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MathJax 2.0: Usage & Installation Guide

MathJax is an open-source JavaScript library that displays mathematical notation across different browsers. The document provides instructions on getting started with MathJax including linking to the MathJax CDN or installing a local copy. It describes how to write mathematics in documents using LaTeX, MathML or AsciiMath notation and how MathJax will process and display this. The document contains details on common configurations and customizing MathJax settings.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

297 views160 pages

MathJax 2.0: Usage & Installation Guide

Uploaded by

rakeshece0701

We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.

Available Formats

Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 160

MathJax Documentation

Release 2.0

Davide Cervone, Casey Stark, Robert Miner, Paul Topping

Jun 07, 2018

Contents

1 Basic Usage 3

2 Upgrading MathJax 83

3 Advanced Topics 99

4 Reference Pages 151

i
ii
MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

MathJax is an open-source JavaScript display engine for LaTeX, MathML, and AsciiMath notaion that works in all
modern browsers.

Contents 1
MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

2 Contents
CHAPTER 1

Basic Usage

1.1 What is MathJax?

MathJax is an open-source JavaScript display engine for LaTeX, MathML, and AsciiMath notation that works in all
modern browsers. It was designed with the goal of consolidating the recent advances in web technologies into a single,
definitive, math-on-the-web platform supporting the major browsers and operating systems, including those on mobile
devices. It requires no setup on the part of the user (no plugins to download or software to install), so the page author
can write web documents that include mathematics and be confident that users will be able to view it naturally and
easily. One simply includes MathJax and some mathematics in a web page, and MathJax does the rest.
MathJax uses web-based fonts (in those browsers that support it) to produce high-quality typesetting that scales and
prints at full resolution (unlike mathematics included as images). MathJax can be used with screen readers, providing
accessibility for the visually impaired. With MathJax, mathematics is text-based rather than image-based, and so it is
available for search engines, meaning that your equations can be searchable, just like the text of your pages. MathJax
allows page authors to write formulas using TeX and LaTeX notation, MathML, a World Wide Web Consortium
standard for representing mathematics in XML format, or AsciiMath notation. MathJax will even convert TeX notation
into MathML, so that it can be rendered more quickly by those browsers that support MathML natively, or so that you
can copy and paste it into other programs.
MathJax is modular, so it loads components only when necessary, and can be extended to include new capabilities as
needed. MathJax is highly configurable, allowing authors to customize it for the special requirements of their web
sites. Finally, MathJax has a rich application programming interface (API) that can be used to make the mathematics
on your web pages interactive and dynamic.

1.2 Getting Started

MathJax allows you to include mathematics in your web pages, either using LaTeX, MathML, or AsciiMath notation,
and the mathematics will be processed using javascript to produce HTML, SVG or MathML equations for viewing in
any modern browser.
There are two ways to access MathJax: the easiest way is to use the copy of MathJax available from our distributed
network service at cdn.mathjax.org, but you can also download and install a copy of MathJax on your own

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

server, or use it locally on your hard disk (with no need for network access). All three of these are described below,
with links to more detailed explanations. This page gives the quickest and easiest ways to get MathJax up and running
on your web site, but you may want to read the details in order to customize the setup for your pages.

1.2.1 Using the MathJax Content Delivery Network (CDN)

To use MathJax from our server, you need to do two things:

1. Link MathJax into the web pages that are to include mathematics.
2. Put mathematics into your web pages so that MathJax can display it.
You accomplish the first step by putting

into the <head> block of your document. (It can also go in the <body> if necessary, but the head is to be preferred.)
This will load the latest version of MathJax from the distributed server, and configure it to recognize mathematics
in both TeX and MathML notation, and ask it to generate its output using MathML if the browser supports that well
enough, and otherwise use HTML-with-CSS to display the mathematics. This is one of the most general configu-
rations, and should suffice for most people’s needs. Other configurations are available, however, and you can also
provide additional configuration parameters to taylor one of the configurations to your needs. More details can be
found in the Loading and Configuring MathJax instructions.
The use of cdn.mathjax.org is governed by its terms of service, so be sure to read that before linking to the
MathJax CDN server.
To see how to enter mathematics in your web pages, see Putting mathematics in a web page below.

Secure Access to the CDN

When the the MathJax CDN is accessed via the address http://cdn.mathjax.org, data is downloaded over
a regular, insecure HTTP connection. This introduces a security risk, since it is possible a hostile 3rd party could
intercept the MathJax program data, and replace it. This is sometimes called a man-in-the-middle attack.
To prevent such attacks, it is necessary to access the MathJax CDN over a secure HTTPS connection. This can be
done easily by using the following <script> tag instead of the one listed above:

</script>

Currently, the Amazon Cloudfront service used by the MathJax CDN does not support the use of a human-friendly
name like cdn.mathjax.org for secure connections; however, the address given above is stable and safe to use.

1.2.2 Installing Your Own Copy of MathJax

We recommend using the CDN service if you can, but you can also install MathJax on your own server, or locally on
your own hard disk. To do so you will need to do the following things:
1. Obtain a copy of MathJax and make it available on your server or hard disk.
2. Configure MathJax to suit the needs of your site.

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

3. Link MathJax into the web pages that are to include mathematics.
4. Put mathematics into your web pages so that MathJax can display it.

Obtaining and Installing MathJax

The easiest way to set up MathJax is to obtain the v2.0 archive from the MathJax download page (you should obtain
a file named something like mathjax-MathJax-v2.0-X-XXXXXXXX.zip where the X’s are random looking
numbers and letters). This archive includes both the MathJax code and the MathJax webfonts, so it is the only file you
need. Note that this is different from v1.0 and earlier releases, which had the fonts separate from the rest of the code.
Unpack the archive and place the resulting MathJax folder onto your web server at a convenient location where you
can include it into your web pages. For example, making MathJax a top-level directory on your server would be one
natural way to do this. That would let you refer to the main MathJax file via the URL /MathJax/MathJax.js
from within any page on your server.
Note: While this is the easiest way to set up MathJax initially, there is a better way to do it if you want to be able
to keep your copy of MathJax up-to-date. That uses the Git version control system, and is described in the Installing
MathJax document. If you prefer using Subversion, you can also use that to get a copy of MathJax (see Installing
MathJax via SVN).
Once you have MathJax set up on your server, you can test it using the files in the MathJax/test directory. If
you are putting MathJax on a server, load them in your browser using their web addresses rather than opening them
locally (i.e., use an http:// URL rather than a file:// URL). When you view the index.html file, after a few
moments you should see a message indicating that MathJax appears to be working. If not, check that the files have
been transferred to the server completely and that the permissions allow the server to access the files and folders that
are part of the MathJax directory. (Be sure to verify the MathJax folder’s permissions as well.) Check the server log
files for any errors that pertain to the MathJax installation; this may help locate problems in the permission or locations
of files.

Configuring your copy of MathJax

When you include MathJax into your web pages as described below, it will load the file config/
TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML.js (i.e., the file named TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML.js in the config folder
of the main MathJax folder). This file preloads all the most commonly-used components of MathJax, allowing it to
process mathematics that is in the TeX or LaTeX format, or in MathML notation. It will produce output in MathML
form if the user’s browser supports that sufficiently, and will use HTML-with-CSS to render the mathematics other-
wise.
There are a number of other prebuilt configuration files that you can choose from as well, or you could use the
config/default.js file and customize the settings yourself. The combined configuration files are described
more fully in Common Configurations, and the configuration options are described in Configuration Options.
Note: The configuration process changed between MathJax v1.0 and v1.1, so if you have existing pages that use
MathJax v1.0, you may need to modify the tag that loads MathJax so that it conforms with the new configuration
process. See Installing and Configuring MathJax for more details.

Linking your copy of MathJax into a web page

You can include MathJax in your web page by putting

<script type="text/javascript" src="path-to-MathJax/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_

˓→HTMLorMML"></script>

1.2. Getting Started 5

MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

in your document’s <head> block. Here, path-to-MathJax should be replaced by the URL for the main MathJax
directory, so if you have put the MathJax directory at the top level of you server’s web site, you could use

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML">

˓→</script>

to load MathJax in your page. For example, your page could look like

</head>
<body>
...
</body>
</html>

If you have installed MathJax on a server that is in a different domain from the one serving the page that loads
MathJax, be sure to read the Notes About Shared Servers for more details. In that case, you may wish to consider
using the MathJax CDN rather than installing your own copy of MathJax.

1.2.3 Putting mathematics in a web page

To put mathematics in your web page, you can use TeX and LaTeX notation, MathML notation, AsciiMath notation,
or a combination of all three within the same page; the MathJax configuration tells MathJax which you want to use,
and how you plan to indicate the mathematics when you are using TeX notation. The configuration file used in the
examples above tells MathJax to look for both TeX and MathML notation within your pages. Other configuration files
tell MathJax to use AsciiMath input. These three formats are described in more detail below.

TeX and LaTeX input

Mathematics that is written in TeX or LaTeX format is indicated using math delimiters that surround the mathematics,
telling MathJax what part of your page represents mathematics and what is normal text. There are two types of
equations: ones that occur within a paragraph (in-line mathematics), and larger equations that appear separated from
the rest of the text on lines by themselves (displayed mathematics).
The default math delimiters are $$...$$ and \[...\] for displayed mathematics, and $...$ for in-line math-
ematics. Note in particular that the $...$ in-line delimiters are not used by default. That is because dollar signs
appear too often in non-mathematical settings, which could cause some text to be treated as mathematics unexpectedly.
For example, with single-dollar delimiters, “. . . the cost is $2.50 for the first one, and $2.00 for each additional one
. . . ” would cause the phrase “2.50 for the first one, and” to be treated as mathematics since it falls between dollar
signs. For this reason, if you want to use single-dollars for in-line math mode, you must enable that explicitly in your
configuration:

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

See the config/default.js file, or the tex2jax configuration options page, for additional configuration parame-
ters that you can specify for the tex2jax preprocessor, which is the component of MathJax that identifies TeX notation
within the page. See the TeX and LaTeX page for more on MathJax’s support for TeX, and in particular how to deal
with single dollar signs in your text when you have enabled single dollar-sign delimiters.
Here is a complete sample page containing TeX mathematics (also available in the test/sample-tex.html file):

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>MathJax TeX Test Page</title>
<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
MathJax.Hub.Config({tex2jax: {inlineMath: [['$','$'], ['\$','\$']]}});
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML">
</script>
</head>
<body>
When $a \ne 0$, there are two solutions to $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ and they are
$$x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}.$$
</body>
</html>

Since the TeX notation is part of the text of the page, there are some caveats that you must keep in mind when you
enter your mathematics. In particular, you need to be careful about the use of less-than signs, since those are what
the browser uses to indicate the start of a tag in HTML. Putting a space on both sides of the less-than sign should be
sufficient, but see TeX and LaTeX support for details.
If you are using MathJax within a blog, wiki, or other content management system, the markup language used by that
system may interfere with the TeX notation used by MathJax. For example, if your blog uses Markdown notation for
authoring your pages, the underscores used by TeX to indicate subscripts may be confused with the use of underscores
by Markdown to indicate italics, and the two uses may prevent your mathematics from being displayed. See TeX and
LaTeX support for some suggestions about how to deal with the problem.
There are a number of extensions for the TeX input processor that are loaded by the TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML
configuration. These include:
• TeX/AMSmath.js, which defines the AMS math environments and macros,
• TeX/AMSsymbols.js, which defines the macros for the symbols in the msam10 and msbm10 fonts,
• TeX/noErrors.js, which shows the original TeX code rather than an error message when there is a problem
processing the TeX, and
• TeX/noUndefined.js, which prevents undefined macros from producing an error message, and instead shows the
macro name in red.
Other extensions may be loaded automatically when needed. See TeX and LaTeX support for details on the other TeX
extensions that are available.

MathML input

For mathematics written in MathML notation, you mark your mathematics using standard <math> tags, where <math
display="block"> represents displayed mathematics and <math display="inline"> or just <math>
represents in-line mathematics.
Note that this will work in HTML files, not just XHTML files (MathJax works with both), and that the web page need
not be served with any special MIME-type. Also note that, unless you are using XHTML rather than HTML, you

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

should not include a namespace prefix for your <math> tags; for example, you should not use <m:math> except
in a file where you have tied the m namespace to the MathML DTD by adding the xmlns:m="http://www.w3.
org/1998/Math/MathML" attribtue to your file’s <html> tag.
Although it is not required, it is recommended that you include the xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/
Math/MathML" attribute on all <math> tags in your document (and this is preferred to the use of a namespace
prefix like m: above, since those are deprecated in HTML5) in order to make your MathML work in the widest range
of situations.
Here is a complete sample page containing MathML mathematics (also available in the test/sample-mml.html file):

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>MathJax MathML Test Page</title>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML">
</script>
</head>
<body>

<p>
When
<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
<mi>a</mi><mo>≠</mo><mn>0</mn>
</math>,
there are two solutions to
<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">
<mi>a</mi><msup><mi>x</mi><mn>2</mn></msup>
<mo>+</mo> <mi>b</mi><mi>x</mi>
<mo>+</mo> <mi>c</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>0</mn>
</math>
and they are
<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="block">
<mi>x</mi> <mo>=</mo>
<mrow>
<mfrac>
<mrow>
<mo>−</mo>
<mi>b</mi>
<mo>±</mo>
<msqrt>
<msup><mi>b</mi><mn>2</mn></msup>
<mo>−</mo>
<mn>4</mn><mi>a</mi><mi>c</mi>
</msqrt>
</mrow>
<mrow> <mn>2</mn><mi>a</mi> </mrow>
</mfrac>
</mrow>
<mtext>.</mtext>
</math>
</p>

</body>
</html>

When entering MathML notation in an HTML page (rather than an XHTML page), you should not use self-closing
tags, but should use explicit open and close tags for all your math elements. For example, you should use

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

rather than <mspace width="5pt" /> in an HTML document. If you use the self-closing form, some browsers
will not build the math tree properly, and MathJax will receive a damaged math structure, which will not be rendered
as the original notation would have been. Typically, this will cause parts of your expression to not be displayed.
Unfortunately, there is nothing MathJax can do about that, since the browser has incorrectly interpreted the tags long
before MathJax has a chance to work with them.
The component of MathJax that recognizes MathML notation within the page is called the mml2jax extension, and it
has only a few configuration options; see the config/default.js file or the mml2jax configuration options page
for more details. See the MathML page for more on MathJax’s MathML support.

AsciiMath input

MathJax v2.0 includes a new input format: AsciiMath notation. For mathematics written in this form, you mark your
mathematical expressions by surrounding them in “back-ticks”, i.e., `...`.
Here is a complete sample page containing AsciiMath notation (also available in the test/sample-asciimath.html file):
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>MathJax AsciiMath Test Page</title>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="../MathJax.js?config=AM_HTMLorMML-full"></script>
</head>
<body>

<p>When `a != 0`, there are two solutions to `ax^2 + bx + c = 0` and

they are</p>
<p style="text-align:center">
`x = (-b +- sqrt(b^2-4ac))/(2a) .`
</p>

</body>
</html>

The component of MathJax that recognizes asciimath notation within the page is called the asciimath2jax extension,
and it has only a few configuration options; see the config/default.js file or the asciimath2jax configuration
options page for more details. See the AsciiMath support page for more on MathJax’s AsciiMath support.

1.2.4 Where to go from here?

If you have followed the instructions above, you should now have MathJax installed and configured on your web
server, and you should be able to use it to write web pages that include mathematics. At this point, you can start
making pages that contain mathematical content!
You could also read more about the details of how to customize MathJax.
If you are trying to use MathJax in blog or wiki software or in some other content-management system, you might
want to read about using MathJax in popular platforms.
If you are working on dynamic pages that include mathematics, you might want to read about the MathJax Application
Programming Interface (its API), so you know how to include mathematics in your interactive pages.
If you are having trouble getting MathJax to work, you can read more about installing MathJax, or loading and
configuring MathJax.

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

Finally, if you have questions or comments, or want to help support MathJax, you could visit the MathJax community
forums or the MathJax bug tracker.

1.3 Installing and Testing MathJax

The easiest way to use MathJax is to link directly to the MathJax distributed network service (see Using the MathJax
CDN). In that case, there is no need to install MathJax yourself, and you can begin using MathJax right away; skip
this document on installation and go directly to Configuring MathJax.
MathJax can be loaded from a public web server or privately from your hard drive or other local media. To use
MathJax in either way, you will need to obtain a copy of MathJax. There are three ways to do this: via git, svn, or
via a pre-packaged archive. We recommend git or svn, as it is easier to keep your installation up to date with these
tools.

1.3.1 Obtaining MathJax via Git

The easiest way to get MathJax and keep it up to date is to use the Git version control system to access our GitHub
repository. Use the command

git clone git://github.com/mathjax/MathJax.git MathJax

to obtain and set up a copy of MathJax. (Note that there is no longer a fonts.zip file, as there was in v1.0, and that
the fonts directory is now part of the repository itself.)
Whenever you want to update MathJax, you can now use

cd MathJax
git remote show origin

to check if there are updates to MathJax (this will print several lines of data, but the last line should tell you if your
copy is up to date or out of date). If MathJax needs updating, use

cd MathJax
git pull origin

to update your copy of MathJax to the current release version. If you keep MathJax updated in this way, you will be
sure that you have the latest bug fixes and new features as they become available.
This gets you the current development copy of MathJax, which is the version that contains all the latest changes to
MathJax. Although we try to make sure this version is a stable and usable version of MathJax, it is under active
development, and at times it may be less stable than the “release” version. If you prefer to use the most stable version
(that may not include all the latest patches and features), you will want to get one of the tagged releases. Use

cd MathJax
git tag -l

to see all tagged versions, and use

cd MathJax
git checkout <tag_name>

to checkout the indicated version of MathJax, where <tag_name> is the name of the tagged version you want to use.
When you want to upgrade to a new release, you will need to repeat this for the latest release tag.

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Each of the main releases also has a branch in which critical updates are applied (we try hard not to patch the stable
releases, but sometimes there is a crucial change that needs to be made). If you want to use the patched version of a
release, then check out the branch rather than the tag. Use
cd MathJax
git branch

to get a list of the available branches. There are separate branches for the main releases, but with -latest appended.
These contain all the patches for that particular release. You can check out one of the branches just as you would a
tagged copy. For example, the branch for the v2.0 tagged release is v2.0-latest. To get this release, use
cd MathJax
git checkout v2.0-latest

and to update it when changes occur, use

cd MathJax
git pull origin v2.0-latest

1.3.2 Obtaining MathJax via SVN

If you are more comfortable with the subversion source control system, you may want to use GitHub’s svn service to
obtain MathJax. If you want to get the latest revision using svn, use the command
svn checkout http://github.com/mathjax/MathJax/trunk MathJax

to obtain and set up a copy of MathJax. (Note that there is no longer a fonts.zip file as of v1.1, and that the fonts
directory is now part of the repository itself.)
Whenever you want to update MathJax, you can now use
cd MathJax
svn status -u

to check if there are updates to MathJax. If MathJax needs updating, use

cd MathJax
svn update

to update your copy of MathJax to the current release version. If you keep MathJax updated in this way, you will be
sure that you have the latest bug fixes and new features as they become available.
This gets you the current development copy of MathJax, which is the version that contains all the latest changes to
MathJax. Although we try to make sure this version is a stable and usable version of MathJax, it is under active
development, and at times it may be less stable than the “release” version. If you prefer to use one of the tagged
releases instead, then use
svn checkout http://github.com/mathjax/MathJax/branch/[name] MathJax

where [name] is replaced by the name of the branch you want to check out; e.g., 2.0-latest. The branch names
can be found on the GitHub MathJax page under the branches tab.

1.3.3 Obtaining MathJax via an archive

Release versions of MathJax are available in archive files from the MathJax download page or the MathJax GitHub
page (via the “zip” button, or the “downloads” tab), where you can download the archive that you need.

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

You should download the v2.0 archive (which will get you a file with a name like mathjax-MathJax-v2.
0-X-XXXXXXXX.zip, where the X’s are some sequence of random-looking letters and numbers), then simply unzip
it. Once the MathJax directory is unpacked, you should move it to the desired location on your server (or your hard
disk, if you are using it locally rather then through a web server). One natural location is to put it at the top level of
your web server’s hierarchy. That would let you refer to the main MathJax file as /MathJax/MathJax.js from
within any page on your server.
From the MathJax GitHub download link, you can also select the Download .tar.gz or Download .zip
buttons to get a copy of the current development version of MathJax that contains all the latest changes and bug-fixes.
If a packaged release receives any important updates, then those updates will be part of the branch for that version.
The link to the .zip file in the download list will be the original release version, not the patched version. To obtain
the patched version, use the Branches drop down menu (at the far left of the menus within the page) to select the
release branch that you want (for example v2.0-latest), and then use the “zip” button just above it to get the latest
patched version of that release.

1.3.4 Testing your installation

Use the HTML files in the test directory to see if your installation is working properly:

test/
index.html # Tests default configuration
index-images.html # Tests image-font fallback display
sample.html # Sample page with lots of pretty equations
examples.html # Page with links to all sample pages

Open these files in your browser to see that they appear to be working properly. If you have installed MathJax on a
server, use the web address for those files rather than opening them locally. When you view the index.html file,
you should see (after a few moments) a message that MathJax appears to be working. If not, you should check that the
files have been transferred to the server completely, and that the permissions allow the server to access the files and
folders that are part of the MathJax directory (be sure to verify the MathJax folder’s permissions as well). Checking
the server logs may help locate problems with the installation.

1.3.5 Notes about shared installations

Typically, you want to have MathJax installed on the same server as your web pages that use MathJax. There are
times, however, when that may be impractical, or when you want to use a MathJax installation at a different site. For
example, a departmental server at www.math.yourcollege.edu might like to use a college-wide installation at
www.yourcollege.edu rather than installing a separate copy on the departmental machine. MathJax can certainly
be loaded from another server, but there is one important caveat — Firefox’s and IE9’s same-origin security policy for
cross-domain scripting.
Firefox’s interpretation of the same-origin policy is more strict than most other browsers, and it affects how fonts are
loaded with the @font-face CSS directive. MathJax uses this directive to load web-based math fonts into a page when
the user doesn’t have them installed locally on their own computer. Firefox’s security policy, however, only allows
this when the fonts come from the same server as the web page itself, so if you load MathJax (and hence its web fonts)
from a different server, Firefox won’t be able to access those web fonts. In this case, MathJax will pause while waiting
for the font to download (which will never happen); it will time out after about 5 seconds and switch to image fonts as
a fallback. Similarly, IE9 has a similar same-origin policy in its IE9 standards mode, so it exhibits this same behavior.
There is a solution to this, however, if you manage the server where MathJax is installed, and if that server is running
the Apache web server. In the remote server’s MathJax/fonts/ folder, create a file called .htaccess that
contains the following lines:

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<FilesMatch "\.(ttf|otf|eot|woff)$">
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>

and make sure the permissions allow the server to read this file. (The file’s name starts with a period, which causes
it to be an “invisible” file on unix-based operating systems. Some systems, particularly those with graphical user
interfaces, may not allow you to create such files, so you might need to use the command-line interface to accomplish
this.)
This file should make it possible for pages at other sites to load MathJax from this server in such a way that Firefox
and IE9 will be able to download the web-based fonts. If you want to restrict the sites that can access the web fonts,
change the Access-Control-Allow-Origin line to something like:

Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "http://www.math.yourcollege.edu"

so that only pages at www.math.yourcollege.edu will be able to download the fonts from this site. See the
open font library discussion of web-font linking for more details.

1.3.6 Firefox and local fonts

Firefox’s same-origin security policy affects its ability to load web-based fonts, as described above. This has implica-
tions not only to cross-domain loading of MathJax, but also to using MathJax locally from your hard disk. Firefox’s
interpretation of the same-origin policy for local files is that the “same domain” for a page is the directory where that
page exists, or any of its subdirectories. So if you use MathJax in a page with a file:// URL, and if MathJax is
loaded from a directory other than the one containing the original page, then MathJax will not be able to access the
web-based fonts in Firefox. In that case, MathJax will fall back on image fonts to display the mathematics.
In order for Firefox to be able to load the fonts properly for a local file, your MathJax installation must be in a
subdirectory of the one containing the page that uses MathJax. This is an unfortunate restriction, but it is a limitiation
imposed by Firefox’s security model that MathJax can not circumvent. Currently, this is not a problem for other
browsers.
One solution to this problem is to install the MathJax fonts locally, so that Firefox will not have to use web-based fonts
in the first place. To do that, either install the STIX fonts, or copy the fonts from MathJax/fonts/HTML-CSS/
TeX/otf into your systems fonts directory and restart your browser (see the MathJax fonts help page for details).

1.3.7 IE9 and remote fonts

IE9’s same-origin policy affects its ability to load web-based fonts, as described above. This has implications not
ony to cross-domain loading of MathJax, but also to the case where you view a local page (with a file:// URL)
that accesses MathJax from a remote site such as the MathJax CDN service. In this case, IE9 does not honor the
Access-Control-Allow-Origin setting of the remote server (as it would if the web page came from an
http:// URL), and so it never allows the font to be accessed.
One solution to this problem is to install the MathJax fonts locally so that MathJax doesn’t have to use web-based
fonts in the first place. Your best bet is to install the STIX fonts on your system (see the MathJax fonts help page for
details).

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1.4 Loading and Configuring MathJax

You load MathJax into a web page by including its main JavaScript file into the page. That is done via a <script>
tag that links to the MathJax.js file. To do that, place the following line in the <head> section of your document:

<script type="text/javascript" src="path-to-MathJax/MathJax.js"></script>

where path-to-MathJax is replaced by the URL of the copy of MathJax that you are loading. For example, if you
are using the MathJax distributed network service, the tag might be

If you have installed MathJax yourself, path-to-MathJax will be the location of MathJax on your server, or (if
you are using MathJax locally rather than through a server) the location of that directory on your hard disk. For
example, if the MathJax directory is at the top level of your web server’s directory hierarchy, you might use

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js"></script>

to load MathJax.
If you install MathJax on a server in a domain that is different from the one containing the page that will load MathJax,
then there are issues involved in doing so that you need to take into consideration. See the Notes About Shared Servers
for more details.
When you load MathJax, it is common to request a specific configuration file as discussed in the section on Using a
Configuration File below, and in more detail in the Common Configurations section. A typical invocation of MathJax
would be

</script>

which loads MathJax with a configuration file that includes everything you need in order to enter mathematics in either
TeX, LaTeX, or MathML notation, and produces output using MathML if the browser supports that well enough, or
HTML-with-CSS otherwise. If you don’t load an explicit configuration file, you will need to include an in-line
configuration block in order to tell MathJax how to read and display the mathematics on your pages. See the section
below on Using In-line Configuration Options for details.
It is best to load MathJax in the document’s <head> block, but it is also possible to load MathJax into the <body>
section, if needed. If you do this, load it as early as possible, as MathJax will begin to load its components as soon as
it is included in the page, and that will help speed up the processing of the mathematics on your page. MathJax does
expect there to be a <head> section to the document, however, so be sure there is one if you are loading MathJax in
the <body>.
It is also possible to load MathJax dynamically after the page has been prepared, for example, via a GreaseMon-
key script, or using a specially prepared bookmarklet. This is an advanced topic, however; see Loading MathJax
Dynamically for more details.

