Math Guide 25.2

Chapter 4,
Customization

Introduction

This chapter explains how to customize LibreOffice Math when creating formulas for use in LibreOffice documents. Also, refer to the Getting Started Guide for more information on customizing LibreOffice.

Formula Editor and Elements panel

Formula Editor

Floating window

If required, the Formula Editor can become a floating window allowing the Formula Editor to be positioned at a convenient location when creating formulas.

1. Position the cursor on the frame of the Formula Editor, NOT in the Formula Editor.

2. Press and hold Ctrl key (macOS ⌘) and double-click on the frame. This turns the Formula Editor into a floating window labelled Commands (Figure 1).

To return the Formula Editor back to its position in the Math window:

1. Position the cursor on the frame of the Commands floating window, NOT on the title bar at the top of the window.

2. Press and hold Ctrl key (macOS ⌘) and double-click. The floating window closes and the Formula Editor appears at its previous position in the Math window.

Window static position

The Formula Editor can be positioned at the top or bottom of the Math window. The default position is the bottom of the Math window.

1. Position the cursor on the frame of the Formula Editor, NOT in the Formula Editor.

2. Press and hold Alt key (macOS ⌥) and drag the Formula Editor to a new position at the top or bottom of the Math window.

Elements panel

The Sidebar Elements panel can be used as a floating dialog allowing the Elements panel to be positioned at a convenient location when creating formulas.

1. Position the cursor on the title bar of the Elements panel on the Sidebar.

2. Press and hold Alt key (macOS ⌥), then double-click to create a floating Elements panel (Figure 2).

3. To move the Elements panel back to its position as a Sidebar, press and hold Alt key (macOS ⌥), then drag the Elements panel back to its Sidebar position.

Adding keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can be added to LibreOffice when creating documents. Following is an example of how to add a keyboard shortcut for inserting a formula into a LibreOffice document. For more information on creating keyboard shortcuts, see the Getting Started Guide.

• Note

When creating new keyboard shortcuts, make sure that the keyboard shortcut is NOT already in use by LibreOffice or the computer system.

Example keyboard shortcut

1. Go to Tools > Customize on the Menu bar to open the Customize dialog, then click on Keyboard to access the options available for creating keyboard shortcuts (Figure 3).

2. Select the type of the new keyboard shortcut, as follows:

• Select LibreOffice to create a new keyboard shortcut for all components of LibreOffice.

• Select Math to create a new keyboard shortcut for Math.

1. In the Category, select Insert.

2. In the Function, select Import Formula.

1. In Keys, select the key or keyboard combination required for the new keyboard shortcut.

2. Select Modify and the new keyboard shortcut appears in Keys.

3. If required, continue to add keyboard shortcuts using Steps 1) to 6).

4. Click OK to save the keyboard shortcuts and close the Customize dialog.

Customize dialog options for keyboard shortcuts

LibreOffice

Displays shortcut keys that are common to all LibreOffice modules.

Math

Displays the keyboard shortcuts available in Math.

Assign

Assigns the keyboard shortcut to an action.

Delete

Deletes the selected element or elements without requiring confirmation.

Load

Replaces a shortcut key configuration with one that has been saved.

Save

Saves the current shortcut key configuration, so that you can load it later.

Reset

Resets any modified keyboard shortcut to the default setting.

Shortcut Keys

Lists the available keyboard shortcuts and any associated commands. To assign or modify a keyboard shortcut select a listed keyboard shortcut has to be selected first.

Functions

Type a function name in the text field to search for the function in the keyboard shortcuts.

Category

Lists the available categories for functions.

Function

Lists the available function categories for keyboard shortcuts.

Keys

Displays the keyboard shortcut keys that is assigned to a selected function.

Catalog customization

If a symbol is regularly used and is not available in Math, it can be added to the Symbols dialog (Figure 4) using the Edit Symbols dialog (Figure 5). Symbols can be modified, have names assigned, or redefined.

Adding symbols

1. Go to Tools > Symbols on the Menu bar or click on Symbols on the Tools toolbar to open the Symbols dialog (Figure 4).

1. In Symbol set select a font to use for the new symbol from the available options in the drop-down list.

2. Click on Edit to open Edit Symbols dialog (Figure 5).

1. Select the symbol character required and it appears in the preview box. If necessary, scroll down in the preview box to locate the required symbol.

2. In Symbol, enter a memorable name for the required symbol.

3. In Symbol set, select a symbol set in the drop-down for the selected symbol, or create a new name for the selected symbol.

4. In Font and if required, select a font for the selected symbol.

5. In Subset, select a subset from the available options for the selected symbol.

6. In Style and if required, select a font style from the available options for the selected symbol.

7. Click on Add, to add the symbol to Math.

8. If required, click on Modify after making any changes to an existing symbol.

9. If required, click on Delete if an existing symbol is no longer required.

10. Click on OK to close the Edit Symbols dialog. The new symbol and, if created, new symbol set are now available for use.

• Notes

When a new symbol is added to the catalog, a percentage sign (%) followed by the name of the symbol is typed into the markup language in the Formula Editor and the symbol appears in the formula. Symbol names are case sensitive, for example, %prime is a different symbol to %Prime.
There are numerous free fonts available that contain several symbols if the required symbol is not available on the computer. For example, the STIX font was developed for use in mathematical and technical texts. Also, DejaVu and Lucida fonts have a wide range of symbols.
By default, only user defined symbols that are used in the document are stored with the document. It is useful to embed all user defined symbols so that when a document is transferred to another computer it is available for editing. Go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Math > Settings (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Math > Settings) on the Menu bar and uncheck Embed only used symbols (smaller file size) in Miscellaneous Options.

