
      if (!settings.renderer) {settings.renderer = "HTML-CSS"}
    });
  }
})();
</script>

I don't have an Android 3.0 device to test this on, but it does cause my Android 2.3 browser to switch to HTML-CSS output, but Firefox still uses SVG.