1.4.1 Loading MathJax from the CDN

MathJax is available as a web service from cdn.mathjax.org, so you can obtain MathJax from there without
needing to install it on your own server. The CDN is part of a distributed “cloud” network, so it is handled by servers

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around the world. That means that you should get access to a server geographically near you, for a fast, reliable
connection.
The CDN hosts the most current version of MathJax, as well as older versions, so you can either link to a version that
stays up-to-date as MathJax is improved, or you can stay with one of the release versions so that your pages always
use the same version of MathJax.
The URL that you use to obtain MathJax determines the version that you get. The CDN has the following directory
structure:

mathjax/ # project-name
1.0-latest/
1.1-latest/ # the 1.1 release with any ciritical patches
2.0-beta/ # temporary
2.0-latest/ # the 2.0 release with any ciritical patches
...
latest/ # the most current version (2.0-latest in this case)

Each directory corresponds to an official MathJax release; however, hotfixes (urgent bug fixes) will be applied in each
release branch as necessary, even if new releases are not prepared. In other words, 1.1-latest will initially point
to v1.1, but over time may be updated with patches that would correspond to releases that might be numbers 1.1a,
1.1b, etc., even if such releases are not actually packaged for separate distribution (they likely won’t be). We may
occasionally introduce directories for betas, as indicated above, but they will be temporary, and will be removed after
the official release.
To load from a particular release, use the directory for that release. For example,

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/1.1-latest/MathJax.

˓→js"></script>

will load the stable v1.1 version, even after we release v2.0 or other later versions, while

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js">

˓→</script>

will always be the most current stable release, so it will go from v1.1 to v2.0 automatically when that is released. Note
that all the versions available on the CDN are stable versions; the development version is not hosted on the CDN. (If
you wish to use the development version of MathJax, you will need to install your own copy; see Installing and Testing
MathJax for information on how to do that.)
The use of cdn.mathjax.org is governed by its terms of service, so be sure to read that before linking to the
MathJax CDN server.
If you wish to use the MathJax CDN but use your own configuration file rather than one of the pre-defined ones, see
the information at the end of the Using a Local Configuration File section below.

1.4.2 Configuring MathJax

There are two ways to configure MathJax: via a configuration file, or by including configuration commands within the
web page itself. These can be used independently, or in combination. For example, you can load a main pre-defined
configuration file, but include in-line commands to adjust the configuration to your needs.
Note that you must use at least one of these two forms of configuration. Unlike MathJax v1.0, version 1.1 and higher
does not load a default configuration file. If you have been using version 1.0’s config/MathJax.js for your
configuration, you will need to load that configuration file explicitly via a config parameter, as described below.

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1.4.3 Using a configuration file

The first way to configure MathJax is to use a configuration file. MathJax comes with a number of pre-defined
configuration files, which are stored in the MathJax/config directory. Among these are the following
default.js
A file that contains nearly all the configuration options with comments describing them, which you can edit to
suit your needs.
TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML.js
Allows math to be specified in TeX, LaTeX, or MathML notation, with the AMSmath and AMSsymbols pack-
ages included, producing output using MathML if the browser supports it sufficiently, and HTML-with-CSS
otherwise.
TeX-AMS_HTML.js
Allows math to be specified in TeX or LaTeX notation, with the AMSmath and AMSsymbols packages included,
and produces output using the HTML-CSS output processor.
MML_HTMLorMML.js
Allows math to be specified using MathML notation, and produces MathML output if the browser supports it
sufficiently, or HTML-CSS output otherwise.
AM_HTMLorMML.js
Allows math to be specified using AsciiMath notation, producing output in MathML if the browser supports it
sufficiently, or as HTML-with-CSS otherwise.
TeX-AMS-MML_SVG.js
Allows math to be specified in TeX, LaTeX, or MathML notation, with the AMSmath and AMSsymbols packages
included, producing output using SVG.
TeX-MML-AM_HTMLorMML.js
Allows math to be specified in TeX, LaTeX, MathML, or AsciiMath notation, with the AMSmath and AMSsymbols
packages included, producing output using MathML if the browser supports it sufficiently, and HTML-with-CSS
otherwise.
The first of these is a file that you can edit to suit your needs. It contains nearly all the configuration options that
MathJax allows, and has comments explaining them. The others are what are called combined configuration files,
which not only configure MathJax, but also pre-load the various files that the configuration requires. (The contents of
these files are explained in more detail in the Common Configurations section.)
Usually, MathJax loads its components only when they are needed, but each component will require a separate file to
be loaded, and that can cause delays before the mathematics is displayed. The combined configuration files load the
majority of the needed files all as one large file, reducing the number of network requests that are needed. That means
you will probably be getting the components that MathJax needs faster than you would without the combined file, but
you may be loading components that are never actually used; that is the trade off.
Each of the combined configuration files comes in two flavors: the ones listed above, which only configure the output
processors but don’t include the main code, and a “full” version, that also includes the complete output processors. For
example, with TeX-AMS_HTML.js and TeX-AMS_HTML-full.js, the latter includes the complete HTML-CSS
output processor. The “full” configuration files are substantially larger (on the order of 70KB more), so you need to
decide whether it is worth loading the full configuration for your pages.
If most of your pages include mathematics, then it is to your advantage to load the full version, but if you are including
MathJax in a theme file for a blog or wiki that only includes mathematics occasionally, then perhaps it is better to
use the standard configuration instead, in which case the output processors are only loaded when they are actually
needed, saving the loading of 70KB for pages that don’t. Of course, if your server is configured to compress the files
it sends, the difference between the two is considerably reduced. Furthermore, most browsers will cache the javascript
they receive, so the download cost should only occur on the first page a user views, so it may be best to use the “full”
version after all. Note, however, that mobile devices sometimes have limits on the size of files that they cache, so they

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may be forced to download the configuration on every page. You need to keep these issues in mind as you decide on
which configuration to use.
To load a configuration file, use config=filename (where filename is one of the names above without the
.js) as a parameter to the URL of the MathJax.js file. For example

</script>

loads the config/TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML.js configuration file from the MathJax distributed network ser-
vice.
You can include more than one configuration file by separating them with commas. For example, if you have a
locally defined configuration file called MathJax/config/local/local.js that modifies the settings for the
TeX-AMS_HML configuration, defines some new TeX macros, and so on, you can use

to first load the main configuration, then the local modifications.

1.4.4 Using a local configuration file with the CDN

You can load MathJax from the MathJax CDN server but still use a configuration from your own local server. For
example, suppose you have a configuration file called local.js on your own server, in a directory called MathJax/
config/local. Then you can load MathJax from the CDN and still use your configuration file as follows:

</script>

Because the local.js file is not on the CDN server, you must give the complete URL to the local configuration file.
Note that you also have to edit the loadComplete() call that is at the bottom of the configuration file to change it
from [MathJax]/config/local/local.js to the complete URL as you give it in the config parameter. In
the example above, it would be

MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete("http://myserver.com/MathJax/config/local/local.js");

That is because the [MathJax] in the original URL refers to the root directory where MathJax.js was loaded,
which is on the CDN, not your local server, and so you need to tell MathJax the actual location of your configuration
file.

1.4.5 Using in-line configuration options

The second way to configure MathJax is through in-line configuration, which puts the configuration options within
the web page itself. The use of in-line configuration with MathJax requires two separate <script> tags: one for
specifying the configuration settings and one for loading of MathJax. Because MathJax starts its configuration process
as soon as it is loaded, the configuration script must come before the script tag that loads MathJax.js itself. You
do this by including a <script> with type="text/x-mathjax-config" whose content will be run when
MathJax performs its configuration. Generally, this script will include a MathJax.Hub.Config() call to perform
MathJax configuration, but it can also include other MathJax commands, such as registering signal actions, or any

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JavaScript commands that you want. You can have as many such script tags as you need, and MathJax will process
them in the order in which they appear in the document.
For instance,

This example includes the tex2jax preprocessor and configures it to use both the standard TeX and LaTeX math delim-
iters. It uses the TeX input processor and the HTML-CSS output processor, and forces the HTML-CSS processor to
use the TeX fonts rather than other locally installed fonts (e.g., STIX fonts). See the configuration options section (or
the comments in the config/default.js file) for more information about the configuration options that you can
include in the MathJax.Hub.Config() call. This configuration does not load any pre-defined configuration file.
Note that you can combine in-line configuration with file-based configuration; simply include text/
x-mathjax-config scripts as above, but also include config=filename when you load the MathJax.js
file. For example, the tex2jax preprocessor does not enable the TeX single-dollar in-line math delimiters by default.
You can load one of the pre-defined configuration files that includes the TeX preprocessor, and use an in-line configu-
ration block to enable the single-dollar signs, as in this example:

1.4.6 Configuring MathJax after it is loaded

Because MathJax begins its configuration process immediately after it is loaded (so that it can start loading files as
quickly as it can), the configuration blocks for MathJax must come before MathJax.js is loaded, so they will be
available to MathJax when it starts up. There are situations, however, when you might want to put off configuring
MathJax until later in the page.
One such situation is when you have a site that loads MathJax as part of a theme or template, but want to be able to
modify the configuration on specific pages of the site. To accomplish this, you need to ask MathJax to delay its startup
configuration until some later time. MathJax uses the delayStartupUntil parameter to control the timing of the
startup sequence. By default, it is set to none, meaning there is no delay and MathJax starts configuration right away.
You can set delayStartupUntil=onload in order to prevent MathJax from continuing its startup process until
the page’s onLoad handler fires. This allows MathJax to find the text/x-mathjax-config blocks that occur
anywhere on the page, not just the ones that appear above the <script> that loads MathJax.js. It also means

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that MathJax will not begin loading any of the files that it needs until then as well, which may delay the displaying of
your mathematics, since the onLoad handler doesn’t execute until all the images and other media are available. (If you
have used a combined configuration file, however, it already includes all the main files that MathJax needs, so there is
not much loss in delaying the startup.)
You can set delayStartupUntil=configured in order to delay the startup configuration until the MathJax.
Hub.Configured() method is called. This allows you to delay startup until later on the page, but then restart the
MathJax configuration process as soon as possible rather than waiting for the entire page to load. For example, you
could use
<script type="text/javascript"
src="path-to-MathJax/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML&
˓→delayStartupUntil=configured">

</script>

in your theme’s header file, and

in its footer, so that MathJax will delay setting up until the footer is reached, but will not have to wait until images
and other files are loaded. In this way, if you have text/x-mathjax-config script tags within the main body
of the document, MathJax will read and process those before continuing its startup. In this way you can use a default
configuration that can be modified on a page-by-page basis.
Note that MathJax.Hub.Configured() is not called by MathJax; you must make that call somewhere within the
page yourself after the configuration blocks are set up. If you do not execute this function, MathJax will not process
any of the math on the page.

1.4.7 Details of the MathJax configuration process

Since there are a number of different ways to configure MathJax, it is important to know how they interact. The
configuration actions are the following:
1. Process any configuration file explicitly specified as a script parameter.
2. Process the in-line script body (deprecated), if present.
3. If delayed startup is requested, wait for the indicated signal.
4. Process text/x-mathjax-config config blocks.
5. Process any config files queued in the configuration’s config array by earlier config code.
Note that text/x-mathjax-config script blocks must either precede the MathJax.js script element, or
startup must be delayed. Otherwise, blocks that follow the MathJax.js script element may or may not be available
when MathJax runs, and browser-dependent erratic behavior will result.

1.5 Common Configurations

MathJax comes with a number of pre-defined configuration files in the MathJax/config directory. The default.
js file contains nearly all the possible configuration options together with comments explaining them, so you can use
that file to customize MathJax to your needs. Simply load it via
<script type="text/javascript" src="path-to-MathJax/MathJax.js?config=default"></
˓→script>
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

where path-to-MathJax is the URL to the MathJax directory on your server or hard disk. If you are using
MathJax from the CDN, you can view the contents of default.js as a reference, but you will not be able to edit the CDN
copy. It is possible to use the CDN copy of MathJax with your own configuration file, however; see Using a Local
Configuration File with the CDN for details.
The remaining files in the MathJax/config directory are combined configuration files that include not just configuration
parameters but also the files that MathJax would need to load for those configurations. This means MathJax will have
to load fewer files, and since each file access requires establishing connections over the network, it can be faster to
load one larger file than several smaller ones. See Loading and Configuring MathJax for more details about how to
load configurations, and how to modify the parameters for a configuration file.
The following sections describe the contents of the combined configuration files. Each comes in two flavors: a
standard version and a “full” version. The standard version simply defines the output processor(s) that are part of
the configuration, but doesn’t load the code that implements the output processor. The full version loads the complete
output processors, so everything that MathJax needs for the page should be loaded up front, and there will be no delay
once the page is ready to be processed. To obtain the “full” version, add -full to the end of the configuration file
name.

1.5.1 The TeX-MML-AM_HTMLorMML configuration file

This configuration file is the most general of the pre-defined configurations. It loads all the main MathJax components,
including the TeX, MathML, and AsciiMath preprocessors and input processors, the AMSmath, AMSsymbols, noEr-
rors, and noUndefined TeX extensions, both the native MathML and HTML-with-CSS output processor definitions,
and the MathMenu and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following configuration:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
config: ["MMLorHTML.js"],
jax: ["input/TeX","input/MathML","input/AsciiMath","output/HTML-CSS","output/
˓→NativeMML"],

extensions: ["tex2jax.js","mml2jax.js","asciimath2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js
˓→"],

TeX: {
extensions: ["AMSmath.js","AMSsymbols.js","noErrors.js","noUndefined.js"]
}
});

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax, the TeX, MathML, and AsciiMath input jax main code (not just the definition
files), as well as the toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu.
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.
See the tex2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the tex2jax preprocessor, and the TeX input
jax configuration section for options that control the TeX input processor. See the mml2jax configuration section
for other configuration options for the mml2jax preprocessor, and the MathML input jax configuration section for
options that control the MathML input processor. See the asciimath2jax configuration section for other configuration
options for the asciimath2jax preprocessor, and the AsciiMath input jax configuration section for options that
control the AsciiMath input processor. See MathJax Output Formats for more information on the NativeMML and
HTML-CSS output processors. See the MMLorHTML configuration section for details on the options that control the
MMLorHTML configuration.

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1.5.2 The TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML configuration file

This configuration file is the most commonly used of the pre-defined configurations. It loads all the main MathJax
components, including the TeX and MathML preprocessors and input processors, the AMSmath, AMSsymbols, no-
Errors, and noUndefined TeX extensions, both the native MathML and HTML-with-CSS output processor definitions,
and the MathMenu and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following configuration:

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax, the TeX and MathML input jax main code (not just the definition files),
as well as the toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. 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.
See the tex2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the tex2jax preprocessor, and the TeX input
jax configuration section for options that control the TeX input processor. See the mml2jax configuration section for
other configuration options for the mml2jax preprocessor, and the MathML input jax configuration section for options
that control the MathML input processor. See MathJax Output Formats for more information on the NativeMML and
HTML-CSS output processors. See the MMLorHTML configuration section for details on the options that control the
MMLorHTML configuration.

1.5.3 The TeX-AMS_HTML configuration file

This configuration file is for sites that only use TeX format for their mathematics, and that want the output to be as
close to TeX output as possible. This uses the HTML-CSS output jax (even when the user’s browser understands
MathML). The user can still use the MathJax contextual menu to select the NativeMML output jax if they desire.
This file includes all the important MathJax components for TeX input and output, including the tex2jax preprocessor
and TeX input jax, the AMSmath, AMSsymbols, noErrors, and noUndefined TeX extensions, the HTML-with-CSS
output processor definition, and the MathMenu and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following configura-
tion:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js"],
TeX: {
extensions: ["AMSmath.js","AMSsymbols.js","noErrors.js","noUndefined.js"]
}
});

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax and the TeX input jax main code (not just the definition file), as well as the
toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. The -full version
also loads the HTML-CSS output jax main code, plus the HTML-CSS mtable extension, which is normally loaded on
demand.
See the tex2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the tex2jax preprocessor, and the TeX input
jax configuration section for options that control the TeX input processor. See MathJax Output Formats for more
information on the HTML-CSS output processor.

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MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

1.5.4 The MML_HTMLorMML configuration file

This configuration file is for sites that only use MathML format for their mathematics. It will use MathML output in
browsers where that is supported well, and HTML-CSS output otherwise. The user can still use the MathJax contextual
menu to select the other output format if they desire.
This file includes all the important MathJax components for MathML input and output, including the mml2jax prepro-
cessor and MathML input jax, the NativeMML and HTML-CSS output processor definition files, and the MathMenu
and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following configuration:
MathJax.Hub.Config({
config: ["MMLorHTML.js"],
jax: ["input/MathML","output/HTML-CSS","output/NativeMML"],
extensions: ["mml2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js"]
});

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax and the MathML input jax main code (not just the definition file), as well
as the toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. The -full
version also loads both the HTML-CSS and NativeMML output jax main code files, plus the HTML-CSS mtable
extension, which is normally loaded on demand.
See the mml2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the mml2jax preprocessor, and the MathML
input jax configuration section for options that control the MathML input processor. See MathJax Output Formats for
more information on the NativeMML and HTML-CSS output processors. See the MMLorHTML configuration section
for details on the options that control the MMLorHTML configuration.

1.5.5 The AM_HTMLorMML configuration file

This configuration file is for sites that only use AsciiMath format for their mathematics. It will use MathML output in
browsers where that is supported well, and HTML-CSS output otherwise. The user can still use the MathJax contextual
menu to select the other output format if they desire.
This file includes all the important MathJax components for AsciiMath input and output, including the asciimath2jax
preprocessor and AsciiMath input jax, the NativeMML and HTML-CSS output processor definition files, and the
MathMenu and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following configuration:
MathJax.Hub.Config({
config: ["MMLorHTML.js"],
jax: ["input/AsciiMath","output/HTML-CSS","output/NativeMML"],
extensions: ["asciimath2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js"]
});

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax and the TeX input jax main code (not just the definition file), as well as the
toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. The -full version
also loads the HTML-CSS output jax main code, plus the HTML-CSS mtable extension, which is normally loaded on
demand.
See the asciimath2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the asciimath2jax preprocessor,
and the AsciiMath input jax configuration section for options that control the AsciiMath input processor. See MathJax
Output Formats for more information on the HTML-CSS and NativeMML output processors. See the MMLorHTML
configuration section for details on the options that control the MMLorHTML configuration.

1.5.6 The TeX-AMS-MML_SVG configuration file

This configuration file is the same as TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML except that it uses the SVG output renderer rather
than the NativeMML or HTML-CSS ones. It loads all the main MathJax components, including the TeX and MathML

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preprocessors and input processors, the AMSmath, AMSsymbols, noErrors, and noUndefined TeX extensions, the
SVG output processor definitions, and the MathMenu and MathZoom extensions. It is equivalent to the following
configuration:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
jax: ["input/TeX","input/MathML","output/SVG"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js","mml2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js"],
TeX: {
extensions: ["AMSmath.js","AMSsymbols.js","noErrors.js","noUndefined.js"]
}
});

In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax, the TeX and MathML input jax main code (not just the definition files),
as well as the toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. The
-full version also loads both the SVG output jax main code, plus the SVG mtable extension, which is normally
loaded on demand.
See the tex2jax configuration section for other configuration options for the tex2jax preprocessor, and the TeX input
jax configuration section for options that control the TeX input processor. See the mml2jax configuration section
for other configuration options for the mml2jax preprocessor, and the MathML input jax configuration section for
options that control the MathML input processor. See MathJax Output Formats for more information on the SVG
output processor.

1.5.7 The Accessible configuration file

This configuration file is essentially the same as TeX-AMS-MML_HTMLorMML except that it includes options that
are designed for assistive technology, particularly for those with visual challenged. This file is deprecated since the
controls that make MathJax work with screen readers are now available in the MathJax contextual menu, and so there
is no need to set them in the configuration file any longer. So you can use any of the other pre-defined configurations
and readers with special needs should be able to change the MathJax settings themselves to be appropriate for their
software.
The Accessible configuration is equivalent to the following:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
config: ["MMLorHTML.js"],
jax: ["input/TeX","input/MathML","output/HTML-CSS","output/NativeMML"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js","mml2jax.js","MathMenu.js","MathZoom.js"],
TeX: {
extensions: ["AMSmath.js","AMSsymbols.js","noErrors.js","noUndefined.js"]
},
menuSettings: {
zoom: "Double-Click",
mpContext: true,
mpMouse: true
},
errorSettings: { message: ["[Math Error]"] }
});

This turns off the MathJax contextual menu for IE when MathPlayer is active, and passes mouse events on to Math-
Player to allow screen readers full access to MathPlayer. It also sets the zoom trigger to double-click, so that readers
can see a larger version of the mathematics but double-clicking on any equation.
In addition, it loads the mml Element Jax, the TeX and MathML input jax main code (not just the definition files),
as well as the toMathML extension, which is used by the Show Source option in the MathJax contextual menu. 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.

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1.6 Configuration Objects

The various components of MathJax, including its input and output processors, its preprocessors, its extensions, and the
MathJax core, all can be configured through the config/default.js file, or via a MathJax.Hub.Config()
call (indeed, if you look closely, you will see that config/default.js is itself one big call to MathJax.Hub.
Config()). Anything that is in config/default.js can be included in-line to configure MathJax.
The structure that you pass to MathJax.Hub.Config() is a JavaScript object that includes name:value pairs
giving the names of parameters and their values, with pairs separated by commas. Be careful not to include a comma
after the last value, however, as some browsers (namely Internet Explorer) will fail to process the configuration if you
do.
The MathJax components, like the TeX input processor, have their own sections in the configuration object labeled
by the component name, and using an object as its value. That object is itself a configuration object made up of
name:value pairs that give the configuration options for the component.
For example,

MathJax.Hub.Config({
showProcessingMessages: false,
jax: ["input/TeX", "output/HTML-CSS"],
TeX: {
TagSide: "left",
Macros: {
RR: '{\\bf R}',
bold: ['{\\bf #1}',1]
}
}
});

is a configuration that includes two settings for the MathJax Hub (one for showProcessingMessages and one for the
jax array), and a configuration object for the TeX input processor. The latter includes a setting for the TeX input
processor’s TagSide option (to set tags on the left rather than the right) and a setting for Macros, which defines new
TeX macros (in this case, two macros, one called \RR that produces a bold “R”, and one called \bold that puts is
argument in bold face).
The config/default.js file is another example that shows nearly all the configuration options for all of Math-
Jax’s components.

1.6.1 Configuration Options by Component

The individual options are explained in the following sections, which are categorized by the component they affect.

The Core Configuration Options

The options below control the MathJax Hub, and so determine the code behavior of MathJax. They are given with
their default values.
jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"]
A comma-separated list of input and output jax to initialize at startup. Their main code is loaded only when
they are actually used, so it is not inefficient to include jax that may not actually be used on the page. These are
found in the MathJax/jax directory.
extensions: []
A comma-separated list of extensions to load at startup. The default directory is MathJax/extensions.
The tex2jax and mml2jax preprocessors can be listed here, as well as a FontWarnings extension that

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you can use to inform your user that mathematics fonts are available that they can download to improve their
experience of your site.
config: []
A comma-separated list of configuration files to load when MathJax starts up, e.g., to define local macros, etc.,
and there is a sample config file named config/local/local.js. The default directory is the Math-
Jax/config directory. The MMLorHTML.js configuration is one such configuration file, and there are a number
of other pre-defined configurations (see Using a configuration file for more details).
styleSheets: []
A comma-separated list of CSS stylesheet files to be loaded when MathJax starts up. The default directory is
the MathJax/config directory.
styles: {}
CSS styles to be defined dynamically at startup time. These are in the form selector:rules (see CSS Style Objects
for complete details).
preJax: null and postJax: null
Patterns to remove from before and after math script tags. If you are not using one of the preprocessors, you
need to insert something extra into your HTML file in order to avoid a bug in Internet Explorer. IE removes
spaces from the DOM that it thinks are redundant, and since a <script> tag usually doesn’t add content to
the page, if there is a space before and after a MathJax <script> tag, IE will remove the first space. When
MathJax inserts the typeset mathematics, this means there will be no space before it and the preceding text. In
order to avoid this, you should include some “guard characters” before or after the math SCRIPT tag; define the
patterns you want to use below. Note that these are used as part of a regular expression, so you will need to quote
special characters. Furthermore, since they are javascript strings, you must quote javascript special characters
as well. So to obtain a backslash, you must use \\ (doubled for javascript). For example, "\\[" represents
the pattern \[ in the regular expression, or [ in the text of the web page. That means that if you want an actual
backslash in your guard characters, you need to use "\\\\" in order to get \\ in the regular expression, and \
in the actual text. If both preJax and postJax are defined, both must be present in order to be removed.
See also the preRemoveClass comments below.
Examples:
preJax: "\\\\\\\\\" makes a double backslash the preJax text
preJax: "\\[\\[", postJax: "\\]\\]" makes it so jax scripts must be enclosed in
double brackets.
preRemoveClass: "MathJax_Preview"
This is the CSS class name for math previews that will be removed preceding a MathJax SCRIPT tag. If the tag
just before the MathJax <script> tag is of this class, its contents are removed when MathJax processes the
<script> tag. This allows you to include a math preview in a form that will be displayed prior to MathJax
performing its typesetting. It also avoids the Internet Explorer space-removal bug, and can be used in place of
preJax and postJax if that is more convenient.
For example

<span class="MathJax_Preview">[math]</span><script type="math/tex">...</script>

would display “[math]” in place of the math until MathJax is able to typeset it.
See also the preJax and postJax comments above.
showProcessingMessages: true
This value controls whether the Processing Math: nn% messages are displayed in the lower left-hand corner.
Set to false to prevent those messages (though file loading and other messages will still be shown).
messageStyle: "normal"
This value controls the verbosity of the messages in the lower left-hand corner. Set it to "none" to eliminate

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all messages, or set it to "simple" to show “Loading. . . ” and “Processing. . . ” rather than showing the full file
name or the percentage of the mathematics processed.
displayAlign: "center" and displayIndent: "0em"
These two parameters control the alignment and shifting of displayed equations. The first can be "left",
"center", or "right", and determines the alignment of displayed equations. When the alignment is not
"center", the second determines an indentation from the left or right side for the displayed equations.
delayStartupUntil: "none"
Normally MathJax will perform its startup commands (loading of configuration, styles, jax, and so on) as soon
as it can. If you expect to be doing additional configuration on the page, however, you may want to have it wait
until the page’s onload handler is called. If so, set this to "onload". You can also set this to "configured",
in which case, MathJax will delay its startup until you explicitly call MathJax.Hub.Configured(). See
Configuring MathJax after it is loaded for more details.
skipStartupTypeset: false
Normally MathJax will typeset the mathematics on the page as soon as the page is loaded. If you want to delay
that process, in which case you will need to call MathJax.Hub.Typeset() yourself by hand, set this value
to true.
elements: []
This is a list of DOM element ID’s that are the ones to process for mathematics when any of the Hub typesetting
calls (Typeset(), Process(), Update(), etc.) are called with no element specified, and during MathJax’s
initial typesetting run when it starts up. This lets you restrict the processing to particular containers rather than
scanning the entire document for mathematics. If none are supplied, the complete document is processed.
positionToHash: true
Since typesetting usually changes the vertical dimensions of the page, if the URL contains an anchor position,
then after the page is typeset, you may no longer be positioned at the correct position on the page. MathJax
can reposition to that location after it completes its initial typesetting of the page. This value controls whether
MathJax will reposition the browser to the #hash location from the page URL after typesetting for the page.
showMathMenu: true
showMathMenuMSIE: true
These control whether to attach the MathJax contextual menu to the expressions typeset by MathJax. Since
the code for handling MathPlayer in Internet Explorer is somewhat delicate, it is controlled separately via
showMathMenuMSIE, but the latter is now deprecated in favor of the MathJax contextual menu settings for
MathPlayer (see below).
If showMathMenu is true, then right-clicking (on Windows or Linux) or control-clicking (on Mac OS X)
will produce a MathJax menu that allows you to get the source of the mathematics in various formats, change
the size of the mathematics relative to the surrounding text, get information about MathJax, and configure other
MathJax settings.
Set this to false to disable the menu. When true, the MathMenu configuration block determines the oper-
ation of the menu. See the MathMenu options for more details.
These values used to be listed in the separate output jax, but have been moved to this more central location since
they are shared by all output jax. MathJax will still honor their values from their original positions, if they are
set there.
menuSettings: { ... }
This block contains settings for the mathematics contextual menu that act as the defaults for the user’s settings
in that menu. The possible values are:
zoom: "None"
This indicates when typeset mathematics should be zoomed. It can be set to "None", "Hover",
"Click", or "Double-Click" to set the zoom trigger.