Editing symbols

Changing symbol names

1. In the Edit Symbols dialog (Figure 5), select the symbol name that is to be changed in the Old symbol drop-down list. The symbol appears in the left preview box at the bottom of the dialog.

2. Type a new name for the symbol in the Symbol text box, or select a new name from the Symbol drop-down list. The new symbol name appears in the right preview pane.

3. Click Modify to change the symbol name, click OK to close the Edit Symbols dialog.

Moving symbols

1. In Old symbol set, select the symbol set from the options available in the drop-down list in the Edit Symbols dialog (Figure 5).

2. Select a symbol from options available in the Old symbol drop-down list. In the left preview box of the dialog, the name, symbol, and symbol set are displayed.

3. In Symbol, select a symbol name from the drop-down list.

4. In Symbol set, select the required symbol set from the drop-down list. In the right preview box at the bottom of the dialog, the name, symbol, and symbol set are displayed.

5. If required, select an option from the drop-down lists in Font, Subset, and Style.

6. Click on Modify and the symbol is moved to the new symbol set.

7. Click on OK to close the Edit Symbols dialog.

Deleting symbols

1. In Old symbol set, select the symbol set from the options available in the drop-down list in the Edit Symbols dialog (Figure 5).

1. In Old symbol, select the symbol for deletion from the drop-down list. The selected symbol appears in the left preview pane at the bottom of the Edit Symbols dialog.

2. Click on Delete and the symbol is deleted from the symbol set without any confirmation.

3. Click on OK to close the Edit Symbols dialog.

• Note

To delete a symbol set all of the symbols in the selected set have to be deleted. The last symbol is deleted, the symbol set is also deleted.

Symbol options

Old symbol

Select the name of a symbol from the drop-down list. The symbol, symbol name, and symbol set are displayed in the left preview box at the bottom of the dialog.

Old symbol set

Displays the name of the current symbol set. A different symbol set can be selected from the options in the drop-down list.

Symbol

Displays the name of the selected symbol set. Select a name from the options available in the drop-down list or type a name for a newly added symbol when modifying or deleting symbols.

Symbol set

The drop-down list displays the names of the available symbol sets.

Font

Displays the name of the selected font for symbols. When changing fonts for symbols, select from the options in the drop-down list.

Subset

Displays the name of the selected subset for symbol fonts. When changing font subset for symbols, select from the options in the drop-down list.

Style

Displays the name of the selected style for symbol fonts. When changing font style for symbols, select from the options in the drop-down list.

Add

Click on Add to save and add the symbol displayed in the right preview box to the selected symbol set. The Symbol or Symbol name displayed in the Symbol list must be unique before the Add option becomes available. Symbol and Symbol Set names can only be used once.

Modify

Click on Modify to replace the symbol displayed in the left preview box with the new name after carrying out any modifications to a symbol.

Delete

Click on Delete to delete the symbol displayed in the left preview box from the selected symbol set. There is no confirmation of deletion. Deleting the last symbol in a symbol set also deletes the symbol set.

Formula spacing

The grave accent (`) inserts an additional small space and the tilde (~) inserts an additional large space into formulas. However, in a LibreOffice basic installation, these symbols are ignored when they occur at the end of a formula. When working with running text in a formula, it may be necessary to also include spacing at the end of formulas. This customization is only required when working with a Math document and is not required when inserting a formula into another LibreOffice module.

To add spacing at the end of formula in Math, go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Math > Settings (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Math > Settings) on the Menu bar and uncheck Ignore ~ and ` at the end of the line in Miscellaneous Options.

Scaling of code

By default, the code in the Formula Editor input window is scaled to 100%. To change the scaling factor go to Tools > Options > LibreOffice Math > Settings (macOS LibreOffice > Preferences > LibreOffice Math > Settings) and change the percentage in the Scaling code input window in Miscellaneous Options.

For example, to change the scaling to 150%, the code in the input window appears larger. This setting affects the Formula Editor in all LibreOffice modules. However, the LibreOffice Math options can only be accessed when using LibreOffice Math. It is not available for editing formulas in other LibreOffice modules.

Extensions

Creating formulas frequently in documents, LibreOffice can be customized by adding extensions that are designed to help in the creation of formulas. Extensions are installed using the Extension Manager. For more information on how to install extensions, see the Getting Started Guide.

A commonly used extension is Formatting of All Math Formulas. This extension allows formatting of formulas in Writer, Calc, Draw, or Impress documents. Using this extension the font names and sizes of all formulas used in LibreOffice documents. For more information on this extension, go to https://extensions.libreoffice.org/en/extensions/show/formatting-of-all-math-formulas.

Contents

• Copyright

• Contributors

• Feedback

• Publication date and software version

• Using LibreOffice on macOS

• Introduction

• Formula Editor and Elements panel

• Formula Editor

• Floating window

• Window static position

• Elements panel

• Adding keyboard shortcuts

• Example keyboard shortcut

• Customize dialog options for keyboard shortcuts

• Catalog customization

• Adding symbols

• Editing symbols

• Changing symbol names

• Moving symbols

• Deleting symbols

• Symbol options

• Formula spacing

• Scaling of code

• Extensions