Mathematical Markup Language (MathML) Version 2.0 (Second Edition)

Abstract

This specification defines the Mathematical Markup Language, or MathML. MathML is an XML application for describing mathematical notation and capturing both its structure and content. The goal of MathML is to enable mathematics to be served, received, and processed on the World Wide Web, just as HTML has enabled this functionality for text.

This specification of the markup language MathML is intended primarily for a readership consisting of those who will be developing or implementing renderers or editors using it, or software that will communicate using MathML as a protocol for input or output. It is not a User's Guide but rather a reference document.

This document begins with background information on mathematical notation, the problems it poses, and the philosophy underlying the solutions MathML 2.0 proposes. MathML can be used to encode both mathematical notation and mathematical content. About thirty of the MathML tags describe abstract notational structures, while another about one hundred and fifty provide a way of unambiguously specifying the intended meaning of an expression. Additional chapters discuss how the MathML content and presentation elements interact, and how MathML renderers might be implemented and should interact with browsers. Finally, this document addresses the issue of MathML characters and their relation to fonts.

While MathML is human-readable, it is anticipated that, in all but the simplest cases, authors will use equation editors, conversion programs, and other specialized software tools to generate MathML. Several versions of such MathML tools already exist, and a number of others, both freely available software and commercial products, are under development.

Status of this Document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C technical reports index at http://www.w3.org/TR/.

This specification is a Superseded Recommendation. A newer specification exists that is recommended for new adoption in place of this specification.

For purposes of the W3C Patent Policy, this Superseded Recommendation has the same status as an active Recommendation; it retains licensing commitments and remains available as a reference for old – and possibly still deployed – implementations, but is not recommended for future implementation. New implementations should follow the latest version of the MathML specification. (This is further explained in Obsoleting and Rescinding W3C Specifications.

This is a revised edition of a document that has been reviewed by W3C Members and other interested parties and has been endorsed by the Director as a W3C Recommendation.

This document has been produced by the W3C Math Working Group as part of W3C Math Activity. The goals of the W3C Math Working Group are discussed in the W3C Math WG Charter (revised February 2000 and June 2001 from the original of 11 June 1998). A list of participants in the W3C Math Working Group is available.

The MathML 2.0 (Second Edition) specification was reviewed extensively during its development, as provided by the W3C Process. During that period the W3C Math Working Group participants encouraged implementation using the specification and comment on it; a report on Implementation and Interoperability experiences and issues has been made public. It is intended that this will be updated from time to time by the continuing work of the W3C that oversees the MathML 2.0 Recommendation. The W3C Math Activity maintains a public Web page http://www.w3.org/Math/ which contains further background information.

The preparation of a Second Edition of the MathML 2.0 Specification allows the revision of that document to provide a coherent whole containing corrections to all the known errata and clarifications of some smaller issues that proved problematic. It is not the occasion for any fundamental changes in the language MathML 2.0. To clarify this a diff-marked HTML version of this Second Edition is made available.

Public discussion of MathML and issues of support through the W3C for mathematics on the Web takes place on the public mailing list of the Math Working Group (list archives). To subscribe send an email to www-math-request@w3.org with the word subscribe in the subject line.

Please report errors in this document to www-math@w3.org.

Patent disclosures relevant to this specification may be found on the Math Working Group's patent disclosure page.

The basic structure of this document is the same as that of the earlier MathML 2.0 Recommendation [MathML2], with the addition of an index in the new Appendix L. MathML 2.0 itself was a revision of the earlier W3C Recommendation MathML 1.01 [MathML1]. It differed from it in that all chapters were updated and two new ones and some appendices were added.

Since MathML 1.01, Chapters 1 and 2, which are introductory material, have been revised to reflect the changes elsewhere in the document, and in the rapidly evolving Web environment. Chapters 3 and 4 have been extended to describe new functionalities added as well as smaller improvements of material already proposed. Chapter 5 has been newly written to reflect changes in the technology available. The major tables in Chapter 6 have been regenerated and reorganized to reflect an improved list of characters useful for mathematics, and the text revised to reflect the new situation in regard to Unicode. Chapter 7 has been completely revised since Web technology has changed. A new Chapter 8 on the DOM for MathML 2.0 has been added; the latter points to new appendices D and E for detailed listings.

The appendices have been reorganized into normative and non-normative groups. The material in Appendices D, E, G and L was not present in MathML 1.01.