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CTRL: false, ALT: false, CMD: false, Shift: false

These values indicate which keys must be pressed in order for math zoom to be triggered. For example, if
CTRL is set to true and zoom is "Click", then math will be zoomed only when the user control-clicks
on mathematics (i.e., clicks while holding down the CTRL key). If more than one is true, then all the
indicated keys must be pressed for the zoom to occur.
zscale: "200%"
This is the zoom scaling factor, and it can be set to any of the values available in the Zoom Factor menu of
the Settings submenu of the contextual menu.
context: "MathJax"
This controls what contextual menu will be presented when a right click (on a PC) or CTRL-click (on the
Mac) occurs over a typeset equation. When set to "MathJax", the MathJax contextual menu will appear;
when set to "Browser", the browser’s contextual menu will be used. For example, in Internet Explorer
with the MathPlayer plugin, if this is set to "Browser", you will get the MathPlayer contextual menu
rather than the MathJax menu.
texHints: true
This controls whether the “Show Source” menu item includes special class names that help MathJax to
typeset the mathematics that was produced by the TeX input jax. If these are included, then you can take
the output from “Show Source” and put it into a page that uses MathJax’s MathML input jax and expect to
get the same results as the original TeX. (Without this, there may be some spacing differences.)
There are also settings for format, renderer, font, mpContext, and mpMouse, but these are maintained
by MathJax and should not be set by the page author.
errorSettings: { ... }
This block contains settings that control how MathJax responds to unexpected errors while processing mathe-
matical equations. Rather than simply crash, MathJax can report an error and go on. The options you can set
include:
message: ["[Math Processing Error]"]
This is an HTML snippet that will be inserted at the location of the mathematics for any formula that
causes MathJax to produce an internal error (i.e., an error in the MathJax code itself). See the description
of HTML snippets for details on how to represent HTML code in this way.
style: {color:"#CC0000", "font-style":"italic"}
This is the CSS style description to use for the error messages produced by internal MathJax errors. See
the section on CSS style objects for details on how these are specified in JavaScript.
v1.0-compatible: true
This controls whether MathJax issues the warning about not having an explicit configuration in the event that
the jax array is empty after configuration is complete. If you really intend that array to be empty, set this flag to
false. Note that setting this to false does not cause a default configuration file to be loaded.

The tex2jax Preprocessor

The options below control the operation of the tex2jax preprocessor that is run when you include "tex2jax.js"
in the extensions array of your configuration. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options,
include a tex2jax section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
tex2jax: {
inlineMath: [ ['$','$'], ['\$','\$'] ]
}
});

would set the inlineMath delimiters for the tex2jax preprocessor.

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inlineMath: [['$','$']]
Array of pairs of strings that are to be used as in-line math delimiters. The first in each pair is the initial delimiter
and the second is the terminal delimiter. You can have as many pairs as you want. For example,

inlineMath: [ ['$','$'], ['\$','\$'] ]

would cause tex2jax to look for $...$ and $...$ as delimiters for inline mathematics. (Note that the
single dollar signs are not enabled by default because they are used too frequently in normal text, so if you want
to use them for math delimiters, you must specify them explicitly.)
Note that the delimiters can’t look like HTML tags (i.e., can’t include the less-than sign), as these would be
turned into tags by the browser before MathJax has the chance to run. You can only include text, not tags, as
your math delimiters.
displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'], ['\[','\]'] ]
Array of pairs of strings that are to be used as delimiters for displayed equations. The first in each pair is the
initial delimiter and the second is the terminal delimiter. You can have as many pairs as you want.
Note that the delimiters can’t look like HTML tags (i.e., can’t include the less-than sign), as these would be
turned into tags by the browser before MathJax has the chance to run. You can only include text, not tags, as
your math delimiters.
balanceBraces: true,
This value determines whether tex2jax requires braces to be balanced within math delimiters (which allows for
nested dollar signs). Set to false to get pre-v2.0 compatibility. When true,

$y = x^2 \hbox{ when $x > 2$}$.

will be properly handled as a single expression. When false, it would be interpreted as two searpate expres-
sions, each with improperly balanced braces.
processEscapes: false
When set to true, you may use \$ to represent a literal dollar sign, rather than using it as a math delimiter.
When false, \$ will not be altered, and the dollar sign may be considered part of a math delimiter. Typically
this is set to true if you enable the $ ... $ in-line delimiters, so you can type \$ and tex2jax will convert it
to a regular dollar sign in the rendered document.
processEnvironments: true
When true, tex2jax looks not only for the in-line and display math delimiters, but also for LaTeX environ-
ments (\begin{something}...\end{something}) and marks them for processing by MathJax. When
false, LaTeX environments will not be processed outside of math mode.
preview: "TeX"
This controls whether tex2jax inserts MathJax_Preview spans to make a preview available, and what pre-
view to use, when it locates in-line or display mathematics in the page. The default is "TeX", which means use
the TeX code as the preview (which will be visible until it is processed by MathJax). Set to "none" to prevent
previews from being inserted (the math will simply disappear until it is typeset). Set to an array containing the
description of an HTML snippet in order to use the same preview for all equations on the page.
Examples:

preview: ["[math]"], // insert the text "[math]" as the preview

preview: [["img",{src: "/images/mypic.jpg"}]], // insert an image as the preview

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for ignore/process classes as listed below). You can add to (or remove from) this list to prevent MathJax from
processing mathematics in specific contexts.
ignoreClass: "tex2jax_ignore"
This is the class name used to mark elements whose contents should not be processed by tex2jax (other than
to look for the processClass pattern below). Note that this is a regular expression, and so you need
to be sure to quote any regexp special characters. The pattern is inserted into one that requires your pat-
tern to match a complete word, so setting ignoreClass: "class2" would cause it to match an ele-
ment with class="class1 class2 class3" but not class="myclass2". Note that you can as-
sign several classes by separating them by the vertical line character (|). For instance, with ignoreClass:
"class1|class2" any element assigned a class of either class1 or class2 will be skipped.
processClass: "tex2jax_process"
This is the class name used to mark elements whose contents should be processed by tex2jax. This is used to
restart processing within tags that have been marked as ignored via the ignoreClass or to cause a tag that
appears in the skipTags list to be processed rather than skipped. Note that this is a regular expression, and
so you need to be sure to quote any regexp special characters. The pattern is inserted into one that requires
your pattern to match a complete word, so setting processClass: "class2" would cause it to match an
element with class="class1 class2 class3" but not class="myclass2". Note that you can as-
sign several classes by separating them by the vertical line character (|). For instance, with processClass:
"class1|class2" any element assigned a class of either class1 or class2 will have its contents pro-
cessed.

The mml2jax Preprocessor

The options below control the operation of the mml2jax preprocessor that is run when you include "mml2jax.js"
in the extensions array of your configuration. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options,
include a mml2jax section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
mml2jax: {
preview: "none"
}
});

would set the preview parameter to "none".

preview: "alttext"
This controls whether mml2jax inserts MathJax_Preview spans to make a preview available, and what
preview to use, when it locates mathematics on the page. The default is "alttext", which means use the
<math> tag’s alttext attribute as the preview (visible until it is processed by MathJax), if the tag has one.
Set it to "none" to prevent the previews from being inserted (the math will simply disappear until it is typeset).
Set it to an array containing the description of an HTML snippet in order to use the same preview for all
equations on the page.
Examples:

preview: ["[math]"], // insert the text "[math]" as the preview

preview: [["img",{src: "/images/mypic.jpg"}]], // insert an image as the preview

See the description of HTML snippets for details on how to represent HTML code in this way.

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The asciimath2jax Preprocessor

The options below control the operation of the asciimath2jax preprocessor that is run when you include
"asciimath2jax.js" in the extensions array of your configuration. They are listed with their default values.
To set any of these options, include a asciimath2jax section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For
example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
asciimath2jax: {
delimiters: [['`','`'], ['$','$']]
}
});

would set the ASCIIMath delimiters for the asciimath2jax preprocessor to include dollar signs as well as back-ticks.
delimiters: [['`','`']]
Array of pairs of strings that are to be used as math delimiters. The first in each pair is the initial delimiter and
the second is the terminal delimiter. You can have as many pairs as you want. For example,

inlineMath: [ ['$','$'], ['`','`'] ]

would cause asciimath2jax to look for $...$ and `...` as delimiters for inline mathematics. (Note that the
single dollar signs are not enabled by default because they are used too frequently in normal text, so if you want
to use them for math delimiters, you must specify them explicitly.)
Note that the delimiters can’t look like HTML tags (i.e., can’t include the less-than sign), as these would be
turned into tags by the browser before MathJax has the chance to run. You can only include text, not tags, as
your math delimiters.
preview: "AsciiMath"
This controls whether asciimath2jax inserts MathJax_Preview spans to make a preview available, and what
preview to use, when it locates in-line or display mathematics in the page. The default is "AsciiMath", which
means use the ASCIIMath code as the preview (which will be visible until it is processed by MathJax). Set to
"none" to prevent previews from being inserted (the math will simply disappear until it is typeset). Set to an
array containing the description of an HTML snippet in order to use the same preview for all equations on the
page.
Examples:

preview: ["[math]"], // insert the text "[math]" as the preview

preview: [["img",{src: "/images/mypic.jpg"}]], // insert an image as the preview

See the description of HTML snippets for details on how to represent HTML code in this way.
skipTags: ["script","noscript","style","textarea","pre","code"]
This array lists the names of the tags whose contents should not be processed by asciimath2jax (other than to
look for ignore/process classes as listed below). You can add to (or remove from) this list to prevent MathJax
from processing mathematics in specific contexts.
ignoreClass: "asciimath2jax_ignore"
This is the class name used to mark elements whose contents should not be processed by asciimath2jax (other
than to look for the processClass pattern below). Note that this is a regular expression, and so you need
to be sure to quote any regexp special characters. The pattern is inserted into one that requires your pat-
tern to match a complete word, so setting ignoreClass: "class2" would cause it to match an ele-
ment with class="class1 class2 class3" but not class="myclass2". Note that you can as-
sign several classes by separating them by the vertical line character (|). For instance, with ignoreClass:
"class1|class2" any element assigned a class of either class1 or class2 will be skipped.

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processClass: "asciimath2jax_process"
This is the class name used to mark elements whose contents should be processed by asciimath2jax. This is
used to restart processing within tags that have been marked as ignored via the ignoreClass or to cause
a tag that appears in the skipTags list to be processed rather than skipped. Note that this is a regular ex-
pression, and so you need to be sure to quote any regexp special characters. The pattern is inserted into one
that requires your pattern to match a complete word, so setting processClass: "class2" would cause
it to match an element with class="class1 class2 class3" but not class="myclass2". Note
that you can assign several classes by separating them by the vertical line character (|). For instance, with
processClass: "class1|class2" any element assigned a class of either class1 or class2 will
have its contents processed.

The jsMath2jax Preprocessor

The options below control the operation of the jsMath2jax preprocessor that is run when you include "jsMath2jax.
js" in the extensions array of your configuration. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options,
include a jsMath2jax section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example
MathJax.Hub.Config({
jsMath2jax: {
preview: "none"
}
});

would set the preview parameter to "none".

preview: "TeX"
This controls whether jsMath2jax inserts MathJax_Preview spans to make a preview available, and what
preview to use, when it locates in-line or display mathematics in the page. The default is "TeX", which means
use the TeX code as the preview (which will be visible until it is processed by MathJax). Set to "none"
to prevent previews from being inserted (the math will simply disappear until it is typeset). Set to an array
containing the description of an HTML snippet in order to use the same preview for all equations on the page.
Examples:
preview: ["[math]"], // insert the text "[math]" as the preview

preview: [["img",{src: "/images/mypic.jpg"}]], // insert an image as the preview

See the description of HTML snippets for details on how to represent HTML code in this way.

The TeX input processor

The options below control the operation of the TeX input processor that is run when you include "input/TeX" in
the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file that includes the TeX input jax. They are listed
with their default values. To set any of these options, include a TeX section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call.
For example
MathJax.Hub.Config({
TeX: {
Macros: {
RR: '{\\bf R}',
bold: ['{\\bf #1}', 1]
}
}
});

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would set the Macros configuration option to cause two new macros to be defined within the TeX input processor.
TagSide: "right"
This specifies the side on which \tag{} macros will place the tags. Set it to "left" to place the tags on the
left-hand side.
TagIndent: ".8em"
This is the amount of indentation (from the right or left) for the tags produced by the \tag{} macro.
MultLineWidth: "85%"
The width to use for the multline environment that is part of the AMSmath extension. This width gives room
for tags at either side of the equation, but if you are displaying mathematics in a small area or a thin column of
text, you might need to change the value to leave sufficient margin for tags.
equationNumbers: {}
This object controls the automatic equation numbering and the equation referencing. It contains the following
values:
autoNumber: "none"
This controls whether equations are numbered and how. By default it is set to "none" to be compatible
with earlier versions of MathJax where auto-numbering was not performed (so pages will not change their
appearance). You can change this to "AMS" for equations numbered as the AMSmath package would do,
or "all" to get an equation number for every displayed equation.
formatNumber: function (n) {return n}
A function that tells MathJax what tag to use for equation number n. This could be used to have the
equations labeled by a sequence of symbols rather than numbers, or to use section and subsection numbers
instead.
formatTag: function (n) {return '('+n+')'}
A function that tells MathJax how to format an equation number for displaying as a tag for an equation.
This is what appears in the margin of a tagged or numbered equation.
formatID: function {return 'mjx-eqn-'+String(n).replace(/[:'"<>&]/g,"")}
A function that rells MathJax what ID to use as an anchor for the equation (so that it can be used in URL
references).
formatURL: function (id) {return '#'+escape(id)}
A function that takes an equation ID and returns the URL to link to it.
useLabelIds: true
This controls whether element ID’s use the \label name or the equation number. When true, use the
label, when false, use the equation number.
See the MathJax examples page for some examples of equation numbering.
Macros: {}
This lists macros to define before the TeX input processor begins. These are name:value pairs where the name
gives the name of the TeX macro to be defined, and value gives the replacement text for the macro. The value
can be an array of the form [value,n], where value is the replacement text and n is the number of parameters for
the macro. Note that since the value is a javascript string, backslashes in the replacement text must be doubled
to prevent them from acting as javascript escape characters.
For example,

Macros: {
RR: '{\\bf R}',
bold: ['{\\bf #1}', 1]
}

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would ask the TeX processor to define two new macros: \RR, which produces a bold-face “R”, and \bold{.
..}, which takes one parameter and sets it in the bold-face font.
MAXMACROS: 10000
Because a definition of the form \def\x{\x} \x would cause MathJax to loop infinitely, the MAXMACROS
constant will limit the number of macro substitutions allowed in any expression processed by MathJax.
MAXBUFFER: 5*1024
Because a definition of the form \def\x{\x aaa} \x would loop infinitely, and at the same time stack up
lots of a’s in MathJax’s equation buffer, the MAXBUFFER constant is used to limit the size of the string being
processed by MathJax. It is set to 5KB, which should be sufficient for any reasonable equation.

The MathML input processor

The options below control the operation of the MathML input processor that is run when you include "input/
MathML" in the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file that includes the MathML
input jax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a MathML section in your
MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
MathML: {
useMathMLspacing: true
}
});

would set the useMathMLspacing option so that the MathML rules for spacing would be used (rather than TeX
spacing rules).
useMathMLspacing: false
Specifies whether to use TeX spacing or MathML spacing when the HTML-CSS output jax is used.

The AsciiMath input processor

The options below control the operation of the AsciiMath input processor that is run when you include "input/
AsciiMath" in the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file that includes the AsciiMath
input jax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a AsciiMath section in your
MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
AsciiMath: {
displaystyle: false
}
});

would set the displaystyle configuration option so that the limits for operators like summation symbols will
appear next to them rather than above and below.
displaystyle: true
Determines whether operators like summation symbols will have their limits above and below the operators
(true) or to their right (false). The former is how they would appear in displayed equations that appear on their
own lines, while the latter is better suited to in-line equations so that they don’t interfere with the line spacing
so much.
decimal: "."
This is the character to be used for decimal points in numbers. if you change this to ",", then you need to be
careful about entering points or intervals. E.g., use (1, 2) rather than (1,2) in that case.

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The HTML-CSS output processor

The options below control the operation of the HTML-CSS output processor that is run when you include "output/
HTML-CSS" in the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file that includes the HTML-CSS
output jax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a "HTML-CSS" section in
your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. Note that, because of the dash, you need to enclose the name in quotes. For
example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
"HTML-CSS": {
preferredFont: "STIX"
}
});

would set the preferredFont option to the STIX fonts.

scale: 100
The scaling factor (as a percentage) of math with respect to the surrounding text. The HTML-CSS output
processor tries to match the ex-size of the mathematics with that of the text where it is placed, but you may want
to adjust the results using this scaling factor. The user can also adjust this value using the contextual menu item
associated with the typeset mathematics.
minScaleAdjust: 50
This gives a minimum scale (as a percent) for the scaling used by MathJax to match the equation to the sur-
rounding text. This will prevent MathJax from making the mathematics too small.
availableFonts: ["STIX","TeX"]
This is a list of the fonts to look for on a user’s computer in preference to using MathJax’s web-based fonts.
These must correspond to directories available in the jax/output/HTML-CSS/fonts directory, where
MathJax stores data about the characters available in the fonts. Set this to ["TeX"], for example, to prevent
the use of the STIX fonts, or set it to an empty list, [], if you want to force MathJax to use web-based or image
fonts.
preferredFont: "TeX"
Which font to prefer out of the availableFonts list, when more than one is available on the user’s computer.
webFont: "TeX"
This is the web-based font to use when none of the fonts listed above are available on the user’s computer. Note
that currently only the TeX font is available in a web-based form (they are stored in the fonts/HTML-CSS
folder in the MathJax directory). Set this to null to disable web fonts.
imageFont: "TeX"
This is the font to use for image fallback mode (when none of the fonts listed above are available and the
browser doesn’t support web-fonts via the @font-face CSS directive). Note that currently only the TeX font
is available as an image font (they are stored in the fonts/HTML-CSS directory).
Set this to null if you want to prevent the use of image fonts (e.g., you have deleted or not installed the image
fonts on your server). In this case, only browsers that support web-based fonts will be able to view your pages
without having the fonts installed on the client computer. The browsers that support web-based fonts include:
IE6 and later, Chrome, Safari3.1 and above, Firefox3.5 and later, and Opera10 and later. Note that Firefox3.0 is
not on this list.
undefinedFamily: "STIXGeneral, 'Arial Unicode MS', serif"
This is the font-family CSS value used for characters that are not in the selected font (e.g., for web-based fonts,
this is where to look for characters not included in the MathJax web fonts). IE will stop looking after the first
font that exists on the system (even if it doesn’t contain the needed character), so order these carefully.
mtextFontInherit: false
This setting controls whether <mtext> elements will be typeset using the math fonts or the font of the sur-

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rounding text. When false, the font for mathvariant="normal" will be used; when true, the font will
be inherited from the surrounding paragraph.
EqnChunk: 50
EqnChunkFactor: 1.5
EqnChunkDelay: 100
These values control how “chunky” the display of mathematical expressions will be; that is, how often the
equations will be updated as they are processed.
EqnChunk is the number of equations that will be typeset before they appear on screen. Larger values make
for less visual flicker as the equations are drawn, but also mean longer delays before the reader sees anything.
EqChunkFactor is the factor by which the EqnChunk will grow after each chunk is displayed.
EqChunkDelay is the time (in milliseconds) to delay between chunks (to allow the browser to respond to
other user interaction).
Set EqnChunk to 1, EqnChunkFactor to 1, and EqnChunkDelay to 10 to get the behavior from MathJax
v1.1 and below.
linebreaks: {}
This is an object that configures automatic linebreaking in the HTML-CSS output. In order to be backward
compatible with earlier versions of MathJax, only explicit line breaks are performed by default, so you must
enable line breaks if you want automatic ones. The object contains the following values:
automatic: false
This controls the automatic breaking of expressions: when false, only linebreak="newline" is
processed; when true, line breaks are inserted automatically in long expressions.
width: "container"
This controls how wide the lines of mathematics can be.
Use an explicit width like "30em" for a fixed width. Use "container" to compute the size from the
containing element. Use "nn% container" for a portion of the container. Use "nn%" for a portion of
the window size.
The container-based widths may be slower, and may not produce the expected results if the layout width
changes due to the removal of previews or inclusion of mathematics during typesetting.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the HTML-CSS output. See the definitions in jax/output/
HTML-CSS/config.js for some examples of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for details
on how to specify CSS style in a JavaScript object.
showMathMenu: true
This value has been moved to the core configuration block, since it applies to all output jax, but it will still be
honored (for now) if it is set here. See the Core configuration options for more details.
tooltip: { ... }
This sets the configuration options for <maction> elements with actiontype="tooltip". (See also the
#MathJax_Tooltip style setting in jax/output/HTML-CSS/config.js, which can be overridden
using the styles option above.)
The tooltip section can contain the following options:
delayPost: 600
The delay (in milliseconds) before the tooltip is posted after the mouse is moved over the maction
element.
delayClear: 600
The delay (in milliseconds) before the tooltop is cleared after the mouse moves out of the maction
element.

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offsetX: 10
offsetY: 5
These are the offset from the mouse position (in pixels) where the tooltip will be placed.

The NativeMML output processor

The options below control the operation of the NativeMML output processor that is run when you include "output/
NativeMML" in the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file taht includes the Na-
tiveMML output jax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a NativeMML
section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
NativeMML: {
scale: 105
}
});

would set the scale option to 105 percent.

scale: 100
The scaling factor (as a percentage) of math with respect to the surrounding text. The NativeMML output
processor tries to match the ex-size of the mathematics with that of the text where it is placed, but you may want
to adjust the results using this scaling factor. The user can also adjust this value using the contextual menu item
associated with the typeset mathematics.
minScaleAdjust: 50
This gives a minimum scale (as a percent) for the scaling used by MathJax to match the equation to the sur-
rounding text. This will prevent MathJax from making the mathematics too small.
showMathMath: true
showMathMenuMSIE: true
These values have been moved to the core configuration block, since it applies to all output jax, but they will
still be honored (for now) if it is set here. See the Core configuration options for more details.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the NativeMML output. See the definitions in jax/output/
NativeMML/config.js for some examples of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for
details on how to specify CSS style in a JavaScript object.

The SVG output processor

The options below control the operation of the SVG output processor that is run when you include "output/SVG"
in the jax array of your configuration or load a combined configuration file that includes the SVG output jax. They
are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include an SVG section in your MathJax.Hub.
Config() call. Note that, because of the dash, you need to enclose the name in quotes. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
"SVG": {
scale: 120
}
});

would set the scale option to 120%.

scale: 100
The scaling factor (as a percentage) of math with respect to the surrounding text. The SVG output processor tries

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to match the ex-size of the mathematics with that of the text where it is placed, but you may want to adjust the
results using this scaling factor. The user can also adjust this value using the contextual menu item associated
with the typeset mathematics.
minScaleAdjust: 50
This gives a minimum scale (as a percent) for the scaling used by MathJax to match the equation to the sur-
rounding text. This will prevent MathJax from making the mathematics too small.
font: "TeX"
This is the font to use for rendering the mathematics. Note that currently only the TeX font is available.
blacker: 10
This is the stroke width to use for all character paths (1em = 1000 units). This is a cheap way of getting slightly
lighter or darker characters, but remember that not all displays will act the same, so a value that is good for you
may not be good for everyone.
undefinedFamily: "STIXGeneral, 'Arial Unicode MS', serif"
This is the font-family CSS value used for characters that are not in the selected font (e.g., this is where to look
for characters not included in the MathJax TeX fonts). IE will stop looking after the first font that exists on the
system (even if it doesn’t contain the needed character), so order these carefully.
mtextFontInherit: false
This setting controls whether <mtext> elements will be typeset using the math fonts or the font of the sur-
rounding text. When false, the font for mathvariant="normal" will be used; when true, the font will
be inherited from the surrounding paragraph.
addMMLclasses: false
This controls whether the MathML structure is retained and CSS classes are added to mark the original MathML
elements (as in the output from the HTML-CSS output jax). By default, the SVG output jax removes unneeded
nesting in order to produce a more efficient markup, but if you want to use CSS to style the elements as if they
were MathML, you might need to set this to true.
EqnChunk: 50
EqnChunkFactor: 1.5
EqnChunkDelay: 100
These values control how “chunky” the display of mathematical expressions will be; that is, how often the
equations will be updated as they are processed.
EqnChunk is the number of equations that will be typeset before they appear on screen. Larger values make
for less visual flicker as the equations are drawn, but also mean longer delays before the reader sees anything.
EqChunkFactor is the factor by which the EqnChunk will grow after each chunk is displayed.
EqChunkDelay is the time (in milliseconds) to delay between chunks (to allow the browser to respond to
other user interaction).
Set EqnChunk to 1, EqnChunkFactor to 1, and EqnChunkDelay to 10 to get the behavior from MathJax
v1.1 and below.
linebreaks: {}
This is an object that configures automatic linebreaking in the SVG output. In order to be backward compatible
with earlier versions of MathJax, only explicit line breaks are performed by default, so you must enable line
breaks if you want automatic ones. The object contains the following values:
automatic: false
This controls the automatic breaking of expressions: when false, only linebreak="newline" is
processed; when true, line breaks are inserted automatically in long expressions.
width: "container"
This controls how wide the lines of mathematics can be.

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Use an explicit width like "30em" for a fixed width. Use "container" to compute the size from the
containing element. Use "nn% container" for a portion of the container. Use "nn%" for a portion of
the window size.
The container-based widths may be slower, and may not produce the expected results if the layout width
changes due to the removal of previews or inclusion of mathematics during typesetting.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the SVG output. See the definitions in jax/output/SVG/
config.js for some examples of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for details on how to
specify CSS style in a JavaScript object.
tooltip: { ... }
This sets the configuration options for <maction> elements with actiontype="tooltip". (See also the
#MathJax_Tooltip style setting in jax/output/SVG/config.js, which can be overridden using the
styles option above.)
The tooltip section can contain the following options:
delayPost: 600
The delay (in milliseconds) before the tooltip is posted after the mouse is moved over the maction
element.
delayClear: 600
The delay (in milliseconds) before the tooltop is cleared after the mouse moves out of the maction
element.
offsetX: 10
offsetY: 5
These are the offset from the mouse position (in pixels) where the tooltip will be placed.

