Inserting Math objects on the other Apache OpenOffice components

Either on a Writer document, on a vector grafic prepared on Draw, on an Impress slide show or even on a Calc spreadsheet it is possible to introduce a complex mathematical expression using Apache OpenOffice Math.

From any Apache OpenOffice component it is possible to introduce a Math object with Insert → Object → Formula.

It is also possible to enable a button on a toolbar or assign a keyboard shortcut to insert a Math object. For example, on the Insert toolbar available on Writer there is by default a button, that displays a square root of a, with that function: .

On the following screen shot we can see a Math object being edited on Writer (on the other components it is quite similar)

The Math editor is separated on three elements

• The formula preview

• The editor (lower part on the screen shot)

• A floating menu with buttons to insert the formula elements on the editor

The Math editor works on "text mode": the different parts of the formula are build with instructions in a similar way a how LaTeX works. On another section more details will be provided.

It is important to note that the instructions can be inserted not only directly, but also with the floating menu "Elements" or with the contextual menu over the edit area.