The MMLorHTML configuration options

The options below control the operation of the MMLorHTML configuration file that is run when you include
"MMLorHTML.js" in the config array of your configuration, or when you use one of the combined configuration
files that ends with _HTMLorMML. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a
MMLorHTML section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
MMLorHTML: {
prefer: {
Opera: "MML"
}
}
});

would set the prefer option so that the Opera browser would prefer MathML to HTML-CSS output (while leaving
the settings for other browsers unchanged).
Note that if you use the MMLorHTML.js configuration file, you should not specify an output processor in the jax
array of your configuration; MMLorHTML will fill that in for you.
prefer: {
MSIE: "MML",
Firefox: "HTML",
Safari: "HTML",
Chrome: "HTML",
Opera: "HTML",

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other: "HTML"
}
This lets you set the preferred renderer on a browser-by-browser basis. You set the browser to either "MML"
or "HTML" depending on whether you want to use the NativeMML or HTML-CSS output processor. Note that
although Opera and Safari do process some MathML natively, their support is not sufficient to handle the more
complicated output generated by MathJax, so their settings are "HTML" by default. Although Firefox does
support a large subset of MathJax, it does not implement all the features needed by MathJax, and so it is also set
to "HTML" by default (this is new in v2.0).
Note that users can still use the MathJax contextual menu to select a different renderer after the default one has
been chosen by MMLorHTML.js.

The MathMenu extension

The options below control the operation of the contextual menu that is available on mathematics that is typeset by
MathJax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these options, include a MathMenu section in your
MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
MathMenu: {
delay: 600
}
});

would set the delay option to 600 milliseconds.

delay: 150
This is the hover delay for the display (in milliseconds) for submenus in the contextual menu: when the mouse
is over a submenu label for this long, the menu will appear. (The submenu also will appear if you click on its
label.)
helpURL: "http://www.mathjax.org/help/user/"
This is the URL for the MathJax Help menu item. When the user selects that item, the browser opens a new
window with this URL.
showRenderer: true
This controls whether the “Math Renderer” item will be displayed in the “Math Settings” submenu of the
MathJax contextual menu. It allows the user to change between the HTML-CSS, NativeMML, and SVG output
processors for the mathematics on the page. Set to false to prevent this menu item from showing.
showFontMenu: false
This controls whether the “Font Preference” item will be displayed in the “Math Settings” submenu of the
MathJax contextual menu. This submenu lets the user select what font to use in the mathematics produced by
the HTML-CSS output processor. Note that changing the selection in the font menu will cause the page to reload.
Set to false to prevent this menu item from showing.
showMathPlayer: true
This controls whether the “MathPlayer” item will be displayed in the “Math Settings” submenu of the MathJax
contextual menu. This submenu lets the user select what events should be passed on to the MathPlayer plugin,
when it is present. Mouse events can be passed on (so that clicks will be processed by MathPlayer rather than
MathJax), and emnu events can be passed on (to allow the user access to the MathPlayer menu). Set to false
to prevent this menu item from showing.
showContext: false
This controls whether the “Contextual Menu” item will be displayed in the “Math Settings” submenu of the
MathJax contextual menu. It allows the user to decide whether the MathJax menu or the browser’s default

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contextual menu will be shown when the context menu click occurs over mathematics typeset by MathJax. Set
to false to prevent this menu item from showing.
windowSettings: { ... }
These are the settings for the window.open() call that creates the Show Source window. The initial width
and height will be reset after the source is shown in an attempt to make the window fit the output better.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the menu components. See the definitions in extensions/
MathMenu.js for details of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for details on how to specify
CSS style in a JavaScript object.

The MathZoom extension

The options below control the operation of the Math-Zoom feature that allows users to see an enlarged version of the
mathematics when they click or hover over typeset mathematics. They are listed with their default values. To set any
of these options, include a MathZoom section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
MathZoom: {
styles: {
"#MathJax_Zoom": {
"background-color": "#0000F0"
}
}
}
});

would set the background color of the Zoom box to a very light blue.
Mathematics is zoomed when the user “triggers” the zoom by an action, either clicking on the mathematics, double-
clicking on it, or holding the mouse still over it (i.e., “hovering”). Which trigger is used is set by the user via the math
contextual menu (or by the author using the menuSettings configuration section of the core configuration options
<configure-hub>).
delay: 500
This value is now stored as the hover parameter in the MathEvents configuration options, and will have no
effect if given here.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the zoomed mathematics. See the definitions in extensions/
MathZoom.js for details of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for details on how to specify
CSS style in a JavaScript object.

The MathEvents extension

The options below control the operation of the MathEvents component that allows handles mouse and menu events
attached to mathematics that is typeset by MathJax. They are listed with their default values. To set any of these
options, include a MathEvents section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example

MathJax.Hub.Config({
MathEvents: {
hover: 400
}
});

would set the required delay for hovering over a math element to 400 milliseconds.

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hover: 500
This value is the time (in milliseconds) that a user must hold the mouse still over a math element before it is
considered to be hovering over the math.
styles: {}
This is a list of CSS declarations for styling the zoomed mathematics. See the definitions in extensions/
MathEvents.js for details of what are defined by default. See CSS Style Objects for details on how to
specify CSS style in a JavaScript object.

The FontWarnings extension

The options below control the operation of the FontWarnings extension that is run when you include
"FontWarnings.js" in the extensions array of your configuration. They are listed with their default values. To
set any of these options, include a FontWarnings section in your MathJax.Hub.Config() call. For example
MathJax.Hub.Config({
FontWarnings: {
fadeoutTime: 2*1000
}
});

would set the fadeoutTime option to 2000 milliseconds (2 seconds).

messageStyle: { ... }
This sets the CSS styles to be used for the font warning message window. See the extensions/
FontWarnings.js file for details of what are set by default. See the CSS style objects for details about
how to specify CSS styles via javascript objects.
Message: { ... }
This block contains HTML snippets to be used for the various messages that the FontWarning extension can
produce. There are three messages that you can redefine to suit your needs:
webFont: [ ... ]
The message used for when MathJax uses web-based fonts (rather than local fonts installed on the user’s
system).
imageFonts: [ ... ]
The message used for when MathJax must use image fonts rather than local or web-based fonts (for those
browsers that don’t handle the @font-face CSS directive).
noFonts: [ ... ]
The message used when MathJax is unable to find any font to use (i.e., neither local nor web-based nor
image-based fonts are available).
Any message that is set to null rather than an HTML snippet array will not be presented to the user, so you can
set, for example, the webFont message to null in order to have the imageFonts and noFonts messages,
but no message if MathJax uses web-based fonts.
See the description of HTML snippets for details about how to describe the messages using HTML snippets.
Note that in addition to the usual rules for defining such snippets, the FontWarnings snippets can include refer-
ences to pre-defined snippets (that represent elements common to all three messages). These are defined below
in the HTML block, and are referenced using ["name"] within the snippet, where name is the name of one of
the snippets defined in the HTML configuration block. For example
Message: {
noFonts: [
["closeBox"],
"MathJax is unable to locate a font to use to display ",
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

"its mathematics, and image fonts are not available, so it ",
"is falling back on generic unicode characters in hopes that ",
"your browser will be able to display them. Some characters ",
"may not show up properly, or possibly not at all.",
["fonts"],
["webfonts"]
]
}

refers to the closeBox, fonts and webfonts snippets declared in the HTML section.
HTML: { ... }
This object defines HTML snippets that are common to more than one message in the Message section above.
They can be included in other HTML snippets by by using ["name"] in an HTML snippet, where name refers
to the name of the snippet in the HTML block. The pre-defined snippets are:
closeBox
The HTML for the close box in the FontWarning message.
webfonts
The HTML for a paragraph suggesting an upgrade to a more modern browser that supports web fonts.
fonts
HTML that includes links to the MathJax and STIX font download pages.
STIXfonts
HTML that gives the download link for the STIX fonts only. (Used in place of fonts when the HTML-CSS
option for availableFonts only includes the STIX fonts.)
TeXfonts
HTML that gives the download link for the MathJax TeX fonts only. (Used in place of fonts when the
HTML-CSS option for availableFonts only includes the TeX fonts.)
You can add your own pre-defined HTML snippets to this object, or override the ones that are there with your
own text.
removeAfter: 12*1000
This is the amount of time to show the FontWarning message, in milliseconds. The default is 12 seconds. Setting
this value to zero means that the message will not fade out (the user must close it manually).
fadeoutSteps: 10
This is the number of steps to take while fading out the FontWarning message. More steps make for a smoother
fade-out. Set to zero to cause the message to be removed without fading.
fadeoutTime: 1.5*1000
This is the time used to perform the fade-out, in milliseconds. The default is 1.5 seconds.

1.7 Using MathJax in popular web platforms

MathJax plugins are available for a growing number of wikis, blogs, and other content-management systems. These
include WordPress, Blogger, Sphinx, TiddlyWiki, and MathEL-Wiki. A list of these is available in the web applications
list of the MathJax web site.
If the program you are using is not one of these, you may still be able to use MathJax by modifying the theme or
template for your wiki or blog, as explained below.

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1.7.1 Using MathJax in a Theme File

Most web-based content-management systems include a theme or template layer that determines how the pages look,
and that loads information common to all pages. Such theme files provide one popular way to include MathJax in
your web templates in the absence of MathJax-specific plugins for the system you are using. To take advantage of this
approach, you will need access to your theme files, which probably means you need to be an administrator for the site;
if you are not, you may need to have an administrator do these steps for you.
To enable MathJax in your web platform, add the line:

either just before the </head> tag in your theme file, or at the end of the file if it contains no </head>.
The theme files for various popular platforms are:
WordPress wp-content/themes/[current_theme]/header.php
Movable Type [current_theme_templates]/html_head.mhtml
Drupal themes/[current_theme]/page.tpl.php
Joomla templates/[current_theme]/index.php
MediaWiki skins/[current_skin].php
TiddlyWiki *.php (Whatever you call your TiddlyWiki php file)
Moodle theme/[current_theme]/header.html
Keep in mind that this will enable MathJax for your current theme/template only. If you change themes or update your
theme, you will have to repeat these steps.

1.7.2 Instructions for Specific Platforms

Some programs, such as WordPress and Moveable Type, allow you to edit template files from inside their administrator
interfaces. Specific instructions for these are given via the links below.

Installing MathJax in WordPress

Note that there is a WordPress plugin for MathJax, so that may be a better choice than editing the theme directly.
1. Open the WordPress admin interface.
2. In the administration menu on the left, open up the Appearance menu and click on the Editor submenu option.

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When you click on the editor option, WordPress should open up the first stylesheet in the current theme.
3. In the template list on the right side of the page, click on the header file (it should be header.php).

This part depends slightly on how your current theme is written. In the header.php file, look for the end-of-
head tag, </head>. If you find it, insert

</script>

just before that. Otherwise, insert the same code at the very bottom of the file.
4. Save the file. This will enable MathJax with both TeX and MathML input, so you should be able to start adding
mathematical content to your pages. If you need to adjust the configuration, see Configuring MathJax for more
details.

Using MathJax in Movable Type

1. Open Moveable Type Admin interface for the site on which you want to enable MathJax.
2. In the dashboard menu on the left, open up the Design menu. This should show you the templates you are
currently using on the site.

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3. Scroll down to the Template Modules section in the template list and open the HTML Head template.

4. At the end of the file, insert

</script>

to load MathJax from our distributed network service.

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5. Save the file. This will enable MathJax with both TeX and MathML input, so you should be able to start adding
mathematical content to your pages. If you need to adjust the configuration, see Configuring MathJax for more
details.

1.8 MathJax TeX and LaTeX Support

The support for TeX and LaTeX in MathJax consists of two parts: the tex2jax preprocessor, and the TeX input processor.
The first of these looks for mathematics within your web page (indicated by math delimiters like $$...$$) and marks
the mathematics for later processing by MathJax. The TeX input processor is what converts the TeX notation into
MathJax’s internal format, where one of MathJax’s output processors then displays it in the web page.
The tex2jax preprocessor can be configured to look for whatever markers you want to use for your math delimiters.
See the tex2jax configuration options section for details on how to customize the action of tex2jax.
The TeX input processor handles conversion of your mathematical notation into MathJax’s internal format (which is
essentially MathML), and so acts as a TeX to MathML converter. The TeX input processor has few configuration
options (see the TeX options section for details), but it can also be customized through the use of extensions that define
additional functionality (see the TeX and LaTeX extensions below).
Note that the TeX input processor implements only the math-mode macros of TeX and LaTeX, not the text-mode
macros. MathJax expects that you will use standard HTML tags to handle formatting the text of your page; it only
handles the mathematics. So, for example, MathJax does not implement \emph or \begin{enumerate}...
\end{enumerate} or other text-mode macros or environments. You must use HTML to handle such formatting
tasks. If you need a LaTeX-to-HTML converter, you should consider other options.

1.8.1 TeX and LaTeX math delimiters

By default, the tex2jax preprocessor defines the LaTeX math delimiters, which are $...$ for in-line math, and
\[...\] for displayed equations. It also defines the TeX delimiters $$...$$ for displayed equations, but it does
not define $...$ as in-line math delimiters. That is because dollar signs appear too often in non-mathematical
settings, which could cause some text to be treated as mathematics unexpectedly. For example, with single-dollar
delimiters, “. . . the cost is $2.50 for the first one, and $2.00 for each additional one . . . ” would cause the phrase “2.50
for the first one, and” to be treated as mathematics since it falls between dollar signs. For this reason, if you want to
use single-dollars for in-line math mode, you must enable that explicitly in your configuration:
MathJax.Hub.Config({
tex2jax: {
inlineMath: [['$','$'], ['\$','\$']],
processEscapes: true
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(continued from previous page)

}
});

Note that if you do this, you may want to also set processEscapes to true, as in the example above, so that you
can use \$ to prevent a dollar sign from being treated as a math delimiter within the text of your web page. (Note that
within TeX mathematics, \$ always has this meaning; processEscapes only affects the treatment of the opening
math delimiter.)
See the config/default.js file, or the tex2jax configuration options page, for additional configuration parame-
ters that you can specify for the tex2jax preprocessor, which is the component of MathJax that identifies TeX notation
within the page.

1.8.2 TeX and LaTeX in HTML documents

Keep in mind that your mathematics is part of an HTML document, so you need to be aware of the special characters
used by HTML as part of its markup. There cannot be HTML tags within the math delimiters (other than <br>) as
TeX-formatted math does not include HTML tags. Also, since the mathematics is initially given as text on the page,
you need to be careful that your mathematics doesn’t look like HTML tags to the browser (which parses the page
before MathJax gets to see it). In particular, that means that you have to be careful about things like less-than and
greater-than signs (< and >), and ampersands (&), which have special meaning to the browsers. For example,

... when $x<y$ we have ...

will cause a problem, because the brower will think <y is the beginning of a tag named y (even though there is no
such tag in HTML). When this happens, the browser will think the tag continues up to the next > in the document
(typically the end of the next actual tag in the HTML file), and you may notice that you are missing part of the text of
the document. In the example above, the “we have ...” will not be displayed because the browser thinks it is part
of the tag starting at <y. This is one indication you can use to spot this problem; it is a common error and should be
avoided.
Usually, it is sufficient to simply put spaces around these symbols to cause the browser to avoid them, so

... when $x < y$ we have ...

should work. Alternatively, you can use the HTML entities <, > and & to encode these characters so
that the browser will not interpret them, but MathJax will. E.g.,

... when $x < y$ we have ...

Finally, there are \lt and \gt macros defined to make it easier to enter < and > using TeX-like syntax:

... when $x \lt y$ we have ...

Keep in mind that the browser interprets your text before MathJax does.
Another source of difficulty is when MathJax is used in content management systems that have their own document
processing commands that are interpreted before the HTML page is created. For example, many blogs and wikis
use formats like Markdown to allow you to create the content of you pages. In Markdown, the underscore is used
to indicate italics, and this usage will conflict with MathJax’s ise of the underscore to indicate a subscript. Since
Markdown is applied to the page first, it will convert your subscripts markers into italics (inserting <i> tags into your
mathematics, which will cause MathJax to ignore the math).
Such systems need to be told not to modify the mathematics that appears between math delimiters. That usually
involves modifying the content-management system itself, which is beyond the means of most page authors. If you

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are lucky, someone else will already have done this for you, and you can find a MathJax plugin for your system on the
MathJax-In-Use page page.
If there is no plugin for your system, or if it doesn’t handle the subtleties of issolating the mathematics from the other
markup that it supports, then you may have to “trick” it into leaving your mathematics untouched. Most content-
management systems provide some means of indicating text that should not be modified (“verbatim” text), often for
giving code snippets for computer languages. You may be use that to enclose your mathematics so that the system
leaves it unchanged and MathJax can process it. For example, in Markdown, the back-tick (`) is used to mark verbatim
text, so

... we have `$x_1 = 132$` and `$x_2 = 370$` and so ...

may be able to protect the underscores from being processed by Markdown.

Some content-management systems use the backslash (\) as a special character for “escaping” other characters, but
TeX uses this character to indicate a macro name. In such systems, you may have to double the backslashes in order
to obtain a single backslash in your HTML page. For example, you may have to do

\\begin{array}{cc}
a & b \\\\
c & c
\\end{array}

to get an array with the four entries a, b, c, and d. Note in particular that if you want \\ you will have to double both
backslashes, giving \\\\.
Finally, if you have enabled single dollar-signs as math delimiters, and you want to include a literal dollar sign in your
web page (one that doesn’t represent a math delimiter), you will need to prevent MathJax from using it as a math
delimiter. If you also enable the processEscapes configuration parameter, then you can use \$ in the text of your
page to get a dollar sign (without the backslash) in the end. Alternatively, you use something like <span>$</span>
to isolate the dollar sign so that MathJax will not use it as a delimiter.

1.8.3 Defining TeX macros

You can use the \def, \newcommand, \renewcommand, \newenvironment, \renewenvironment, and
\let commands to create your own macros and environments. Unlike actual TeX, however, in order for MathJax to
process these, they must be enclosed in math delimiters (since MathJax only processes macros in math-mode). For
example

$
\def\RR{\bf R}
\def\bold#1{\bf #1}
$

would define \RR to produce a bold-faced “R”, and \bold{...} to put its argument into bold face. Both definitions
would be available throughout the rest of the page.
You can include macro definitions in the Macros section of the TeX blocks of your configuration, but they must be
represetned as JavaScript objects. For example, the two macros above can be pre-defined in the configuraiton by

MathJax.Hub.Config({
TeX: {
Macros: {
RR: "{\\bf R}",
bold: ["{\\bf #1}",1]
}
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(continued from previous page)

}
});

Here you give the macro as a name:value pair, where the name is the name of the control sequence (without the
backslash) that you are defining, and value is either the replacement string for the macro (when there are no arguments)
or an array consisting of the replacement string followed by the number of arguments for the macro.
Note that the replacement string is given as a JavaScript string literal, and the backslash has special meaning in
JavaScript strings. So to get an actual backslash in the string you must double it, as int he examples above.
If you have many such definitions that you want to use on more than one page, you could put them into a configuration
file that you can load along with the main configuration file. For example, you could create a file in MathJax/
config/local called local.js that contains your macro definitions:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
TeX: {
Macros: {
RR: "{\\bf R}",
bold: ["{\\bf #1}",1]
}
}
});

MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete("[MathJax]/config/local/local.js");

and then load it along with your main configuration file on the script that loads MathJax.js:

If you are using the CDN, you can make a local configuration file on your own server, and load MathJax itself from
the CDN and your configuration file from your server. See Using a Local Configuration File with the CDN for details.

1.8.4 Autmatic Equation Numering

New in MathJax v2.0 is the ability to have equations be numbered automatically. This functionality is turned off by
default, so that pages don’t change when you update from v1.1 to v2.0, but it is easy to configure MathJax to produce
automatic equation numbers by adding:

to your page just before the <script> tag that loads MathJax.js itself.
Equations can be numbered in two ways: either number the AMSmath environments as LaTeX would, or number all
displayed equations (the example above uses AMS-style numbering). Set autoNumber to "all" if you want every
displayed equation to be numbered. You can use \notag or \nonumber to prevent individual equations from being
numbered, and \tag{} can be used to override the usual equation number with your own symbol instead.
Note that the AMS environments come in two forms: starred and unstarred. The unstarred versions produce equation
numbers (when autoNumber is set to "AMS") and the starred ones don’t. For example

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\begin{equation}
E = mc^2
\end{equation}

will be numbered, while

\begin{equation*}
e^{\pi i} - 1 = 0
\end{equation*}

won’t be numbered (when autoNumber is "AMS").

You can use \label to give an equation an identifier that you can use to refer to it later, and then use \ref or
\eqref within your document to insert the actual equation number at that location, as a reference. For example,

In equation \eqref{eq:sample}, we find the value of an

interesting integral:

\begin{equation}
\int_0^\infty \frac{x^3}{e^x-1}\,dx = \frac{\pi^4}{15}
\label{eq:sample}
\end{equation}

includes a labeled equation and a reference to that equation. Note that references can come before the corresponding
formula as well as after them. See the equation numbering links in the MathJax examples page for more examples.
You can configure the way that numbers are displayed and how the references to them are made using paramters in the
equationNumbers block of your TeX configuration. See the TeX configuration options page for more details.

1.8.5 TeX and LaTeX extensions

While MathJax includes nearly all of the Plain TeX math macros, and many of the LaTeX macros and environments,
not everything is implemented in the core TeX input processor. Some less-used commands are defined in extensions
to the TeX processor. MathJax will load some extensions automatically when you first use the commands they imple-
ment (for example, the \def and \newcommand macros are implemented in the newcommand.js extension, but
MathJax loads this extension itself when you use those macros). Not all extensions are set up to load automatically,
however, so you may need to request some extensions explicitly yourself.
To enable any of the TeX extensions, simply add the appropriate string (e.g., "AMSmath.js") to the extensions array
in the TeX block of your configuration. If you use one of the combined configuration files, like TeX-AMS_HTML, this
will already include several of the extensions automatically, but you can include others using a mathjax configuration
script prior to loading MathJax. For example

will load the autobold TeX extension in addition to those already included in the TeX-AMS_HTML configuration file.
You can also load these extensions from within a math expresion using the non-standard \require{extension}
macro. For example

$\require{color}$

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would load the color extension into the page. This way you you can load extensions into pages that didn’t load them
in their configurations (and prevents you from having to load all the extensions into all pages even if they aren’t used).
It is also possible to create a macro that will autoload an extension when it is first used (under the assumption that the
extension will redefine it to perform its true function). For example

would declare the \cancel, \bcancel, \xcancel, and \cancelto macros to load the cancel extension (where
they are actually defined). Whichever is used first will cause the extension to be loaded, redefining all four to their
proper values. Note that this may be better than loading the extension explicitly, since it avoids loading the extra file
on pages where these macros are not used. The sample autoloading macros example page shows this in action. The
autoload-all extension below defines such macros for all the extensions so that if you include it, MathJax will have
access to all the macros it knows about.
The main extensions are described below.

Action

The action extension gives you access to the MathML <maction> element. It defines three new non-standard
macros:
\mathtip{math}{tip}
Use tip (in math mode) as tooltip for math.
\texttip{math}{tip}
Use tip (in text mode) as tooltip for math.
\toggle{math1}{math2}...\endtoggle
Show math1, and when clicked, show math2, and so on. When the last one is clicked, go back to math1.
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["action.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

AMSmath and AMSsymbols

The AMSmath extension implements AMS math environments and macros, and the AMSsymbols extension implements
macros for accessing the AMS symbol fonts. These are already included in the combined configuration files that load
the TeX input processor. To use these extensions in your own configurations, add them to the extensions array in the
TeX block.

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TeX: {
extensions: ["AMSmath.js", "AMSsymbols.js", ...]
}

See the list of control sequences at the end of this document for details about what commands are implemented in
these extensions.
If you are not using one of the combined configuration files, the AMSmath extension will be loaded automatically
when you first use one of the math environments it defines, but you will have to load it explicitly if you want to use the
other macros that it defines. The AMSsymbols extension is not loaded automatically, so you must include it explicitly
if you want to use the macros it defines.
Both extensions are included in all the combined configuration files that load the TeX input processor.

Autobold

The autobold extension adds \boldsymbol{...} around mathematics that appears in a section of an HTML page
that is in bold.

TeX: {
extensions: ["autobold.js"]
}

This extension is not loaded by the combined configuration files.

BBox

The bbox extension defines a new macro for adding background colors, borders, and padding to your math expressions.
\bbox[options]{math}
puts a bounding box around math using the provided options. The options can be one of the following:
1. A color name used for the background color.
2. A dimension (e.g., 2px) to be used as a padding around the mathematics (on all sides).
3. Style attributes to be applied to the mathematics (e.g., border:1px solid red).
4. A combination of these separated by commas.
Here are some examples:

\bbox[red]{x+y} % a red box behind x+y

\bbox[2pt]{x+1} % an invisible box around x+y with 2pt of extra space
\bbox[red,2pt]{x+1} % a red box around x+y with 2pt of extra space
\bbox[5px,border:2px solid red]
% a 2px red border around the math 5px away

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, but it will be loaded automatically, so you do
not need to include it in your extensions array.

Begingroup

The begingroup extension implements commands that provide a mechanism for localizing macro defintions so that
they are not permanent. This is useful if you have a blog site, for example, and want to isolate changes that your
readers make in their comments so that they don’t affect later comments.

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It defines two new non-standard macros, \begingroup and \endgroup, that are used to start and stop a local
namespace for macros. Any macros that are defined between the \begingroup and \endgroup will be removed
after the \endgroup is executed. For example, if you put $\begingroup$ at the top of each reader’s comments
and $\endgroup$ at the end, then any macros they define within their response will be removed after it is
processed.
In addition to these two macros, the begingroup extension defines the standard \global and \gdef control se-
quences from TeX. (The \let, \def, \newcommand, and \newenvironment control sequences are already
defined in the core TeX input jax.)
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["begingroup.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

Cancel

The cancel extension defines the following macros:

\cancel{math}
Strikeout math from lower left to upper right.
\bcancel{math}
Strikeout math from upper left to lower right.
\xcancel{math}
Strikeout math with an “X”.
\cancelto{value}{math}
Strikeout math with an arrow going to value.
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["cancel.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

Color

The \color command in the core TeX input jax is not standard in that it takes the mathematics to be colored as one
of its parameters, whereas the LaTeX \color command is a switch that changes the color of everything that follows
it.
The color extension changes the \color command to be compatible with the LaTeX implementation, and also defines
\colorbox, \fcolorbox, and \DefineColor, as in the LaTeX color package. It defines the standard set of
colors (Apricot, Aquamarine, Bittersweet, and so on), and provides the RGB and grey-scale color spaces in addition
to named colors.
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

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TeX: {
extensions: ["color.js"]
}

Enclose

The enclose extension gives you access to the MathML <menclose> element for adding boxes, ovals, strikethroughs,
and other marks over your mathematics. It defines the following non-standard macro:
\enclose{notation}[attributes]{math}
Where notation is a comma-separated list of MathML <menclose> notations (e.g., circle, left,
updiagonalstrike, longdiv, etc.), attributes are MathML attribute values allowed on the
<menclose> element (e.g., mathcolor="red", mathbackground="yellow"), and math is the
mathematics to be enclosed.
For example

\enclose{circle}[mathcolor="red"]{x}
\enclose{circle}[mathcolor="red"]{\color{black}{x}}
\enclose{circle,box}{x}
\enclose{circle}{\enclose{box}{x}}

To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["enclose.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

Extpfeil

The extpfeil extension adds more macros for producing extensible arrows, including \xtwoheadrightarrow,
\xtwoheadleftarrow, \xmapsto, \xlongequal, \xtofrom, and a non-standard \Newextarrow for cre-
ating your own extensible arrows. The latter has the form
\Newextarrow{\cs}{lspace,rspace}{unicode-char}
where \cs is the new control sequence name to be defined, lspace and rspace are integers representing
the amount of space (in suitably small units) to use at the left and right of text that is placed above or below
the arrow, and unicode-char is a number representing a unicode character position in either decimal or
hexadecimal notation.
For example

\Newextarrow{\xrightharpoonup}{5,10}{0x21C0}

defines an extensible right harpoon with barb up. Note that MathJax knows how to stretch only a limited number of
characters, so you may not actually get a stretchy character this way.
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

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TeX: {
extensions: ["extpfeil.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

HTML

The HTML extension gives you access to some HTML features like styles, classes, element ID’s and clickable links.
It defines the following non-standard macros:
\href{url}{math}
Makes math be a link to the page given by url.
\class{name}{math}
Attaches the CSS class name to the output associated with math when it is included in the HTML page. This
allows your CSS to style the element.
\cssId{id}{math}
Attaches an id attribute with value id to the output associated with math when it is included in the HTML
page. This allows your CSS to style the element, or your javascript to locate it on the page.
\style{css}{math}
Adds the give css declarations to the element associated with math.
For example:

x \href{why-equal.html}{=} y^2 + 1

(x+1)^2 = \class{hidden}{(x+1)(x+1)}

(x+1)^2 = \cssId{step1}{\style{visibility:hidden}{(x+1)(x+1)}}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, but it will be loaded automatically when any of
these macros is used, so you do not need to include it explicitly in your configuration.

mhchem

The mhchem extensions implements the \ce, \cf, and \cee chemical equation macros of the LaTeX mhchem
package. See the mhchem CPAN page for more information and a link to the documentation for mhchem.
For example

\ce{C6H5-CHO}
\ce{$A$ ->[\ce{+H2O}] $B$}
\ce{SO4^2- + Ba^2+ -> BaSO4 v}

To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["mhchem.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.

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noErrors

The noErrors extension prevents TeX error messages from being displayed and shows the original TeX code instead.
You can configure whether the dollar signs are shown or not for in-line math, and whether to put all the TeX on one
line or use multiple lines (if the original text contained line breaks).
This extension is loaded by all the combined configuration files that include the TeX input processor. To enable the
noErrors extension in your own configuration, or to modify its parameters, add something like the following to your
MathJax.Hub.Config() call:
TeX: {
extensions: ["noErrors.js"],
noErrors: {
inlineDelimiters: ["",""], // or ["$","$"] or ["\$","\$"]
multiLine: true, // false for TeX on all one line
style: {
"font-size": "90%",
"text-align": "left",
"color": "black",
"padding": "1px 3px",
"border": "1px solid"
// add any additional CSS styles that you want
// (be sure there is no extra comma at the end of the last item)
}
}
}

Display-style math is always shown in multi-line format, and without delimiters, as it will already be set off in its own
centered paragraph, like standard display mathematics.
The default settings place the invalid TeX in a multi-line box with a black border. If you want it to look as though the
TeX is just part of the paragraph, use
TeX: {
noErrors: {
inlineDelimiters: ["$","$"], // or ["",""] or ["\$","\$"]
multiLine: false,
style: {
"font-size": "normal",
"border": ""
}
}
}

You may also wish to set the font family or other CSS values here.
If you are using a combined configuration file that loads the TeX input processor, it will also load the noErrors
extension automatically. If you want to disable the noErrors extension so that you receive the normal TeX error
messages, use the following configuration:
TeX: { noErrors: { disabled: true } }

Any math that includes errors will be replaced by an error message indicating what went wrong.

noUndefined

The noUndefined extension causes undefined control sequences to be shown as their macro names rather than gen-
erating error messages. So $X_{\xxx}$ would display as an “X” with a subscript consisting of the text \xxx in

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red.
This extension is loaded by all the combined configuration files that include the TeX input processor. To enable the
noUndefined extension in your own configuration, or to modify its parameters, add something like the following to
your MathJax.Hub.Config() call:

TeX: {
extensions: ["noUndefined.js"],
noUndefined: {
attributes: {
mathcolor: "red",
mathbackground: "#FFEEEE",
mathsize: "90%"
}
}
}

The attributes setting specifies attributes to apply to the mtext element that encodes the name of the undefined
macro. The default values set mathcolor to "red", but do not set any other attributes. This example sets the
background to a light pink, and reduces the font size slightly.
If you are using a combined configuration file that loads the TeX input processor, it will also load the noUndefined
extension automatically. If you want to disable the noUndefined extension so that you receive the normal TeX error
messages for undefined macros, use the following configuration:

TeX: { noUndefined: { disabled: true } }

Any math that includes an undefined control sequence name will be replaced by an error message indicating what
name was undefined.

Unicode support

The unicode extension implements a \unicode{} extension to TeX that allows arbitrary unicode code points to be
entered in your mathematics. You can specify the height and depth of the character (the width is determined by the
browser), and the default font from which to take the character.
Examples:

\unicode{65} % the character 'A'

\unicode{x41} % the character 'A'
\unicode[.55,0.05]{x22D6} % less-than with dot, with height .55em and depth
˓→0.05em

\unicode[.55,0.05][Geramond]{x22D6} % same taken from Geramond font

\unicode[Garamond]{x22D6} % same, but with default height, depth of .8em,.
˓→2em

Once a size and font are provided for a given unicode point, they need not be specified again in subsequent
\unicode{} calls for that character.
The result of \unicode{...} will have TeX class ORD (i.e., it will act like a variable). Use \mathbin{...},
\mathrel{...}, etc., to specify a different class.
Note that a font list can be given in the \unicode{} macro, but Internet Explorer has a buggy implementation of the
font-family CSS attribute where it only looks in the first font in the list that is actually installed on the system,
and if the required glyph is not in that font, it does not look at later fonts, but goes directly to the default font as set in
the Internet-Options/Font panel. For this reason, the default font list for the \unicode{} macro is STIXGeneral,
'Arial Unicode MS', so if the user has STIX fonts, the symbol will be taken from that (almost all the symbols
are in STIXGeneral), otherwise MathJax tries Arial Unicode MS.

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The unicode extension is loaded automatically when you first use the \unicode{} macro, so you do not need to add
it to the extensions array. You can configure the extension as follows:

TeX: {
unicode: {
fonts: "STIXGeneral, 'Arial Unicode MS'"
}
}

Autoload-all

The autoload-all extension predefines all the macros from the extensions above so that they autoload the extensions
when first used. A number of macros already do this, e.g., \unicode, but this extension defines the others to do the
same. That way MathJax will have access to all the macros that it knows about.
To use this extension in your own configurations, add it to the extensions array in the TeX block.

TeX: {
extensions: ["autoload-all.js"]
}

This extension is not included in any of the combined configurations, and will not be loaded automatically, so you
must include it explicitly in your configuration if you wish to use these commands.
Note that autoload-all redefines \color to be the one from the color extension (the LaTeX-compatible one rather than
the non-standard MathJax version). This is because \colorbox and \fcolorbox autoload the color extension,
which will cause \color to be redefined, and so for consistency, \color is redefined immediately.
If you wish to retain the original definition of \color, then use the following

1.8.6 Supported LaTeX commands

This is a long list of the TeX macros supported by MathJax. If the macro is defined in an extension, the name of the
extension follows the macro name. If the extension is in brackets, the extension will be loaded automatically when the
macro or environment is first used.
More complete details about how to use these macros, with examples and explanations, is available at Carol Fisher’s
TeX Commands Available in MathJax page.

Symbols

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#
%
&
^
_
{
}
~
'

\ (backslash-space)
\!
\#
\$
\%
\&
\,
\:
\;
\>
\\
\_
\{
\|
\}

\above
\abovewithdelims
\acute
\aleph
\alpha
\amalg
\And
\angle
\approx
\approxeq AMSsymbols
\arccos
\arcsin
\arctan
\arg
\array
\Arrowvert
\arrowvert
\ast
\asymp
\atop
\atopwithdelims

\backepsilon AMSsymbols
\backprime AMSsymbols
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\backsim AMSsymbols
\backsimeq AMSsymbols
\backslash
\backslash
\bar
\barwedge AMSsymbols
\Bbb
\Bbbk AMSsymbols
\bbox [bbox]
\bcancel cancel
\because AMSsymbols
\begin
\begingroup begingroup non-standard
\beta
\beth AMSsymbols
\between AMSsymbols
\bf
\Big
\big
\bigcap
\bigcirc
\bigcup
\Bigg
\bigg
\Biggl
\biggl
\Biggm
\biggm
\Biggr
\biggr
\Bigl
\bigl
\Bigm
\bigm
\bigodot
\bigoplus
\bigotimes
\Bigr
\bigr
\bigsqcup
\bigstar AMSsymbols
\bigtriangledown
\bigtriangleup
\biguplus
\bigvee
\bigwedge
\binom AMSmath
\blacklozenge AMSsymbols
\blacksquare AMSsymbols
\blacktriangle AMSsymbols
\blacktriangledown AMSsymbols
\blacktriangleleft AMSsymbols
\blacktriangleright AMSsymbols
\bmod
\boldsymbol [boldsymbol]
\bot
\bowtie
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\Box AMSsymbols
\boxdot AMSsymbols
\boxed AMSmath
\boxminus AMSsymbols
\boxplus AMSsymbols
\boxtimes AMSsymbols
\brace
\bracevert
\brack
\breve
\buildrel
\bullet
\Bumpeq AMSsymbols
\bumpeq AMSsymbols

\cal
\cancel cancel
\cancelto cancel
\cap
\Cap AMSsymbols
\cases
\cdot
\cdotp
\cdots
\ce mhchem
\cee mhchem
\centerdot AMSsymbols
\cf mhchem
\cfrac AMSmath
\check
\checkmark AMSsymbols
\chi
\choose
\circ
\circeq AMSsymbols
\circlearrowleft AMSsymbols
\circlearrowright AMSsymbols
\circledast AMSsymbols
\circledcirc AMSsymbols
\circleddash AMSsymbols
\circledR AMSsymbols
\circledS AMSsymbols
\class [HTML] non-standard
\clubsuit
\colon
\color color
\colorbox color
\complement AMSsymbols
\cong
\coprod
\cos
\cosh
\cot
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\coth
\cr
\csc
\cssId [HTML] non-standard
\cup
\Cup AMSsymbols
\curlyeqprec AMSsymbols
\curlyeqsucc AMSsymbols
\curlyvee AMSsymbols
\curlywedge AMSsymbols
\curvearrowleft AMSsymbols
\curvearrowright AMSsymbols

\dagger
\daleth AMSsymbols
\dashleftarrow AMSsymbols
\dashrightarrow AMSsymbols
\dashv
\dbinom AMSmath
\ddagger
\ddddot AMSmath
\dddot AMSmath
\ddot
\ddots
\DeclareMathOperator AMSmath
\DefineColor color
\def [newcommand]
\deg
\Delta
\delta
\det
\dfrac AMSmath
\diagdown AMSsymbols
\diagup AMSsymbols
\diamond
\Diamond AMSsymbols
\diamondsuit
\digamma AMSsymbols
\dim
\displaylines
\displaystyle
\div
\divideontimes AMSsymbols
\dot
\doteq
\Doteq AMSsymbols
\doteqdot AMSsymbols
\dotplus AMSsymbols
\dots
\dotsb
\dotsc
\dotsi
\dotsm
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\dotso
\doublebarwedge AMSsymbols
\doublecap AMSsymbols
\doublecup AMSsymbols
\Downarrow
\downarrow
\downdownarrows AMSsymbols
\downharpoonleft AMSsymbols
\downharpoonright AMSsymbols

\ell
\emptyset
\enclose enclose non-standard
\end
\endgroup begingroup non-standard
\enspace
\epsilon
\eqalign
\eqalignno
\eqcirc AMSsymbols
\eqref [AMSmath]
\eqsim AMSsymbols
\eqslantgtr AMSsymbols
\eqslantless AMSsymbols
\equiv
\eta
\eth AMSsymbols
\exists
\exp

\fallingdotseq AMSsymbols
\fbox
\fcolorbox color
\Finv AMSsymbols
\flat
\forall
\frac
\frac AMSmath
\frak
\frown

\Game AMSsymbols
\Gamma
\gamma
\gcd
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\gdef begingroup
\ge
\genfrac AMSmath
\geq
\geqq AMSsymbols
\geqslant AMSsymbols
\gets
\gg
\ggg AMSsymbols
\gggtr AMSsymbols
\gimel AMSsymbols
\global begingroup
\gnapprox AMSsymbols
\gneq AMSsymbols
\gneqq AMSsymbols
\gnsim AMSsymbols
\grave
\gt
\gt
\gtrapprox AMSsymbols
\gtrdot AMSsymbols
\gtreqless AMSsymbols
\gtreqqless AMSsymbols
\gtrless AMSsymbols
\gtrsim AMSsymbols
\gvertneqq AMSsymbols

\hat
\hbar
\hbox
\hdashline
\heartsuit
\hline
\hom
\hookleftarrow
\hookrightarrow
\hphantom
\href [HTML]
\hskip
\hslash AMSsymbols
\hspace
\Huge
\huge
\idotsint AMSmath

\iff
\iiiint AMSmath
\iiint
\iint
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\Im
\imath
\impliedby AMSsymbols
\implies AMSsymbols
\in
\inf
\infty
\injlim AMSmath
\int
\intercal AMSsymbols
\intop
\iota
\it

\jmath
\Join AMSsymbols

\kappa
\ker
\kern

\label [AMSmath]
\Lambda
\lambda
\land
\langle
\LARGE
\Large
\large
\LaTeX
\lbrace
\lbrack
\lceil
\ldotp
\ldots
\le
\leadsto AMSsymbols
\left
\Leftarrow
\leftarrow
\leftarrowtail AMSsymbols
\leftharpoondown
\leftharpoonup
\leftleftarrows AMSsymbols
\Leftrightarrow
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\leftrightarrow
\leftrightarrows AMSsymbols
\leftrightharpoons AMSsymbols
\leftrightsquigarrow AMSsymbols
\leftroot
\leftthreetimes AMSsymbols
\leq
\leqalignno
\leqq AMSsymbols
\leqslant AMSsymbols
\lessapprox AMSsymbols
\lessdot AMSsymbols
\lesseqgtr AMSsymbols
\lesseqqgtr AMSsymbols
\lessgtr AMSsymbols
\lesssim AMSsymbols
\let [newcommand]
\lfloor
\lg
\lgroup
\lhd AMSsymbols
\lim
\liminf
\limits
\limsup
\ll
\llap
\llcorner AMSsymbols
\Lleftarrow AMSsymbols
\lll AMSsymbols
\llless AMSsymbols
\lmoustache
\ln
\lnapprox AMSsymbols
\lneq AMSsymbols
\lneqq AMSsymbols
\lnot
\lnsim AMSsymbols
\log
\Longleftarrow
\longleftarrow
\Longleftrightarrow
\longleftrightarrow
\longmapsto
\Longrightarrow
\longrightarrow
\looparrowleft AMSsymbols
\looparrowright AMSsymbols
\lor
\lower
\lozenge AMSsymbols
\lrcorner AMSsymbols
\Lsh AMSsymbols
\lt
\lt
\ltimes AMSsymbols
\lVert AMSmath
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\lvert AMSmath
\lvertneqq AMSsymbols

\maltese AMSsymbols
\mapsto
\mathbb
\mathbf
\mathbin
\mathcal
\mathchoice [mathchoice]
\mathclose
\mathfrak
\mathinner
\mathit
\mathop
\mathopen
\mathord
\mathpunct
\mathrel
\mathring AMSmath
\mathrm
\mathscr
\mathsf
\mathstrut
\mathtip action non-standard
\mathtt
\matrix
\max
\mbox
\measuredangle AMSsymbols
\mho AMSsymbols
\mid
\middle
\min
\mit
\mkern
\mmlToken non-standard
\mod
\models
\moveleft
\moveright
\mp
\mskip
\mspace
\mu
\multimap AMSsymbols

\nabla
\natural
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\ncong AMSsymbols
\ne
\nearrow
\neg
\negmedspace AMSmath
\negthickspace AMSmath
\negthinspace
\neq
\newcommand [newcommand]
\newenvironment [newcommand]
\Newextarrow extpfeil
\newline
\nexists AMSsymbols
\ngeq AMSsymbols
\ngeqq AMSsymbols
\ngeqslant AMSsymbols
\ngtr AMSsymbols
\ni
\nLeftarrow AMSsymbols
\nleftarrow AMSsymbols
\nLeftrightarrow AMSsymbols
\nleftrightarrow AMSsymbols
\nleq AMSsymbols
\nleqq AMSsymbols
\nleqslant AMSsymbols
\nless AMSsymbols
\nmid AMSsymbols
\nobreakspace AMSmath
\nolimits
\normalsize
\not
\notag [AMSmath]
\notin
\nparallel AMSsymbols
\nprec AMSsymbols
\npreceq AMSsymbols
\nRightarrow AMSsymbols
\nrightarrow AMSsymbols
\nshortmid AMSsymbols
\nshortparallel AMSsymbols
\nsim AMSsymbols
\nsubseteq AMSsymbols
\nsubseteqq AMSsymbols
\nsucc AMSsymbols
\nsucceq AMSsymbols
\nsupseteq AMSsymbols
\nsupseteqq AMSsymbols
\ntriangleleft AMSsymbols
\ntrianglelefteq AMSsymbols
\ntriangleright AMSsymbols
\ntrianglerighteq AMSsymbols
\nu
\nVDash AMSsymbols
\nVdash AMSsymbols
\nvDash AMSsymbols
\nvdash AMSsymbols
\nwarrow

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\odot
\oint
\oldstyle
\Omega
\omega
\omicron
\ominus
\operatorname AMSmath
\oplus
\oslash
\otimes
\over
\overbrace
\overleftarrow
\overleftrightarrow
\overline
\overrightarrow
\overset
\overwithdelims
\owns

\parallel
\partial
\perp
\phantom
\Phi
\phi
\Pi
\pi
\pitchfork AMSsymbols
\pm
\pmatrix
\pmb
\pmod
\pod
\Pr
\prec
\precapprox AMSsymbols
\preccurlyeq AMSsymbols
\preceq
\precnapprox AMSsymbols
\precneqq AMSsymbols
\precnsim AMSsymbols
\precsim AMSsymbols
\prime
\prod
\projlim AMSmath
\propto
\Psi
\psi

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\qquad
\quad

\raise
\rangle
\rbrace
\rbrack
\rceil
\Re
\ref [AMSmath]
\renewcommand [newcommand]
\renewenvironment [newcommand]
\require non-standard
\restriction AMSsymbols
\rfloor
\rgroup
\rhd AMSsymbols
\rho
\right
\Rightarrow
\rightarrow
\rightarrowtail AMSsymbols
\rightharpoondown
\rightharpoonup
\rightleftarrows AMSsymbols
\rightleftharpoons
\rightleftharpoons AMSsymbols
\rightrightarrows AMSsymbols
\rightsquigarrow AMSsymbols
\rightthreetimes AMSsymbols
\risingdotseq AMSsymbols
\rlap
\rm
\rmoustache
\root
\Rrightarrow AMSsymbols
\Rsh AMSsymbols
\rtimes AMSsymbols
\Rule non-standard
\rVert AMSmath
\rvert AMSmath

\S
\scr
\scriptscriptstyle
\scriptsize
\scriptstyle
\searrow
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\sec
\setminus
\sf
\sharp
\shortmid AMSsymbols
\shortparallel AMSsymbols
\shoveleft AMSmath
\shoveright AMSmath
\sideset AMSmath
\Sigma
\sigma
\sim
\simeq
\sin
\sinh
\skew
\small
\smallfrown AMSsymbols
\smallint
\smallsetminus AMSsymbols
\smallsmile AMSsymbols
\smash
\smile
\Space
\space
\spadesuit
\sphericalangle AMSsymbols
\sqcap
\sqcup
\sqrt
\sqsubset AMSsymbols
\sqsubseteq
\sqsupset AMSsymbols
\sqsupseteq
\square AMSsymbols
\stackrel
\star
\strut
\style [HTML] non-stanard
\subset
\Subset AMSsymbols
\subseteq
\subseteqq AMSsymbols
\subsetneq AMSsymbols
\subsetneqq AMSsymbols
\substack AMSmath
\succ
\succapprox AMSsymbols
\succcurlyeq AMSsymbols
\succeq
\succnapprox AMSsymbols
\succneqq AMSsymbols
\succnsim AMSsymbols
\succsim AMSsymbols
\sum
\sup
\supset
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\Supset AMSsymbols
\supseteq
\supseteqq AMSsymbols
\supsetneq AMSsymbols
\supsetneqq AMSsymbols
\surd
\swarrow

\tag [AMSmath]
\tan
\tanh
\tau
\tbinom AMSmath
\TeX
\text
\textbf
\textit
\textrm
\textstyle
\texttip action non-standard
\tfrac AMSmath
\therefore AMSsymbols
\Theta
\theta
\thickapprox AMSsymbols
\thicksim AMSsymbols
\thinspace
\tilde
\times
\tiny
\Tiny non-standard
\to
\toggle action non-standard
\top
\triangle
\triangledown AMSsymbols
\triangleleft
\trianglelefteq AMSsymbols
\triangleq AMSsymbols
\triangleright
\trianglerighteq AMSsymbols
\tt
\twoheadleftarrow AMSsymbols
\twoheadrightarrow AMSsymbols

\ulcorner AMSsymbols
\underbrace
\underleftarrow
\underleftrightarrow
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\underline
\underrightarrow
\underset
\unicode [unicode] non-standard
\unlhd AMSsymbols
\unrhd AMSsymbols
\Uparrow
\uparrow
\Updownarrow
\updownarrow
\upharpoonleft AMSsymbols
\upharpoonright AMSsymbols
\uplus
\uproot
\Upsilon
\upsilon
\upuparrows AMSsymbols
\urcorner AMSsymbols

\varDelta AMSsymbols
\varepsilon
\varGamma AMSsymbols
\varinjlim AMSmath
\varkappa AMSsymbols
\varLambda AMSsymbols
\varliminf AMSmath
\varlimsup AMSmath
\varnothing AMSsymbols
\varOmega AMSsymbols
\varphi
\varPhi AMSsymbols
\varpi
\varPi AMSsymbols
\varprojlim AMSmath
\varpropto AMSsymbols
\varPsi AMSsymbols
\varrho
\varsigma
\varSigma AMSsymbols
\varsubsetneq AMSsymbols
\varsubsetneqq AMSsymbols
\varsupsetneq AMSsymbols
\varsupsetneqq AMSsymbols
\vartheta
\varTheta AMSsymbols
\vartriangle AMSsymbols
\vartriangleleft AMSsymbols
\vartriangleright AMSsymbols
\varUpsilon AMSsymbols
\varXi AMSsymbols
\vcenter
\vdash
\Vdash AMSsymbols
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\vDash AMSsymbols
\vdots
\vec
\vee
\veebar AMSsymbols
\verb [verb]
\Vert
\vert
\vphantom
\Vvdash AMSsymbols

\wedge
\widehat
\widetilde
\wp
\wr

\Xi
\xi
\xcancel cancel
\xleftarrow AMSmath
\xlongequal extpfeil
\xmapsto extpfeil
\xrightarrow AMSmath
\xtofrom extpfeil
\xtwoheadleftarrow extpfeil
\xtwoheadrightarrow extpfeil

\yen AMSsymbols

\zeta

Environments

LaTeX environments of the form \begin{XXX} ... \end{XXX} are provided where XXX is one of the follow-
ing:

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align [AMSmath]
align* [AMSmath]
alignat [AMSmath]
alignat* [AMSmath]
aligned [AMSmath]
alignedat [AMSmath]
array

Bmatrix
bmatrix

cases

eqnarray
eqnarray*
equation
equation*

gather [AMSmath]
gather* [AMSmath]
gathered [AMSmath]

matrix
multline [AMSmath]
multline* [AMSmath]

pmatrix

smallmatrix AMSmath
split [AMSmath]
subarray AMSmath

Vmatrix
vmatrix

1.9 MathJax MathML Support

The support for MathML in MathJax consists of three parts: the mml2jax preprocessor, the MathML input processor,
and the NativeMML output processor. The first of these looks for <math> tags within your document and marks
them for later processing by MathJax. The second converts the MathML to the internal format used by MathJax, and
the third turns the internal format into MathML within the page so that it can be displayed by the browser’s native
MathML support.
Because of MathJax’s modular design, you do not need to use all three of these components. For example, you
could use the tex2jax preprocessor and the TeX input processor, but the NativeMML output processor, so that your
mathematics is entered in TeX format, but displayed as MathML. Or you could use the mml2jax preprocessor and
MathML input processor with the HTML-CSS output processor to make MathML available in browsers that don’t
have native MathML support. It is also possible to have MathJax select the output processor for you so that MathML
is used in those browsers that support it well enough, while HTML-CSS is used for those that don’t. See the common
configurations section for details and examples.
Of course it is also possible to use all three components together. It may seem strange to go through an internal format
just to return to MathML in the end, but this is actually what makes it possible to view MathML within an HTML page
(rather than an XHTML page), without the complications of handling special MIME-types for the document, or any
of the other setup issues that make using native MathML difficult. MathJax handles the setup and properly marks the

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mathematics so that the browser will render it as MathML. In addition, MathJax provides its contextual menu for the
MathML, which lets the user zoom the mathematics for easier reading, get and copy the source markup, and so on, so
there is added value to using MathJax even with a pure MathML workflow.

1.9.1 MathML in HTML pages

For MathML that is handled via the preprocessor, you should not use named MathML entities, but rather use numeric
entities like √ or unicode characters embedded in the page itself. The reason is that entities are replaced
by the browser before MathJax runs, and some browsers report errors for unknown entities. For browsers that are
not MathML-aware, that will cause errors to be displayed for the MathML entities. While that might not occur in
the browser you are using to compose your pages, it can happen with other browsers, so you should avoid the named
entities whenever possible. If you must use named entities, you may need to declare them in the DOCTYPE declaration
by hand.
When you use MathML in an HTML document rather than an XHTML one (MathJax will work woth both), you
should not use the “self-closing” form for tags with no content, but should use separate open and close tags. That is,
use

rather than <mspace width="thinmathspace />. This is because HTML (prior to HTML5) does not have
self-closing tags, and some browsers will get the nesting of tags wrong if you attempt to use them. For example, with
<mspace width="1em" />, since there is no closing tag, the rest of the mathematics will become the content of
the <mspace> tag; but since <mspace> should have no content, the rest of the mathematics will not be displayed.
This is a common error that should be avoided. Modern browsers that support HTML5 should be able to handle self-
closing tags, but older browsers have problems with them, so if you want your mathematics to be visible to the widest
audience, do not use the self-closing form in HTML documents.

1.9.2 Supported MathML commands

MathJax supports the MathML3.0 presentation mathematics tags, with some limitations. The MathML support is still
under active development, so some tags are not yet implemented, and some features are not fully developed, but are
coming.
The deficiencies include:
• No support for the elementary math tags: mstack, mlongdiv, msgroup, msrow, mscarries, and
mscarry.
• No support for alignment groups in tables.
• No support for right-to-left rendering.
• Not all attributes are supported for tables. E.g., columnspan and rowspan are not implemented yet.
See the results of the MathML3.0 test suite for details.

1.10 MathJax AsciiMath Support

The support for AsciiMath in MathJax consists of two parts: the asciimath2jax preprocessor, and the AsciiMath input
processor. The first of these looks for mathematics within your web page (indicated by delimiters like `...`) and
marks the mathematics for later processing by MathJax. The AsciiMath input processor is what converts the AsciiMath
notation into MathJax’s internal format, where one of MathJax’s output processors then displays it in the web page.

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The AsciiMath input jax actually includes a copy of Peter Jipsen’s ASCIIMathML.js file (see the AsciiMath home
page for details), and is included by permission of the author. This means that the results of MathJax’s AsciiMath
processing should be the same as using the actual ASCIIMathML.js package (at least as far as the MathML that
it generates is concerned). Thanks go to David Lippman for writing the initial version of the AsciiMath preprocessor
and input jax.
The asciimath2jax preprocessor can be configured to look for whatever markers you want to use for your math delim-
iters. See the asciimath2jax configuration options section for details on how to customize the action of asciimath2jax.
The AsciiMath input processor handles conversion of your mathematical notation into MathJax’s internal format
(which is essentially MathML). The AsciiMath input processor has few configuration options (see the AsciiMath
options section for details).
The AsciiMath input jax handles only the original ASCIIMathML notation (from ASCIIMathML v1.4.7), not the
extened LaTeXMathML notation added in version 2.0 of ASCIIMathML, though the AsciiMath input jax does expose
the tables that define the symbols that AsciiMath processes, and so it would be possible to extend them to include
additional symbols. In general, it is probably better to use MathJax’s TeX input jax to handle LaTeX notation instead.

1.10.1 AsciiMath delimiters

By default, the asciimath2jax preprocessor defines the back-tick (`) as the delimiters for mathematics in AsciiMath
format. It does not define $...$ as math delimiters. That is because dollar signs appear too often in non-mathematical
settings, which could cause some text to be treated as mathematics unexpectedly. For example, with single-dollar
delimiters, “. . . the cost is $2.50 for the first one, and $2.00 for each additional one . . . ” would cause the phrase “2.50
for the first one, and” to be treated as mathematics since it falls between dollar signs. For this reason, if you want to
use single-dollars for AsciiMath notation, you must enable that explicitly in your configuration:

MathJax.Hub.Config({
asciimath2jax: {
delimiters: [['$','$'], ['`','`']]
}
});

Note that the dollar signs are frequently used as a delimiter for mathematics in the TeX format, and you can not enable
the dollar-sign delimiter for both. It is probably best to leave dollar signs for TeX notation.
See the config/default.js file, or the asiimath2jax configuration options page, for additional configuration
parameters that you can specify for the asciimath2jax preprocessor, which is the component of MathJax that identifies
AsciiMath notation within the page.

1.10.2 AsciiMath in HTML documents

The AsciiMath syntax is descibed in the ASCIIMathML syntax page.

Keep in mind that your mathematics is part of an HTML document, so you need to be aware of the special characters
used by HTML as part of its markup. There cannot be HTML tags within the math delimiters (other than <BR>) as
AsciiMath-formatted math does not include HTML tags. Also, since the mathematics is initially given as text on the
page, you need to be careful that your mathematics doesn’t look like HTML tags to the browser (which parses the
page before MathJax gets to see it). In particular, that means that you have to be careful about things like less-than
and greater-than signs (< and >), and ampersands (&), which have special meaning to the browsers. For example,

... when `x<y` we have ...

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the document. In the example above, the “we have ...” will not be displayed because the browser thinks it is part
of the tag starting at <y. This is one indication you can use to spot this problem; it is a common error and should be
avoided.
Usually, it is sufficient to simply put spaces around these symbols to cause the browser to avoid them, so

... when `x < y` we have ...

should work. Alternatively, you can use the HTML entities <, > and & to encode these characters so
that the browser will not interpret them, but MathJax will. E.g.,

... when `x < y` we have ...

Keep in mind that the browser interprets your text before MathJax does.

1.11 MathJax Output Formats

Currently, MathJax can render math in three ways:

• Using HTML-with-CSS to lay out the mathematics,
• Using SVG to lay out the mathematics, or
• Using a browser’s native MathML support.
These are implemented by the HTML-CSS, SVG and NativeMML output processors.
If you are using one of the combined configuration files, then this will select one of these output processors for you.
If the config file ends in _HTML, then it is the HTML-CSS output processor, and if it ends in _SVG then the SVG
output processor will be used. If it ends in _HTMLorMML, then the NativeMML output processor will be chosen if the
browser supports it well enough, otherwise HTML-CSS output will be used.
If you are performing your own in-line or file-based configuration, you select which one you want to use by including
either "output/HTML-CSS", "output/SVG", or "output/NativeMML" in the jax array of your MathJax
configuration. For example

jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"]

would specify TeX input and HTML-with-CSS output for the mathematics in your document.
The HTML-CSS output processor produces high-quality output in all major browsers, with results that are consistent
across browsers and operating systems. This is MathJax’s primary output mode. Its major advantage is its quality and
consistency; its drawback is that it is slower than the NativeMML mode at rendering the mathematics. Historically,
the performance in Internet Explorer (and IE8 in particular) was quite poor, with the page getting slower and slower as
more math is processed. MathJax version 2.0 includes a number of optimizations to improve the display performance
in IE, and it is now more comparable to other browsers. The HTML-CSS output uses web-based fonts so that users
don’t have to have math fonts installed on their computers, which introduces some printing issues in certain browsers.
The SVG output processor is new in MathJax version 2.0, and it uses Scalable Vector Graphics to render the mathe-
matics on the page. SVG is supported in all the major browsers and most mobile devices; note, however, that Internet
Explorer prior to IE9 does not support SVG, and IE9 only does in “IE9 standards mode”, not its emulation modes
for earlier versions. The SVG output mode is high quality and slightly faster than HTML-CSS, and it does not suffer
from some of the font-related issues that HTML-CSS does, so prints well in all browsers. This format also works
well in some ebook readers (e.g., iBooks). The disadvantages of this mode are the following: first, Internet Explorer
only supports SVG in IE9 and later versions (and then only in IE9 standards mode or above), and some versions of
the Android Internet browser don’t have SVG enabled. Second, it does not take advantage of STIX fonts, and so only
has access to the characters in the web-based fonts, and third, its variable-width tables become fixed size once they
are typeset, and don’t rescale if the window size changes (for example). Since equation numbers are handled through

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variable-width tables, that means equation numbers may not stay at the edge of the window if it is resized. For these
reasons it is probably best not to force the use of SVG output unless you have some control over the browsers that are
used to view your documents.
The NativeMML output processor uses the browser’s internal MathML support (if any) to render the mathematics.
Currently, Firefox has native support for MathML, and IE has the MathPlayer plugin for rendering MathML. Opera
has some built-in support for MathML that works well with simple equations, but fails with more complex formulas,
so we don’t recommend using the NativeMML output processor with Opera. Safari has some support for MathML
since version 5.1, but the quality is not as high as either Firefox’s implementation or IE with MathPlayer. Chrome,
Konqueror, and most other browsers don’t support MathML natively, but this may change in the future, since MathML
is part of the HTML5 specification.
The advantage of the NativeMML output Processor is its speed, since native MathML support is much faster than using
complicated HTML and CSS to typeset mathematics, as the HTML-CSS output processor does. The disadvantage is
that you are dependent on the browser’s MathML implementation for your rendering, and these vary in quality of
output and completeness of implementation. MathJax relies on features that are not available in some renderers (for
example, Firefox’s MathML support does not implement the features needed for labeled equations). The results using
the NativeMML output processor may have spacing or other rendering problems that are outside of MathJax’s control.

1.11.1 Automatic Selection of the Output Processor

Since not all browsers support MathML natively, it would be unwise to choose the NativeMML output processor
unless you are sure of your audience’s browser capabilities. MathJax can help with that, however, since a number
of its combined configuration files will select NativeMML output when the browser supports it well enough, and
HTML-CSS output otherwise. These are the configuration files that end in _HTMLorMML.
If you are doing your own configuration, there is a special configuration file that you can include that will choose
between NativeMML and HTML-CSS depending on the browser in use. To invoke it, add "MMLorHTML.js" to
your configuration’s config array, and do not include an output processor in your jax array; MathJax will fill that in
for you based on the abilities of your user’s browser.

config: ["MMLorHTML.js"],
jax: ["input/TeX"]

By default, MathJax will choose HTML-CSS in all browsers except for one case: Internet Explorer when the Math-
Player plugin is present. In the past, MathJax selected NativeMML output for Firefox as well, but we have found
that there are too many rendering issues with Firefox’s native MathML implementation, and so MathJax now selects
HTML-CSS output for Firefox by default as well. Users can still use the Mathjax contextual menu to select the
NativeMML renderer if they wish to choose greater speed at the expense of some quality.
You can customize which choice MathJax makes on a browser-by-browser basis or a global basis. See the config/
default.js file or the Configuring MMLorHTML section for further details. As an example, this configuration tells
MathJax to use native MathML support rather than HTML-CSS output for Firefox:

With this configuration, MathML output will be used for both Firefox and IE with the MathPlayer plugin. Note,
however, that a user can employ the MathJax contextual menu to select the other renderer if he or she wishes.

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MathJax produces MathML that models the underlying mathematics as best it can, rather than using complicated hacks
to improve output for a particular MathML implementation. When you make the choice to use the NativeMML output
processor, you are making a trade-off: gaining speed at the expense of quality and reliability, a decision that should
not be taken lightly.

1.11.2 Automatic Line Breaking

The HTML-CSS and SVG output processors implement (most of) the MathML3 automatic line-breaking specification.
(The NativeMML output processor relies on the browser’s native MathML support to handle line breaking when it is
used.) Since line-breaking takes extra processing and so can slow down the mathematical output, it is off by default,
but you can enable it by adding

to your page just before the <script> tag that loads MathJax.js itself.
Note that line breaking only applies to displayed equations, not in-line equations (unless the in-line euqation is itself
longer than a line), and that the line-breaks are only computed once when the equation is initially typeset, and do not
change if the user changes the window size, or if the container changes size for some other reason.
You can control what width is used to determine where the line breaks shoud occur using the container parameter
of the linebreaks block. By default it is the width of the containing element, but you can make it a fixed width, or
make it a percentage of the container. See the HTML-CSS configuration or SVG configuration pages for more details.
The linbe-breaking algorithm uses the nesting depth, the type of operator, the size of spaces, and other factors to decide
on the breakpoints, but it does not know the meaning of the mathematics, and may not choose the optimal breakpoints.
We will continue to work on the algorithm as we gain information from its actual use in the field. If you are using
MathML as your input format, you can use the linebreak="goodbreak" and linebreak="badbreak"
attributes on <mo> elements to help MathJax pick the best breakpoints for your mathematics.

1.11.3 HTML-CSS with IE

The performance of MathJax in Internet Explorer 8 and 9 has been substantially improved in version 2.0. The HTML-
CSS output processing was redesigned to avoid the page reflows that were the main source of the speed problem in I8
and IE9. For test pages having between 20 and 50 typeset expressions, we see an 80% reduction in output processing
time for IE8, a 50% reduction for IE9, and between 15% and 25% reduction for most other browsers over the v1.1a
times. Since the processing time in v1.1a grows non-linearly in IE, you should see even larger savings for pages with
more equations when using v2.0.
In the past, we recommended forcing IE8 and IE9 into IE7-emulation mode in order to get better performance. That
is no longer necessary. Indeed, the fastest modes in IE8 and IE9 now are their IE8 standards and IE9 standards modes,
so it is best to force the highest mode possible. That can be accomplished by adding

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">

at the top of the <head> section of your HTML documents. Note that this line must come at the beginning of the
<head>, before any stylesheets, scripts, or other content are loaded.

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1.11.4 HTML-CSS Extensions

The HTML-CSS output jax uses elements with width set to 100% when it typesets displayed equations. If there are
floating elements on the left or right, this can mean that displayed mathematics isn’t properly centered, and can cause
equation numbers to overlap the floating content. To avoid this, you can specify the handle-floats extension in the
extensions array of your HTML-CSS configuration block.

"HTML-CSS": {
extensions: ["handle-floats.js"]
}

This will use CSS that puts the displayed equations into elements that work like tabel cells, and won’t overlap the
floaring content. Because this is somewhat of a misuse of CSS, it is not used by default, but it has proved successful
in most situations, so you may consider using it in pages that include material that floats to the left or right of text
containing displayed mathematics, especially when equation numbers or tags are used.
See the HTML-CSS configuration options for other options of the HTML-CSS output jax.

1.12 The MathJax Community

If you are an active MathJax user, you may wish to become involved in the wider community of MathJax users.
The MathJax project maintains forums where users can ask questions about how to use MathJax, make suggestions
about future features for MathJax, and present their own solutions to problems that they have faced. There is also a
bug-tracking system where you can report errors that you have found with MathJax in your environment.

1.12.1 Forums

If you need help using MathJax or you have solutions you want to share, please use the MathJax Users Google Group.
We try hard to answer questions quickly, and users are welcome to help with that as well. Also, users can post code
snippets showing how they have used MathJax, so it may be a good place to find the examples you are looking for.
If you want to discuss MathJax development, please use the MathJax Dev Google Group. We made this group to
discuss anything beyond what an end-user might be interested in, so if you have any suggestions or questions about
MathJax performance, technology, or design, feel free to submit it to the group.
The community is only as good as the users who participate, so if you have something to offer, please take time to
make a post on one of our groups.

1.12.2 Issue tracking

Found a bug or want to suggest an improvement? Post it to our issue tracker. We monitor the tracker closely, and work
hard to respond to problems quickly.
Before you create a new issue, however, please search the issues to see if it has already been reported. You could also
be using an outdated version of MathJax, so be sure to upgrade your copy to verify that the problem persists in the
latest version.

1.12.3 “Powered by MathJax”

If you are using MathJax and want to show your support, please consider using our “Powered by MathJax” badge.

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CHAPTER 2

Upgrading MathJax

2.1 What’s New in MathJax v2.0

MathJax version 2.0 includes many new and improved features, including much better speeds in Internet Explorer, a
new AsciiMath input processor, a new SVG output processor, support for additional LaTeX commands, and many bug
fixes, to name just a few of the changes.

2.1.1 Major speed improvement for HTML-CSS output, particularly in IE

The HTML-CSS output processing was redesigned to avoid the page reflows that were the main source of the speed
problem in Internet Explorer 8 and 9. For test pages having between 20 and 50 typeset expressions, we see an 80%
reduction in output processing time for IE8, a 50% reduction for IE9, and between 15% and 25% reduction for most
other browsers over the corresponding v1.1a times. Since the processing time in v1.1a grows non-linearly in IE, you
should see even larger savings for pages with more equations when using v2.0. Forcing IE7 emulation mode is no
longer necessary (and indeed is no longer recommended).

2.1.2 Reduced flickering during typsetting

In the past, each expression was displayed as soon as it was typeset, which caused a lot of visual flickering as MathJax
processed the page. In v2.0, the output is processed in blocks so that typeset expressions are revealed in groups. This
reduces the visual distraction, and also speeds up the processing. The number of equations in a block can be controlled
through the EqnChunk parameter in the HTML-CSS or SVG block of your configuration. See the configuration
options for HTML-CSS and configuration options for SVG pages for details.
If the page URL includes a hash reference (a link to a particular location within the page), MathJax v2.0 will jump
to that location after the page has finished typsetting. (Since the size of the page may have changed due to the
mathematical typsetting, that location may no longer be visible on screen, so MathJax moves there when it is done
with the initial typesetting.) You can control this behavior with the positionToHash parameter in the main section
of your configuration. See the core configuration options page for details.

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2.1.3 Automatic equation numbering of TeX formulas

The TeX input jax now can be configured to add equation numbers (though the default is not to number equations so
that existing pages will not change their appearance). This is controlled through the equationNumbers section
of the TeX block of your configuration (see the equation numbering section for details). You can request that the
numbering follow the AMS-style numbering of environments, or you can request that every displayed equation be
numbered. There are now \label, \ref, and \eqref commands to make it easier to link to particular equations
within the document.

2.1.4 Automatic line breaking of long displayed equations

MathJax now implements the MathML3 specification for automatic line breaking of displayed equations in its HTML-
CSS output. This is disabled by default, but can be enabled via the linebreaks section of the HTML-CSS or SVG
block of your configuration (see the automatic line breaking section for details). Note that automatic line breaking
only applies to displayed equations, not in-line equations, unless they are themselves longer than a line. The algorithm
uses the nesting depth, the type of operator, the size of spaces, and other factors to decide on the breakpoints, but it
does not know the meaning of the mathematics, and may not choose the optimal breakpoints. We will continue to
work on the algorithm as we gain information from its actual use in the field.

2.1.5 New AsciiMath input jax and SVG output jax

MathJax currently processes math in either TeX and LaTeX format, or MathML notation; version 2.0 augments that to
include AsciiMath notation (see the ASCIIMathML home page for details on this format). This is a notation that is
easier for students to use than TeX, and has been requested by the user community. See the AsciiMath support page
for details.
In addition to the HTML-CSS and Native MathML output available in v1.1, MathJax v2.0 includes an SVG-based
output jax. This should prove to be more reliable than the HTML-CSS output, as it avoids some CSS, web-font, and
printing issues that the HTML-CSS output suffers from, and it currently has no browser-dependent code. The SVG
mode even works in some ebook readers (like Apple iBooks and Calibre). See the output formats documentation for
details.

2.1.6 New combined configuration files

Pre-defined configuration files that include the AsciiMath and SVG processors are now available with MathJax v2.0.
These include AM_HTMLorMML, TeX-AMS-MML_SVG, and TeX-MML-AM_HTMLorMML. See the common config-
urations section for details.

2.1.7 MathJax contextual menu now available on mobile devices

MathJax v2.0 provides access to its contextual menu in mobile devices that are based on the WebKit (Safari) and
Gecko (Firefox) engines. For Mobile Firefox, the menu is accessed by a tap-and-hold on any expression rendered by
MathJax (this is Mobile Firefox’s standard method of triggering a contextual menu). In Mobile Safari, use a double-
tap-and-hold (you may need to zoom in a bit to be able to accomplish this). This is the first step toward providing a
better interface for mobile devices.

2.1.8 Improved support for screen readers

Some issues surrounding the use of screen readers and their interaction with MathPlayer have been resolved in MathJax
v2.0. In particular, there are additional menu items that allow the user finer control over some aspects of MathJax’s

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interface that were interfering with some screen readers’ ability to properly identify the mathematics. Several stability
issues with MathPlayer have also been addressed. In Internet Explorer when MathPlayer is installed, there is now a
new contextual menu item to allow you to specify what events are handled by MathJax and what should be handled
by MathPlayer. This gives you finer control over MathPlayer’s interaction with some screen readers.

2.1.9 Many new TeX additions and enhancements

• New mhchem chemistry extension (adds \ce, \cf, and \cee macros)
• New cancel extension (adds \cancel, \bcancel, \xcancel, and \cancelto macros)
• New extpfeil extension (adds more stretchy arrows)
• New color extension (makes \color work as a switch, as in LaTeX). Adds \definecolor, other color
models, LaTeX named colors, \colorbox, \fcolorbox, etc.
• New begingroup extension to allow macro definitions to be localized. Adds \begingroup and \endgroup
for isolating macro declarations, and defines \let, \renewenvironment, \global, and \gdef.
• New enclose extension to give TeX access to <menclose> elements. Adds
\enclose{type}[attributes]{math} macro.
• New action extension to give TeX access to <maction> elements. Adds \mathtip{math}{tip},
\texttip{math}{tip}, and \toggle{math1}{math2}...\endtoggle macros.
• New \mmToken{type}[attributes]{text} macro for producing <mo>, <mi>, <mtext>, and other
token MathML elements directly.
• New \bbox[color;attributes]{math} macro to add background color, padding, borders, etc.
• New \middle macro for stretchy delimiters between \left and \right.
• New \label, \ref, and \eqref macros for numbered equations.
• Better implementation of \not so it produces proper MathML when possible.
• Better implementation of \dots that selects \ldots or \cdots depending on the context.
• Better implementation of \cases that automatically uses \text on the second entry in each row.
• Safer implementation of \require that only allows loading from extensions directory.
• Allow \newcomand to provide a default parameter.
• Allow \\ to take an optional argument that specifies additional space between lines.
• Allow \\ to be used anywhere (to force a line break), not just in arrays.
• Allow optional alignment parameter for array, aligned, and gathered environments.
See the TeX support page for details on these extensions and macros.

2.1.10 Font enhancements

• Work around for the OS X Lion STIX font problem.

• Support for STIX-1.1 fonts (detection of which version you have, and use data appropriate for that).
• New WOFF versions of the web fonts (smaller, so faster to download).
• Data for more stretchy characters in HTML-CSS output.
• Add support for Unicode planes 1 through 10 (not just the Math Alphabet block) in HTML-CSS output.

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• Increased timeout for web fonts (since it was switching to image fonts too often, especially for mobile devices).
• Only switch to image fonts if the first web font fails to load (if we can access one, assume we can access them
all).
• Allow <mtext> elements to use the page font rather than MathJax fonts (optionally). This is controlled by the
mtextFontInerhit configuration parameter for HTML-CSS and SVG output jax.
• Provide better control over the font used for characters that are not in the MathJax fonts.
• Allow Firefox to use web-based fonts when a local URL uses MathJax from the CDN (in the past it would force
image fonts when that was not necessary).

2.1.11 Interface improvements

• The MathJax contextual menu has been reorganized to make it easier to get the source view, and to control the
parameters for MathPlayer in IE.
• The MathJax contextual menu is available in mobile devices (see description above).
• Warning messages are issued if you switch renderers to one that is inappropriate for your browser.
• MathJax now starts processing the page on the DOMContentLoaded event rather than the page onload
event (this allows the mathematics to appear sooner).
• Native MathML output is now scaled to better match the surrounding font (like it is for HTML-CSS output).
• Better CSS styling for NativeMML output in Firefox in order to handle \cal and other fonts.
• MathML output now (optionally) includes class names to help mark special situations generated by the TeX
input jax. (This lets the MathML from the Show Source menu item better reproduce the original TeX output.)
• MathJax now loads the menu and zoom code (if they haven’t been loaded already) after the initial typesetting
has occured so that they will be available immediately when a user needs those features, but do not delay the
initial typesetting of the mathematics.
• For the tex2jax preprocessor, the processClass can now be used to override the skipTags to force a tag
that is usually skipped to have its contents be processed.
• The noErrors and noUndefined extensions can now be disabled via a configuration option (since they are in-
cluded in many of the combined configuration files). See the noErrors and noUndefined sections of the TeX
support page for more information.
• There is a new MathJax.Hub.setRenderer() function that can be used to switch the current renderer.
See the MathJax Hub API documentation for details.
• A user-defined macros is no longer overridden if an extension is loaded that redefines that macro.
• Improved web-font detection reliability.

2.1.12 Important changes from previous versions

• The default renderer for Firefox has been changed from NativeMML to HTML-CSS (in those configurations that
choose between the two). The only browser that defaults to NativeMML is now IE with MathPlayer installed.
You can configure this to your liking using the MMLorHTML configuration options.
• NativeMML output will now be selected in IE9 when MathPlayer is present (since IE9 was released the same
day as MathJax v1.1a, and there had been problems with IE9 beta releases, we weren’t sure if MathPlayer would
work with the official release, and so did not select NativeMML by default.)

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• The performance improvements in IE8 and IE9 now make it unnecessary to use a <meta> tag to force IE7
emulation mode. In fact IE9 in IE9 standards mode now runs faster than IE9 in IE7 standards mode, and IE8 in
IE8 standards mode is comparable to IE8 in IE7 standards mode. We now recommend that you use

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">

to obtain the highest emulation mode available in IE, which will be the fastest one for MathJax 2.0.
• The tex2jax preprocessor now balances braces when looking for the closing math delimiter. That allows expres-
sions like

$y = x^2 \hbox{ when $x > 2$}$

to be properly parsed as a single math expression rather than two separate ones with unbalanced braces. The old
behavior can be obtained by setting balanceBraces to false in the tex2jax block of your configuration.
(See the tex2jax configuration options for details.)
• If you are hosting your own copy of MathJax on your server, and that copy is being used from pages in a different
domain, you will have set up the access control paramters for the font directory to allow Firefox to access the
font files properly. Since MathJax 2.0 includes fonts in WOFF format, you will need to include woff in you
access control declaration for the fonts. E.g., use

<FilesMatch "\.(ttf|otf|eot|woff)$">
<IfModule mod_headers.c>
Header set Access-Control-Allow-Origin "*"
</IfModule>
</FilesMatch>

in the .htaccess` file for the ``Mathjax/fonts directory if you are using the Apache web
server. See Notes about shared installations for details.
• The \cases macro now properly places the second column in text mode not math mode. In the past, one
needed to use \text in the second column to achieve the proper results; pages that did this will still work
properly in v2.0. Pages that took advantage of the math mode in the second column will need to be adjusted.
• The \dots macro now produces \ldots or \cdots depending on the context (in the past, \dots always
produced \ldots).
• A one pixel padding has been added above and below HTML-CSS and SVG output so that math on successive
lines of a paragraph won’t bump into each other.
• There is a new MathPlayer submenu of the Math Settings menu in the MathJax contextual menu that allows
the user to control what events are passed on to MathPlayer. This allows better control for those using assistive
devices like screen readers. When menu events are being passed on to MathPlayer, the MathJax menu can be
obtained by ALT-clicking on a typeset expression (so the user can still access MathJax’s other features).
• In order to improve stability with IE when MathPlayer is installed, MathJax now adds the namespace and object
bindings that are needed for MathPlayer at the time that Mathjax is first loaded, rather than waiting for the
NativeMML output jax to be loaded. Since this is before the configuration information has been obtained, this
will happen regardless of whether the NativeMML output jax is requested. This means that IE may ask the user
to allow MathPlayer to be used, and may show the MathPlayer splash dialog even when MathPlayer is not in the
end used by MathJax. Note that this setup can only be performed if MathJax is loaded explicitly as part of the
initial web page; if it is injected into the page later by adding a <script> tag to the page dynamically, then
MathPlayer will be set up when the NativeMML jax is loaded as in the past, and some stability issues may occur
if events are passed to MathPlayer.
• The MathJax typesetting is now started on DOMContentLoaded rather than at the page onload event, when
possible, so that means MathJax may start typesetting the page earlier than in the past. This should speed up
typesetting one pages with lots of images or side-bar content, for example.

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• MathJax now attempts to determine whether the page’s onload event had already occurred, and if it has,
it does not try to wait for the DOMContentLoaded or onload event before doing its initial typeset pass.
This means that it is no longer necessary to call MathJax.Hub.Startup.onload() by hand if you insert
MathJax into the page dynamically (e.g., from a GreaseMonkey script).
• If the page URL includes a hash reference (a link to a particular location within the page), MathJax v2.0 will
jump to that location after the page has finished typsetting. Since the size of the page may have changed due to
the mathematical typsetting, that location may no longer be visible on screen, so MathJax moves there when it
is done with the initial typesetting. You can control this behavior with the positionToHash parameter in the
main section of your configuration (see core configuration options).
• In the event that MathJax is not able to load the configuration file you have specified in the script tag that
loads MathJax.js via config=filename, it will no longer issue the warning message about a missing
configuration. The configuration process changed in v1.1, and that message was to help page maintainers
update their configurations, but it turns out that for users with slow network connections, MathJax could time
out waiting for the configuration file and would issue the warning message in that case, even though the page
included the proper configuration. That should no longer occur in MathJax v2.0.

2.1.13 Other enhancements

• Use prioritized lists of callbacks for StartupHooks, MessageHooks, LoadHooks, PreProcessors, and pre- and
post-filters on the input jax.
• Updated operator dictionary to correspond to current W3C version.
• Improved browser detection for Gecko and WebKit browsers.
• Make prefilters and postfilters for all input jax, and make them into hook lists rather than a single hook.
• Use <mi> rather than <mo> for \sin, \cos, and other such functions, for \mathop{\rm...} and
\operatorname.
• Add ⁡ after \mathop{} and other macros that are functions (e.g., \sin).
• The MathJax_Preview style has been moved from HTML-CSS/jax.js to MathJax.js, since it is com-
mon to all output.
• The autobold extension now uses \boldsymbol rather than \bf so that it will affect more characters.
• Make units of mu’s be relative to the scriptlevel (as they are supposed to be).
• Reorganized the event-handling code to make it more modular and reduce redundancy in the different output
jax.
• Modified CSS in NativeMML output for Firefox to use local copies of the web fonts, if they are available.
• Error messages now have the MathJax contextual menu.
• Better handling of some characters not in the web fonts (remap to locations where they exist, when possible).
• Better choice of accent characters in some cases.
• Better handling of pseudo-scripts (like primes).
• Better sizing of characters introduced by \unicode{}, or otherwise outside of the fonts known to MathJax.
• Provide a new extension to handle tagged equations better in HTML-CSS output when there are floating elements
that might reduce the area available to displayed equations. (See the HTML-CSS extensions section of the output
formats documentation for detais.)
• Use a text font for \it rather than the math italics, so spacing is better.
• Handle italic correction better in HTML-CSS output

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• Handle href attributes better, especially when on <math> elements.

• Allow \sqrt\frac{}{} without producing an error.

2.1.14 Other bug fixes

• MathPlayer setup changed to prevent crashes.

• Moved remapping of <mo> contents to the output jax so that the original contents aren’t changed.
• Don’t combine mathvariant with fontstyle or fontweight (as per the MathML specification).
• Isolate non-standard attributes on MathML elements so that they don’t interfere with the inner workings of
MathJax.
• Properly handle width of border and padding in merrors in HTML-CSS output.
• Properly handle lower-case Greek better.
• Process weight and style of unknown characters properly.
• Fixed spacing problems with \cong in MathJax web fonts .
• Choose better sizes for \widehat and \widetilde
• Fixed problem with detecting em/ex sizes when uses in mobile devices with small screen widths.
• Fixed MathML output when dimensions of mu’s are used in TeX input.
• Better handling of table borders from TeX.
• Fixed some problems with table widths and heights, and spacing.
• Better handling of colored backgrounds in HTML-CSS output.
• Handle border and padding CSS styles better in HTML-CSS output.
• Fixed multline environment to put tags on bottom row when TagSide is set to right.
• Force reflow after equations are typeset so that some rendering problems in tables are corrected in Firefox and
WebKit browsers.
• Fixed a number of bugs with the size of zoom boxes and the size of their content.
• Have equations with tags zoom into a full-width zoom box to accommodate the tag.
• Fixed positioning problem with zoom boxes in NativeMML mode.
• Don’t allow mouse events on zoomed math.
• Fixed MathJax.Hub.getJaxFor() and MathJax.Hub.isJax() to properly handle elements that are
part of an output jax’s output (in particular, you can find the element jax from any DOM element in the output).
• Fixed a number of font anomalies (problems in the data files).
• Fixed problem where <mspace> with a background color would not always overlay previous items.
• Fixed a problem with colored <mspace> elements being too tall in IE/quirks mode.
• Fixed problem where <mtable> with equalrows="true" would not produce equal height rows.
• Allow <mpadded> background color to be specified exactly (i.e., without the 1px padding) when one of its
dimensions is given explicitly (or there is no content).
• Avoiding flicker problem with hover zoom trigger in Firefox.
• Fix \unicode bug with font names that include spaces.

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• Remove internal multiple spaces in token elements as per the MathML specification.
• Work around HTML5 removing namespaces, so that xmlns:xlink becomes xlink with no namespace,
which confuses the XML parsers.
• Fix MathJax.Message.Set() and MathJax.Message.Clear() so that a delay of 0 is properly han-
dled.
• Produce better MathML for \bmod, \mod, and \pmod.
• Don’t allow Safari/Windows to use STIX fonts since it can’t access characters in Plane1 (the mathematical
alphabets).
• Fix \thickapprox to use the correct glyph in HTML-CSS output with MathJax web fonts.
• Make style attributes work on <mstyle> elements.
• Better handling of border and padding on MathML elements in HTML-CSS output.
• Fixed error with size of \: space.
• Allow delimiter of . on \genfrac (it was accidentally rejected).
• Handle AMSmath control sequences with stars better (\cs{*} no longer counts as \cs*).
• Fixed wrong character number in stretchy data for U+221A.
• Fixed <annotation-xml> to use the proper scaling in HTML-CSS output.
• Fixed a problem with combining characters when they are used as accents.
• Fixed a problem in Firefox with \mathchoice when the contents have negative width.
• TeX input jax no longer incorrectly combines <mo> elements that have different variants, styles, classes, or id’s.
• Fixed the scriptlevel when <munderover> has base with movablelimits="true" in non-display
mode.
• Fixed typo in implementation of SimpleSUPER.
• Fixed typo in self-closing flag for <mprescript> tag.
• Prevent infinite loop if one of the jax fails to load (due to failure to compile or timeout waiting for it to load).
• Fixed a whitespace issue in token elements with IE/quirks mode in the MathML input jax.
• Make sure height is above depth when making spaces and rules in HTML-CSS and SVG output.
• Fixed HTML-CSS tooltip to be work properly when a restart occurs within the tooltip.
• Fixed problem with size of colored backgrounds on <mo> in some circumstances in HTML-CSS output.
• Make \ulcorner, etc. use more approprate unicode positions, and remap those positions to the locations in
the MathJax web fonts.

2.1.15 Some technical changes

• Break the processing phase into two separate phases to do input processing separately from output processing
(they used to be interleaved). This makes it easier to implement forward references for the \ref macro.
• Make Font Preference menu honor the imageFont setting.
• Changed the name of the preview filter commands to previewFilter in all preprocessors.
• Make ^ and _ be stretchy even though that isn’t in the W3C dictionary.

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• Fixed HTML-CSS output problem when a multi-character token element has characters taken from multiple
fonts.
• Force message text to be black in FontWarnings and configuration warnings.
• Added Find() and IndexOf() commands to menus to locate menu items.
• Added menu signals for post/unpost and activation of menu items.
• Added signals for typesetting of unknown characters.
• Added signals for zoom/unzoom.
• Added More signals for error conditions.
• Allow preferences to select MathML output for Safari with late enough version.
• Improved About MathJax box.
• Have tex2jax handle empty delimiter arrays and don’t scan page if there is nothing to look for.
• Make delay following a processing message configurable and lengthen it to make browser more responsive
during typesetting.
• Make thin rules be in pixels to try to improve results in IE (disappearing division lines).
• Mark all output elements as isMathJax, so it can be used to identify what elements are part of mathematical
output.
• Force MathZoom and MathMenu to wait for the Begin Styles message before inserting their styles so when
they are included in the combined files, the author can still configure them.
• Add default id’s to the jax base object classes.
• Mark top-level math element as having a texError when it is one (to make it easier to recognize).
• Have Update() method ask ElementJax to determine if it needs updating (which in turn asks the associated
input jax).
• Make Remove() work for just clearing output (without detaching) if desired.
• Have ElementJax store input and output jax ID’s rather than pointers (to help avoid circular references for
cleanup purposes).
• Move input/output jax and preprocessor registries from Hub.config to Hub itself (they are not user config-
urable through Hub.Config, and so even though they are configurations, they don’t belong there).
• Make sure embelished large ops are type OP not ORD to get spacing right.
• Added MathJax.HTML.getScript() to get the contents of a script (needed since it works differently in
different browsers).
• Move code that prevents numbers from being treated as a unit for super- and subscripts to the super- and subscript
routine in the TeX input jax (prevents making changes to \text{}, \hbox{}, \href{}, etc.).
• Make mml2jax work better with IE namespaces (IE9 no longer seems to list the xmlns entries on the <html>
element).

2.2 What’s New in MathJax v1.1

MathJax version 1.1 includes a number of important improvements and enhancements over version 1.0. We have
worked hard to fix bugs, improve support for browsers and mobile devices, process TeX and MathML better, and
increase MathJax’s performance.

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In addition to these changes, MathJax.org now offers MathJax as a network service. Instead of having to install
MathJax on your own server, you can link to our content delivery network (CDN) to get fast access to up-to-date and
past versions of MathJax. See Loading MathJax from the CDN for more details.
The following sections outline the changes in v1.1:

2.2.1 Optimization

• Combined configuration files that load all the needed files in one piece rather than loading them individually.
This simplifies configuration and speeds up typesetting of the mathematics on the page.
• Improved responsiveness to mouse events during typesetting.
• Parallel downloading of files needed by MathJax, for faster startup times.
• Shorter timeout for web fonts, so if they can’t be downloaded, you don’t have to wait so long.
• Rollover to image fonts if a web font fails to load (so you don’t have to wait for every font to fail.
• The MathJax files are now packed only with yuicompressor rather than a custom compressor. The CDN serves
gzipped versions, which end up being smaller than the gzipped custom-packed files.
• Improved rendering speed in IE by removing position:relative from the style for mathematics.
• Improved rendering speed for most browsers by isolating the mathematics from the page during typesetting
(avoids full page reflows).

2.2.2 Enhancements

• Allow the input and output jax configuration blocks to specify extensions to be loaded when the jax is loaded
(this avoids needing to load them up front, so they don’t have to be loaded on pages that don’t include mathe-
matics, for example).
• Better handling of background color from style attributes.
• Ability to pass configuration parameters via script URL.
• Support HTML5 compliant configuration syntax.
• Switch the Git repository from storing the fonts in fonts.zip to storing the fonts/ directory directly.
• Improved About box.
• Added a minimum scaling factor (so math won’t get too small).

2.2.3 TeX Support

• Added support for \href, \style, \class, \cssId.

• Avoid recursive macro definitions and other resource consumption possibilities.
• Fix for \underline bug.
• Fix for bug with \fbox.
• Fix height problem with \raise and \lower.
• Fix problem with \over used inside array entries.
• Fix problem with nesting of math delimiters inside text-mode material.
• Fix single digit super- and subscripts followed by punctuation.

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• Make sure movablelimits is off for \underline and related macros.

• Fix problem with dimensions given with pc units.

2.2.4 MathML Support

• Fix < and & being translated too early.

• Handle self-closing tags in HTML files better.
• Combine adjacent relational operators in <mo> tags.
• Fix entity name problems.
• Better support for MathML namespaces.
• Properly handle comments within MathML in IE.
• Properly consider <mspace> and <mtext> as space-like.
• Improved support for <maction> with embellished operators.

2.2.5 Other Bug Fixes

• Fixed CSS bleed through with zoom and other situations.

• Fixed problems with showMathMenuMSIE when set to false.
• Replaced illegal prefix characters in cookie name.
• Improved placement of surd for square roots and n-th roots.
• Fixed layer obscuring math from MathPlayer for screen readers.
• Newlines in CDATA comments are now handled properly.
• Resolved conflict between jsMath2jax and tex2jax both processing the same equation.
• Fixed problem with class="tex2jax_ignore" affecting the processing of sibling elements.

2.2.6 Browser Support

Android
• Added detection and configuration for Android browser.
• Allow use of OTF web fonts in Android 2.2.
Blackberry
• MathJax now works with OS version 6.
Chrome
• Use OTF web fonts rather than SVG fonts for version 4 and above.
Firefox
• Added Firefox 4 detection and configuration.
• Fix for extra line-break bug when displayed equations are in preformatted text.
• Updated fonts so that FF 3.6.13 and above can read them.

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Internet Explorer
• Changes for compatibility with IE9.
• Fix for IE8 incorrectly parsing MathML.
• Fix for IE8 namespace problem.
• Fix for null parentNode problem.
• Fix for outerHTML not quoting values of attributes.
iPhone/iPad
• Added support for OTF web fonts in iOS4.2.
Nokia
• MathJax now works with Symbian3 .
Opera
• Prevent Opera from using STIX fonts unless explicitly requested via the font menu (since Opera can’t display
many of the characters).
• Fixed bad em-size detection in 10.61.
• Fixed a problem with the About dialog in Opera 11.
Safari
• Use OTF web fonts for Safari/PC.
WebKit
• Better version detection.

2.3 Migrating from MathJax v1.0 to v1.1

MathJax v1.1 fixes a number of bugs in v1.0, and improves support for new versions of browsers and mobile devices.
It includes changes to increase its performance, and to make it more compliant with HTML5. It has more flexible
configuration options, and the ability to load configuration files that combine multiple files into a single one to increase
loading speed when MathJax starts up. Finally, MathJax.org now offers MathJax as a web service through a distributed
“cloud” server.
This document describes the changes you may need to make to your MathJax configurations in order to take advantage
of these improvements.

2.3.1 Configuration Changes

The main changes that you will see as a page author are in the way that MathJax can be loaded and configured. If you
have been using in-line configuration by putting a MathJax.Hub.Config() call in the body of the <script>
tag that loads MathJax, then your site should work unchanged with version 1.1 of MathJax. You may wish to consider
moving to the new HTML5-compliant method of configuring MathJax, however, which uses a separate <script>
tag to specify the configuration. That tag should come before the one that loads Mathjax.js, and should have
type="text/x-mathjax-config" rather than type="text/javascript". For example,

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<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js">

MathJax.Hub.Config({
jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js"]
});
</script>

would become

instead. This will make sure your pages pass HTML5 validation. Be sure that you put the configuration block before
the script that loads MathJax. See Loading and Configuring MathJax for more details.
If your page simply loads MathJax.js and relies on config/MathJax.js, then you will need to modify your
<script> tag in order to use MathJax v1.1. This is because MathJax no longer loads a default configuration file;
you are required to explicitly specify the configuration file if you use one. Furthermore, the name of the config/
MathJax.js file was a source of confusion, so it has been renamed config/default.js instead. Thus, if you
used

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js"></script>

in the past, you should replace it with

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js?config=default"></script>

instead. If you don’t do this, you will receive a warning message that directs you to a page that explains how to update
your script tags to use the new configuration format.

2.3.2 Combined Configurations

New with version 1.1 is the ability to combine several files into a single configuration file, and to load that via the same
script that loads MathJax. This should make configuring MathJax easier, and also helps to speed up the initial loading
of MathJax’s components, since only one file needs to be downloaded.
MathJax comes with four pre-built configurations, and our hope is that one of these will suit your needs. They are
described in more detail in the Using a Configuration File section. To load one, add ?config=filename (where
filename is the name of the configuration file without the .js) to the URL that loads MathJax.js. For example

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js">

MathJax.Hub.Config({
jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js","AMSmath.js","AMSsymbols.js"]
});
</script>

could be replaced by the single line

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS_HTML"></script>

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In this way, you don’t have to include the in-line configuration, and all the needed files will be downloaded when
MathJax starts up. For complete details about the contents of the combined configuration files, see the Common
Configurations section.
If you want to use a pre-defined configuration file, but want to modify some of the configuration parameters, you can
use both a text/x-mathjax-config block and a config=filename parameter in combination. For example,

would load the TeX-AMS_HTML configuration file, but would reconfigure the inline math delimiters to include $...$
in addition to $...$, and would set the processEscapes parameter to true.

2.3.3 Loading MathJax from the CDN

The MathJax installation is fairly substantial (due to the large number of images needed for the image fonts), and
so you may not want to (or be able to) store MathJax on your own server. Keeping MathJax up to date can also be
a maintenance problem, and you might prefer to let others handle that for you. In either case, using the MathJax
distributed network service may be the best way for you to obtain MathJax. That way you can be sure you are using
an up-to-date version of MathJax, and that the server will be fast and reliable.
To use the MathJax CDN service, simply load MathJax as follows:

</scrip>

Of course, you can load any configuration file that you wish, or use a text/x=mathajx-config block to configure
MathJax in-line. More details are available, if you need them.
The use of cdn.mathjax.org is governed by its terms of service, so be sure to read that before linking to the
MathJax CDN server.

2.3.4 Change in default TeX delimiters

In addition to the fact that MathJax v1.1 no longer loads a default configuration file, there is a second configuration
change that could affect your pages. The config/MathJax.js file properly configured the tex2jax preprocessor to
use only $...$ and not $...$ for in-line math delimiters, but the tex2jax preprocessor itself incorrectly defaulted
to including $...$ as in-line math delimiters. The result was that if you used in-line configuration to specify the
tex2jax preprocessor, single-dollar delimiters were enabled by default, while if you used file-based configuration,
they weren’t.
This inconsistency was an error, and the correct behavior was supposed to have the single-dollar delimiters disabled
in both cases. This is now true in v1.1 of MathJax. This means that if you used in-line configuration to specify the
tex2jax preprocessor, you will need to change your configuration to explicitly enable the single-dollar delimiters if you
want to use them.
For example, if you had

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<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js">

MathJax.Hub.Config({
jax: ["input/TeX","output/HTML-CSS"],
extensions: ["tex2jax.js"]
});
</script>

and you want to use single-dollar delimiters for in-line math, then you should replace this with

The same technique can be used in conjunction with a combined configuration file. For example

will load the pre-defined TeX-AMS_HTML configuration, but will modify the settings to allow $...$ delimiters, and
to process \$ to produce dollar signs within the text of the page.

2.3.5 New Distribution Location

Version 1.0 of MathJax was distributed through SourceForge, but the development of MathJax has switched to GitHub,
which is now the primary location for MathJax source code and distributions. The SourceForge repository will no
longer be actively maintained (and hasn’t been since November 2010), and so you will not be able to obtain updates
through svn if you checked out MathJax from there.
You may be able to switch to using the MathJax CDN (see above) rather than hosting your own copy of MathJax,
and avoid the problem of updates all together. If you must install your own copy, however, you should follow the
instructions at Installing and Testing MathJax, using either git or svn as described to obtain your copy from GitHub.
This will allow you to keep your copy of MathJax up to date as development continues.
We apologize for the inconvenience of having to switch distributions, but the git-to-svn bridge we tried to implement
to keep both copies in synch turned out to be unreliable, and so the SourceForge distribution was retired in favor of
the GitHub site.

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2.4 Converting to MathJax from jsMath

MathJax is the successor to the popular jsMath package for rendering mathematics in web pages. Like jsMath, MathJax
works by locating and processing the mathematics within the webpage once it has been loaded in the browser by a user
viewing your web pages. If you are using jsMath with its tex2math preprocessor, then switching to MathJax should
be easy, and is simply a matter of configuring MathJax appropriately. See the section on Loading and Configuring
MathJax for details.
On the other hand, if you are using jsMath’s <span class="math">...</span> and <div
class="math">...</div> tags to mark the mathematics in your document, then you should use Math-
Jax’s jsMath2jax preprocessor when you switch to MathJax. To do this, include "jsMath2jax.js" in the
extensions array of your configuration, with the jax array set to include "input/TeX". For example,

would load the jsMath2jax preprocessor, along with a configuration file that processes TeX input and produces
HTML-with-CSS output.
There are a few configuration options for jsMath2jax, which you can find in the config/default.js file, or
in the jsMath configuration options section.
If you are generating your jsMath documents programmatically, it would be better to convert from generating
the jsMath <span> and <div> tags to producing the corresponding MathJax <script> tags. You would use
<script type="math/tex"> in place of <span class="math"> and <script type="math/tex;
mode=display"> in place of <div class="math">. See the section on How mathematics is stored in the
page for more details.

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CHAPTER 3

Advanced Topics

3.1 The MathJax Processing Model

The purpose of MathJax is to bring the ability to include mathematics easily in web pages to as wide a range of
browsers as possible. Authors can specify mathematics in a variety of formats (e.g., MathML, LaTeX, or AsciiMath),
and MathJax provides high-quality mathematical typesetting even in those browsers that do not have native MathML
support. This all happens without the need for special downloads or plugins, but rendering will be enhanced if high-
quality math fonts (e.g., STIX) are available to the browser.
MathJax is broken into several different kinds of components: page preprocessors, input processors, output processors,
and the MathJax Hub that organizes and connects the others. The input and output processors are called jax, and are
described in more detail below.
When MathJax runs, it looks through the page for special tags that hold mathematics; for each such tag, it locates an
appropriate input jax which it uses to convert the mathematics into an internal form (called an element jax), and then
calls an output jax to transform the internal format into HTML content that displays the mathematics within the page.
The page author configures MathJax by indicating which input and output jax are to be used.
Often, and especially with pages that are authored by hand, the mathematics is not stored (initially) within the special
tags needed by MathJax, as that would require more notation than the average page author is willing to type. Instead,
it is entered in a form that is more natural to the page author, for example, using the standard TeX math delimiters
$...$ and $$...$$ to indicate what part of the document is to be typeset as mathematics. In this case, MathJax can
run a preprocessor to locate the math delimiters and replace them by the special tags that it uses to mark the formulas.
There are preprocessors for TeX notation, MathML notation, AsciiMath notation and the jsMath notation that uses
span and div tags.
For pages that are constructed programmatically, such as HTML pages that result from running a processor on text in
some other format (e.g., pages produced from Markdown documents, or via programs like tex4ht), it would be best
to use MathJax’s special tags directly, as described below, rather than having MathJax run another preprocessor. This
will speed up the final display of the mathematics, since the extra preprocessing step would not be needed. It also
avoids the conflict between the use of the less-than sign, <, in mathematics and as an HTML special character (that
starts an HTML tag), and several other issues involved in having the mathematics directly in the text of the page (see
the documentation on the various input jax for more details on this).

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3.1.1 How mathematics is stored in the page

In order to identify mathematics in the page, MathJax uses special <script> tags to enclose the mathematics. This
is done because such tags can be located easily, and because their content is not further processed by the browser; for
example, less-than signs can be used as they are in mathematics, without worrying about them being mistaken for the
beginnings of HTML tags. One may also consider the math notation as a form of “script” for the mathematics, so a
<script> tag makes at least some sense for storing the math.
Each <script> tag has a type attribute that identifies the kind of script that the tag contains. The usual (and
default) value is type="text/javascript", and when a script has this type, the browser executes the script
as a javascript program. MathJax, however, uses the type math/tex to identify mathematics in the TeX and LaTeX
notation, math/mml for mathematics in MathML notation, and math/asciimath for mathematics in AsciiMath notation.
When the tex2jax, mml2jax, or asciimath2jax preprocessors run, they create <script> tags with these types so that
MathJax can process them when it runs its main typesetting pass.
For example,

represents an in-line equation in TeX notation, and

<script type="math/tex; mode=display">

\sum_{n=1}^\infty {1\over n^2} = {\pi^2\over 6}
</script>

is a displayed TeX equation.

Alternatively, using MathML notation, you could use

for in-line math, or

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(continued from previous page)

</mrow>
<mrow>
<mfrac>
<mn>1</mn>
<msup>
<mi>n</mi>
<mn>2</mn>
</msup>
</mfrac>
</mrow>
<mo>=</mo>
<mrow>
<mfrac>
<msup>
<mi>π</mi>
<mn>2</mn>
</msup>
<mn>6</mn>
</mfrac>
</mrow>
</math>
</script>

for displayed equations in MathML notation. As other input jax are created, they will use other types to identify the
mathematics they can process.
Page authors can use one of MathJax’s preprocessors to convert from math delimiters that are more natural for the
author to type (e.g., TeX math delimiters like $$...$$) to MathJax’s <script> format. Blog and wiki software
could extend from their own markup languages to include math delimiters, which they could convert to MathJax’s
<script> format automatically.
Note, however, that Internet Explorer has a bug that causes it to remove the space before a <script> tag if there
is also a space after it, which can cause serious spacing problems with in-line math in Internet Explorer. There are
three possible solutions to this in MathJax. The recommended way is to use a math preview (an element with class
MathJax_Preview) that is non-empty and comes right before the <script> tag. Its contents can be just the word
[math], so it does not have to be specific to the mathematics script that follows; it just has to be non-empty (though it
could have its style set to display:none). See also the preJax and postJax options in the Core Configuration
Options document for another approach.

3.1.2 The components of MathJax

The main components of MathJax are its preprocessors, its input and output jax, and the MathJax Hub, which coordi-
nates the actions of the other components.
Input jax are associated with the different script types (like math/tex or math/mml) and the mapping of a partic-
ular type to a particular jax is made when the various jax register their abilities with the MathJax Hub at configuration
time. For example, the MathML input jax registers the math/mml type, so MathJax will know to call the MathML
input jax when it sees math elements of that type. The role of the input jax is to convert the math notation entered
by the author into the internal format used by MathJax (called an element jax). This internal format is essentially
MathML (represented as JavaScript objects), so an input jax acts as a translator into MathML.
Output jax convert that internal element jax format into a specific output format. For example, the NativeMML output
jax inserts MathML tags into the page to represent the mathematics, while the HTML-CSS output jax uses HTML with
CSS styling to lay out the mathematics so that it can be displayed even in browsers that don’t understand MathML.
MathJax also has an SVG output jax that will render the mathematics using scalable vector grtaphics. Output jax could

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be produced that render the mathematics using HTML5 canvas elements, for example, or that speak an equation for
blind users. The MathJax contextual menu can be used to switch between the output jax that are available.
Each input and output jax has a small configuration file that is loaded when that input jax is included in the jax array in
the MathJax configuration, and a larger file that implements the core functionality of that particular jax. The latter file
is loaded the first time the jax is needed by MathJax to process some mathematics. Most of the combined configuration
files include only the small configuration portion for the input and output jax, making the configuraiton file smaller
and faster to load for those pages that don’t actually incldue mathematics; the combined configurations that end in
-full include both parts of the jax, so there is no delay when the math is to be rendered, but at the expense of a larger
initial download.
The MathJax Hub keeps track of the internal representations of the various mathematical equations on the page, and
can be queried to obtain information about those equations. For example, one can obtain a list of all the math elements
on the page, or look up a particular one, or find all the elements with a given input format, and so on. In a dynamically
generated web page, an equation where the source mathematics has changed can be asked to re-render itself, or if a
new paragraph is generated that might include mathematics, MathJax can be asked to process the equations it contains.
The Hub also manages issues concerning mouse events and other user interaction with the equation itself. Parts of
equations can be made active so that mouse clicks cause event handlers to run, or activate hyperlinks to other pages,
and so on, making the mathematics as dynamic as the rest of the page.

3.2 The MathJax Startup Sequence

When you load MathJax.js into a web page, it configures itself and immediately begins loading the components it
needs. As MathJax starts up, it uses its signaling mechanism to indicate the actions that it is taking so that MathJax
extensions can tie into the initialization process, and so other applications within the page can synchronize their actions
with MathJax.
The startup process performs the following actions:
• It creates the MathJax variable, and defines the following subsystems:
– MathJax.Object (object-oriented programming model)
– MathJax.Callback (callbacks, signals, and queues)
– MathJax.Ajax (file-loading and style-creation code)
– MathJax.HTML (support code for creating HTML elements)
– MathJax.Message (manages the menu line in the lower left)
– MathJax.Hub (the core MathJax functions)
• It then creates the base MathJax.InputJax, MathJax.OutputJax, and MathJax.ElementJax ob-
jects.
• MathJax sets up the default configuration, and creates the signal objects used for the startup and hub actions.
• MathJax locates the <script> tag that loaded the MathJax.js file, and sets the MathJax.Hub.config.
root value to reflect the location of the MathJax root directory.
• MathJax determines the browser being used and its version. It sets up the MathJax.Hub.Browser object,
which includes the browser name and version, plus isMac, isPC, isMSIE, and so on.
• MathJax set up the MathJax.Hub.queue command queue, and populates it with the commands MathJax
runs at startup. This includes creating the MathJax.Hub.Startup.onload onload handler that is used to
synchronize MathJax’s action with the loading of the page.
Once the MathJax.Hub.queue is created, the following actions are pushed into the queue:

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1. Post the Begin startup signal

2. Perform the configuration actions:
• Post the Begin Config startup signal
• Load any configuration files specified via config= as a script parameter
• Execute the content of the <script> that loaded MathJax, if it is not empty
• Wait for the delayStartupUntil condition to be met, if one was specified
• Execute any text/x-mathjax-config script blocks
• load the files listed in the MathJax.Hub.config.config array
• Post the End Config startup signal
3. Load the cookie values:
• Post the Begin Cookie startup signal
• Load the menu cookie values
• Use the cookie to set the renderer, if it is set
• Post the End Cookie startup signal
4. Define the MathJax styles:
• Post the Begin Styles startup signal
• Load the stylesheet files from the MathJax.Hub.config.stylesheets array
• Define the stylesheet described in MathJax.Hub.config.styles
• Post the End Styles startup signal
5. Initialize the Message system (the grey information box in the lower left)
6. Load the jax configuration files:
• Post the Begin Jax startup signal
• Load the jax config files from the MathJax.Hub.config.jax array
– The jax will register themselves when they are loaded
• Post the End Jax startup signal
7. Load the extension files:
• Post the Begin Extensions startup signal
• Load the files from the MathJax.Hub.config.extensions array
– Most extensions will post a [name] Ready or Extension [name] Ready startup message
when they are loaded (where [name] is the name of the extension)
• Post the End Extensions startup signal
8. Set the MathJax menu’s renderer value based on the jax that have been loaded
9. Wait for the onload handler to fire (in MathJax v2.0 this can occur on the DOMContentLoaded event rather
than the page’s onload event, so processing of mathematics can start earlier)
10. Set MathJax.isReady to true
11. Perform the typesetting pass (preprocessors and processors)
• Post the Begin Typeset startup signal

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• Post the Begin PreProcess hub signal

• Run the registered preprocessors
• Post the End PreProcess hub signal
• Clear the hub signal history
• Post the Begin Process hub signal
• Process the math script elements on the page
– There are a number of Hub signals generated during math processing, including a signal that a Math
action is starting (with a parameter indicating what action that is), Begin and End Math Input
messages, and Begin and End Math Output signals.
– Each new math element generates a New Math hub signal with the math element’s ID
• Post the End Process hub signal
• Post the End Typeset startup signal
12. Jump to the location specified in the URL’s hash reference, if any.
13. Initiate timers to load the zoom and menu code, if it hasn’t already been loading in the configuration (so it will
be ready when the user needs it).
14. Post the End startup signal
The loading of the jax and extensions in steps 5 and 6 are now done in parallel, rather than sequentially. That is, all
the jax and extensions are requested simultaneously, so they load concurrently. That means they can load in any order,
and that the begin and end signals for the jax and extensions can be intermixed. (In general, you will get Begin Jax
followed by Begin Extensions, but the order of End Jax and End Extensions will depend on the files being loaded.)
Both 5 and 6 must complete, however, before 7 will be performed.
See the test/sample-signals.html file to see the signals in action.

3.3 Synchronizing your code with MathJax

MathJax performs much of its activity asynchronously, meaning that the calls that you make to initiate these actions
will return before the actions are completed, and your code will continue to run even though the actions have not
been finished (and may not even be started yet). Actions such as loading files, loading web-based fonts, and creating
stylesheets all happen asynchronously within the browser, and since JavaScript has no method of halting a program
while waiting for an action to complete, synchronizing your code with these types of actions is made much more
difficult. MathJax uses three mechanisms to overcome this language shortcoming: callbacks, queues, and signals.
Callbacks are functions that are called when an action is completed, so that your code can continue where it left off
when the action was initiated. Rather than have a single routine that initiates an action, waits for it to complete, and
then goes on, you break the function into two parts: a first part that sets up and initiates the action, and a second that
runs after the action is finished. Callbacks are similar to event handlers that you attach to DOM elements, and are
called when a certain action occurs. See the Callback Object reference page for details of how to specify a callback.
Queues are MathJax’s means of synchronizing actions that must be performed sequentially, even when they involve
asynchronous events like loading files or dynamically creating stylesheets. The actions that you put in the queue are
Callback objects that will be performed in sequence, with MathJax handling the linking of one action to the next.
MathJax maintains a master queue that you can use to synchronize with MathJax, but you can also create your own
private queues for actions that need to be synchronized with each other, but not to MathJax as a whole. See the Queue
Object reference page for more details.
Signals are another means of synchronizing your own code with MathJax. Many of the important actions that MathJax
takes (like typesetting new math on the page, or loading an external component) are “announced” by posting a message

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to a special object called a Signal. Your code can register an interest in receiving one or more of these signals by
providing a callback to be called when the signal is posted. When the signal arrives, MathJax will call your code.
This works somewhat like an event handler, except that many different types of events can go through the same signal,
and the signals have a “memory”, meaning that if you register an interest in a particular type of signal and that signal
has already occurred, you will be told about the past occurrences as well as any future ones. See the Signal Object
reference page for more details. See also the test/sample-signals.html file in the MathJax test directory for a working
example of using signals.
Each of these is explained in more detail in the links below:

3.3.1 Using Callbacks

A “callback” is a function that MathJax calls when it completes an action that may occur asynchronously (like loading
a file). Many of MathJax’s functions operate asynchronously, and MathJax uses callbacks to allow you to synchronize
your code with the action of those functions. The MathJax.Callback structure manages these callbacks. Callbacks can
include not only a function to call, but also data to be passed to the function, and an object to act as the JavaScript this
value in the resulting call (i.e., the object on which the callback is to execute).
Callbacks can be collected into Queues where the callbacks will be processed in order, with later callbacks waiting
until previous ones have completed before they are called. They are also used with Signals as the means of receiving
information about the signals as they occur.
A number of methods in MathJax.Hub and MathJax.Ajax accept callback specifications as arguments and return call-
back structures. These routines always will return a callback even when none was specified in the arguments, and in
that case, the callback is a “do nothing” callback. The reason for this is so that the resulting callback can be used
in a MathJax.Callback.Queue for synchronization purposes, so that the actions following it in the queue will not be
performed until after the callback has been fired.
For example, the MathJax.Ajax.Require() method can be used to load external files, and it returns a callback
that is called when the file has been loaded and executed. If you want to load several files and wait for them all to
be loaded before performing some action, you can create a Queue into which you push the results of the MathJax.
Ajax.Require() calls, and then push a callback for the action. The final action will not be performed until all the
file-load callbacks (which precede it in the queue) have been called; i.e., the action will not occur until all the files are
loaded.

Specifying a Callback

Callbacks can be specified in a number of different ways, depending on the functionality that is required of the callback.
The easiest case is to simply provide a function to be called, but it is also possible to include data to pass to the function
when it is called, and to specify the object that will be used as this when the function is called.
For example, the MathJax.Ajax.Require() method can accept a callback as its second argument (it will be
called when the file given as the first argument is loaded and executed). So you can call

MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/config/myConfig.js",function () {
alert("My configuration file is loaded");
});

and an alert will appear when the file is loaded. An example of passing arguments to the callback function includes
the following:

function loadHook (x) {alert("loadHook: "+x)}

MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/config/myConfig.js",[loadHook,"myConfig"]);

Here, the loadHook() function accepts one argument and generates an alert that includes the value passed to it.
The callback in the MathJax.Ajax.Require() call is [loadHook,"myConfig"], which means that (the

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equivalent of) loadHook("myConfig") will be performed when the file is loaded. The result should be an alert
with the text loadHook: myConfig.
The callback for the MathJax.Ajax.Require() method actually gets called with a status value, in addition to
any parameters already included in the callback specification, that indicates whether the file loaded successfully, or
failed for some reason (perhaps the file couldn’t be found, or it failed to compile and run). So you could use

MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/config/myConfig.js",function (status) {
if (status === MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.OK) {
alert("My configuration file is loaded");
} else {
alert("My configuration file failed to load!");
}
});

to check if the file loaded properly. With additional parameters, the example might be

function loadHook (x,status) {alert("loadHook: "+x+" has status "+status)}

MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/config/myConfig.js",[loadHook,"myConfig"]);

Note that the parameters given in the callback specification are used first, and then additional parameters from the call
to the callback come afterward.

Callbacks to Object Methods

When you use a method of a JavaScript object, a special variable called this is defined that refers to the object whose
method is being called. It allows you to access other methods or properties of the object without knowing explicitly
where the object is stored.
For example,

var aPerson = {
firstname: "John",
lastname: "Smith",
showName: function () {alert(this.firstname+" "+this.lastname)}
};

creates an object that contains three items, a firstname, and lastname, and a method that shows the person’s full name
in an alert. So aPerson.showName() would cause an alert with the text John Smith to appear. Note, however
that this only works if the method is called as aPerson.showName(); if instead you did

var f = aPerson.showName; // assign f the function from aPerson

f(); // and call the function

the association of the function with the data in aPerson is lost, and the alert will probably show undefined
undefined. (In this case, f will be called with this set to the window variable, and so this.firstname and
this.lastname will refer to undefined values.)
Because of this, it is difficult to use an object’s method as a callback if you refer to it as a function directly. For
example,

var aFile = {
name: "[MathJax]/config/myConfig.js",
onload: function (status) {
alert(this.name+" is loaded with status "+status);
}
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

};

MathJax.Ajax.Require(aFile.name,aFile.onload);

would produce an alert indicating that “undefined” was loaded with a particular status. That is because aFile.
onload is a reference to the onload method, which is just a function, and the association with the aFile object is lost.
One could do

MathJax.Ajax.Require(aFile.name,function (status) {aFile.onload(status)});

but that seems needlessly verbose, and it produces a closure when one is not really needed. Instead, MathJax provides
an alternative specification for a callback that allows you to specify both the method and the object it comes from:

MathJax.Ajax.Require(aFile.name,["onload",aFile]);

This requests that the callback should call aFile.onload as the function, which will maintain the connection
between aFile and its method, thus preserving the correct value for this within the method.
As in the previous cases, you can pass parameters to the method as well by including them in the array that specifies
the callback:

MathJax.Ajax.Require("filename",["method",object,arg1,arg2,...]);

This approach is useful when you are pushing a callback for one of MathJax’s Hub routines into the MathJax process-
ing queue. For example,

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset",MathJax.Hub,"MathDiv"]);

pushes the equivalent of MathJax.Hub.Typeset("MathDiv") into the processing queue.

See the Callback Object reference pages for more information about the valid methods of specifying a callback.

Creating a Callback Explicitly

When you call a method that accepts a callback, you usually pass it a callback specification (like in the examples
above), which describes a callback (the method will create the actual Callback object, and return that to you as its
return value). You don’t usually create Callback objects directly yourself.
There are times, however, when you may wish to create a callback object for use with functions that don’t create
callbacks for you. For example, the setTimeout() function can take a function as its argument, and you may want
that function to be a method of an object, and would run into the problem described in the previous section if you
simply passed the object’s method to setTimeout(). Or you might want to pass an argument to the function called
by setTimeout(). (Altough the setTimeout() function can accept additional arguements that are supposed to
be passed on to the code when it is called, some versions of Internet Explorer do not implement that feature, so you
can’t rely on it.) You can use a Callback object to do this, and the MathJax.Callback() method will create one
for you. For example,

function f(x) {alert("x = "+x)}

setTimeout(MathJax.Callback([f,"Hello World!"]),500);

would create a callback that calls f("Hello World!"), and schedules it to be called in half a second.

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3.3.2 Using Queues

The callback queue is one of MathJax’s main tools for synchronizing its actions, both internally, and with external
programs, like javascript code that you may write as part of dynamic web pages. Because many actions in MathJax
(like loading files) operate asynchronously, MathJax needs a way to coordinate those actions so that they occur in the
right order. The MathJax.Callback.Queue object provides that mechanism.
A callback queue is a list of commands that will be performed one at a time, in order. If the return value of one of
the commands is a Callback object, processing is suspended until that callback is called, and then processing of the
commands is resumed. In this way, if a command starts an asynchronous operation like loading a file, it can return the
callback for that file-load operation and the queue will wait until the file has loaded before continuing. Thus a queue
can be used to guarantee that commands don’t get performed until other ones are known to be finished, even if those
commands usually operate asynchronously.

Constructing Queues

A queue is created via the MathJax.Callback.Queue() command, which returns a MathJax.Callback.Queue

object. The queue itself consists of a series of commands given as callback specifications (see Using Callbacks for
details on callbacks), which allow you to provide functions (together with their arguments) to be executed. You
can provide the collection of callback specifications when the queue is created by passing them as arguments to
MathJax.Callback.Queue(), or you can create an empty queue to which commands are added later. Once a
MathJax.Callback.Queue object is created, you can push additional callbacks on the end of the queue; if the queue is
empty, the command will be performed immediately, while if the queue is waiting for another command to complete,
the new command will be queued for later processing.
For example,

function f(x) {alert(x)}

var queue = MathJax.Callback.Queue([f, 15], [f, 10], [f, 5]);
queue.Push([f, 0]);

would create a queue containing three commands, each calling the function f with a different input, that are performed
in order. A fourth command is then added to the queue, to be performed after the other three. In this case, the result
will be four alerts, the first with the number 15, the second with 10, the third with 5 and the fourth with 0. Of course
f is not a function that operates asynchronously, so it would have been easier to just call f four times directly. The
power of the queue comes from calling commands that could operate asynchronously. For example:

function f(x) {alert(x)}

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
[f, 1],
["Require", MathJax.Ajax, "[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js"],
[f, 2]
);

Here, the command MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js") is queued be-

tween two calls to f. The first call to f(1) will be made immediately, then the MathJax.Ajax.Require()
statement will be performed. Since the Require method loads a file, it operates asynchronously, and its return value
is a MathJax.Callback object that will be called when the file is loaded. The call to f(2) will not be made until that
callback is performed, effectively synchronizing the second call to f with the completion of the file loading. This is
equivalent to

f(1);
MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js", [f, 2]);

since the Require() command allows you to specify a (single) callback to be performed on the completion of the
file load. Note, however, that the queue could be used to synchronize several file loads along with multiple function

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calls, so is more flexible.

For example,

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
["Require", MathJax.Ajax, "[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js"],
[f, 1],
["Require", MathJax.Ajax, "[MathJax]/config/local/AMSmathAdditions.js"],
[f, 2]
);

would load the AMSmath extension, then call f(1) then load the local AMSmath modifications, and then call f(2),
with each action waiting for the previous one to complete before being performed itself.

Callbacks versus Callback Specifications

If one of the callback specifications is an actual callback object itself, then the queue will wait for that action to be
performed before proceeding. For example,

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
[f, 1],
MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js"),
[f, 2],
);

starts the loading of the AMSmath extension before the queue is created, and then creates the queue containing the call
to f, the callback for the file load, and the second call to f. The queue performs f(1), waits for the file load callback
to be called, and then calls f(2). The difference between this and the second example above is that, in this example
the file load is started before the queue is even created, so the file is potentially loaded and executed before the call to
f(1), while in the example above, the file load is guaranteed not to begin until after f(1) is executed.
As a further example, consider

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/extensions/AMSmath.js"),
[f, 1],
MathJax.Ajax.Require("[MathJax]/config/local/AMSmathAdditions.js"),
[f, 2]
);

in comparison to the example above that uses ["Require", MathJax.Ajax, "[MathJax]/

extensions/AMSmath.js"] and ["Require", MathJax.Ajax, "[MathJax]/config/local/
AMSmathAdditions.js"] instead. In that example, AMSmath.js is loaded, then f(1) is called, then the local
additions are loaded, then f(2) is called.
Here, however, both file loads are started before the queue is created, and are operating in parallel (rather than sequen-
tially as in the earlier example). It is possible for the loading of the local additions to complete before the AMSmath
extension is loaded in this case, which was guaranteed not to happen in the other example. Note, however, that f(1)
is guaranteed not to be performed until after the AMSmath extensions load, and f(2) will not occur until after both
files are loaded.
In this way, it is possible to start asynchronous loading of several files simultaneously, and wait until all of them are
loaded (in whatever order) to perform some command. For instance,

MathJax.Callback.Queue(
MathJax.Ajax.Require("file1.js"),
MathJax.Ajax.Require("file2.js"),
(continues on next page)

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(continued from previous page)

MathJax.Ajax.Require("file3.js"),
MathJax.Ajax.Require("file4.js"),
[f, "all done"]
);

starts four files loading all at once, and waits for all four to complete before calling f("all done"). The order in
which they complete is immaterial, and they all are being requested simultaneously.

The MathJax Processing Queue

MathJax uses a queue stored as MathJax.Hub.queue to regulate its own actions so that they operate in the right
order even when some of them include asynchronous operations. You can take advantage of that queue when you
make calls to MathJax methods that need to be synchronized with the other actions taken by MathJax. It may not
always be apparent, however, which methods fall into that category.
The main source of asynchronous actions in MathJax is the loading of external files, so any action that may cause a
file to be loaded may act asynchronously. Many important actions do so, including some that you might not expect;
e.g., typesetting mathematics can cause files to be loaded. This is because some TeX commands, for example, are rare
enough that they are not included in the core TeX input processor, but instead are defined in extensions that are loaded
automatically when needed. The typesetting of an expression containing one of these TeX commands can cause
the typesetting process to be suspended while the file is loaded, and then restarted when the extension has become
available.
As a result, any call to MathJax.Hub.Typeset() (or MathJax.Hub.Process(), or MathJax.Hub.
Update(), etc.) could return long before the mathematics is actually typeset, and the rest of your code may run
before the mathematics is available. If you have code that relies on the mathematics being visible on screen, you will
need to break that out into a separate operation that is synchronized with the typesetting via the MathJax queue.
Furthermore, your own typesetting calls may need to wait for file loading to occur that is already underway, so even if
you don’t need to access the mathematics after it is typeset, you may still need to queue the typeset command in order
to make sure it is properly synchronized with previous typeset calls. For instance, if an earlier call started loading an
extension and you start another typeset call before that extension is fully loaded, MathJax’s internal state may be in
flux, and it may not be prepared to handle another typeset operation yet. This is even more important if you are using
other libraries that may call MathJax, in which case your code may not be aware of the state that MathJax is in.
For these reasons, it is always best to perform typesetting operations through the MathJax queue, and the same goes
for any other action that could cause files to load. A good rule of thumb is that, if a MathJax function includes a
callback argument, that function may operate asynchronously; you should use the MathJax queue to perform it and
any actions that rely on its results.
To place an action in the MathJax queue, use the MathJax.Hub.Queue() command. For example

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset",MathJax.Hub,"MathDiv"]);

would queue the command MathJax.Hub.Typeset("MathDiv"), causing the contents of the DOM element
with id equal to MathDiv to be typeset.
One of the uses of the MathJax queue is to allow you to synchronize an action with the startup process for MathJax.
If you want to have a function performed after MathJax has become completely set up (and performed its initial
typesetting of the page), you can push it onto the MathJax.Hub.queue so that it won’t be performed until MathJax
finishes everything it has queued when it was loaded. For example,

<script type="text/javascript" src="/MathJax/MathJax.js"></script>

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// ... your startup commands here ...
});
</script>

3.3.3 Using Signals

Because much of MathJax operates asynchronously, it is important for MathJax to be able to indicate to other com-
ponents operating on the page that certain actions have been taken. For example, as MathJax is starting up, it loads
external files such as its configuration files and the various input and output jax that are used on the page. This means
that MathJax may not be ready to run until well after the <script> tag that loads MathJax.js has executed. If
another component on the page needs to call MathJax to process some mathematics, it will need to know when Math-
Jax is ready to do that. Thus MathJax needs a way to signal other components that it is initialized and ready to process
mathematics. Other events that might need to be signaled include the appearance of newly processed mathematics on
the web page, the loading of a new extension, and so on.
The mechanism provided by MathJax for handling this type of communication is the Callback Signal. The Callback
Signal object provides a standardized mechanism for sending and receiving messages between MathJax and other code
on the page. A signal acts like a mailbox where MathJax places messages for others to read. Those interested in seeing
the messages can register an interest in receiving a given signal, and when MathJax posts a message on that signal, all
the interested parties will be notified. No new posts to the signal will be allowed until everyone who is listening to the
signal has had a chance to receive the first one. If a signal causes a listener to begin an asynchronous operation (such
as loading a file), the listener can indicate that its reply to the signal is going to be delayed, and MathJax will wait
until the asynchronous action is complete before allowing additional messages to be posted to this signal. In this way,
posting a signal may itself be an asynchronous action.
The posts to a signal are cached so that if a new listener expresses an interest in the signal, it will receive all the
past posts as well as any future ones. For example, if a component on the page needs to know when MathJax is set
up, it can express an interest in the startup signal’s End message. If MathJax is not yet set up, the component will
be signaled when MathJax is ready to begin, but if MathJax is already set up, the component will receive the End
message immediately, since that message was cached and is available to any new listeners. In this way, signals can be
used to pass messages without worrying about the timing of when the signaler and listener are ready to send or receive
signals: a listener will receive messages even if it starts listening after they were sent.
One way that MathJax makes use of this feature is in configuring its various extensions. The extension may not be
loaded when the user’s configuration code runs, so the configuration code can’t modify the extension because it isn’t
there yet. Fortunately, most extensions signal when they are loaded and initialized via an Extension [name]
Ready message, or just [name] Ready, so the configuration code can implement a listener for that message, and
have the listener perform the configuration when the message arrives. But even if the extension has already been
loaded, this will still work, because the listener will receive the ready signal even if it has already been posted. In this
way, listening for signals is a robust method of synchronizing code components no matter when they are loaded and
run.
In some cases, it may be inappropriate for a new listener to receive past messages that were sent to a signal object.
There are two ways to handle this: first, a new listener can indicate that it doesn’t want to hear old messages when it
attaches itself to a signal object. The sender can also indicate that past messages are not appropriate for new listeners.
It does this by clearing the message history so that new listeners have no old posts to hear.
The actual message passed along by the signal can be anything, but is frequently a string constant indicating the
message value. It could also be a JavaScript array containing data, or an object containing key:value pairs. All the
listeners receive the data as part of the message, and can act on it in whatever ways they see fit.

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Creating a Listener

MathJax maintains two separate pre-defined signal channels: the startup signal and the processing signal (or the hub
signal). The startup signal is where the messages about different components starting up and becoming ready appear.
The processing signal is where the messages are sent about processing mathematics, like the New Math messages
for when newly typeset mathematics appears on the page. The latter is cleared when a new processing pass is started
(so messages from past processing runs are not kept).
The easiest way to create a listener is to use either MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook() or MathJax.
Hub.Register.MessageHook(). The first sets a listener on the startup signal, and the latter on the hub process-
ing signal. You specify the message you want to listen for, and a callback to be called when it arrives. For example

MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook("TeX Jax Ready ",function () {

alert("The TeX input jax is loaded and ready!");
});

See the MathJax Startup Sequence page for details of the messages sent during startup. See also the test/sample-
signals.html file (and its source) for examples of using signals. This example lists all the signals that occur while
MathJax is processing that page, so it gives useful information about the details of the signals produced by various
components.
In this example, the listener starts loading an extra configuration file (from the same directory as the web page). Since
it returns the callback from that request, the signal processing will wait until that file is completely loaded before it
continues; that is, the configuration process is suspended until the extra configuration file has loaded.

MathJax.Hub.Register.StartupHook("Begin Config",
function () {return MathJax.Ajax.Require("myConfig.js")}
);

Here is an example that produces an alert each time new mathematics is typeset on the page. The message includes the
DOM id of the element on the page that contains the newly typeset mathematics as its second element, so this listener
locates the <script> tag for the math, and displays the original source mathematics for it.

MathJax.Hub.Register.MessageHook("New Math", function (message) {

var script = MathJax.Hub.getJaxFor(message[1]).SourceElement();
alert(message.join(" ")+": '"+script.text+"'");
})

Listening for All Messages

If you want to process every message that passes through a signal channel, you can do that by registering an interest
in the signal rather than registering a message hook. You do this by calling the signal’s Interest() method, as in
the following example.

MathJax.Hub.Startup.signal.Interest(
function (message) {alert("Startup: "+message)}
);
MathJax.Hub.signal.Interest(
function (message) {alert("Hub: "+message)}
);

This will cause an alert for every signal that MathJax produces. You probably don’t want to try this out, since it will
produce a lot of them; instead, use the test/sample-signals.html file, which displays them in the web page.
See the Signal Object reference page for details on the structure and methods of the signal object.

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3.4 Loading MathJax Dynamically

MathJax is designed to be included via a <script> tag in the <head> section of your HTML document, and it
does rely on being part of the original document in that it uses an onload or DOMContentLoaded event handler
to synchronize its actions with the loading of the page. If you wish to insert MathJax into a document after it has been
loaded, that will normally occur after the page’s onload handler has fired, and prior to version 2.0, MathJax had
to be told not to wait for the page onload event by calling MathJax.Hub.Startup.onload() by hand. That
is no longer necessary, as MathJax v2.0 detects whether the page is already available and when it is, it processes it
immediately rather than waiting for an event that has already happened.
Here is an example of how to load and configure MathJax dynamically:

(function () {
var script = document.createElement("script");
script.type = "text/javascript";
script.src = "http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_
˓→HTMLorMML";

document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script);
})();

If you need to provide in-line configuration, you can do that using a MathJax’s configuration script:

(function () {
var head = document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0], script;
script = document.createElement("script");
script.type = "text/x-mathjax-config";
script[(window.opera ? "innerHTML" : "text")] =
"MathJax.Hub.Config({\n" +
" tex2jax: { inlineMath: [['$','$'], ['\\\$','\\\$']] }\n" +
"});"
head.appendChild(script);
script = document.createElement("script");
script.type = "text/javascript";
script.src = "http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_
˓→HTMLorMML";

head.appendChild(script);
})();

You can adjust the configuration to your needs, but be careful to get the commas right, as Internet Explorer 6 and
7 will not tolerate an extra comma before a closing brace. The window.opera test is because some versions of
Opera don’t handle setting script.text properly, while some versions of Internet Explorer don’t handle setting
script.innerHTML.
Note that the only reliable way to configure MathJax is to use an in-line configuration block of the type discussed
above. You should not call MathJax.Hub.Config() directly in your code, as it will not run at the correct time —
it will either run too soon, in which case MathJax may not be defined and the function will throw an error, or it will
run too late, after MathJax has already finished its configuration process, so your changes will not have the desired
effect.

3.4.1 MathJax and GreaseMonkey

You can use techniques like the ones discussed above to good effect in GreaseMonkey scripts. There are GreaseMon-
key work-alikes for all the major browsers:
• Firefox: GreaseMonkey
• Safari: GreaseKit (also requires SIMBL)

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• Opera: Built-in (instructions)

• Internet Explorer: IEPro7
• Chrome: Built-in for recent releases
Note, however, that most browsers don’t allow you to insert a script that loads a file:// URL into a page that
comes from the web (for security reasons). That means that you can’t have your GreaseMonkey script load a local
copy of MathJax, so you have to refer to a server-based copy. The MathJax CDN works nicely for this.

Here is a script that runs MathJax in any document that contains MathML (whether it includes MathJax or not). That
allows browsers that don’t have native MathML support to view any web pages with MathML, even if they say it only
works in Firefox and IE+MathPlayer.
// ==UserScript==
// @name MathJax MathML
// @namespace http://www.mathjax.org/
// @description Insert MathJax into pages containing MathML
// @include *
// ==/UserScript==

if ((window.unsafeWindow == null ? window : unsafeWindow).MathJax == null) {

if ((document.getElementsByTagName("math").length > 0) ||
(document.getElementsByTagNameNS == null ? false :
(document.getElementsByTagNameNS("http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML","math").
˓→length > 0))) {

var script = document.createElement("script");

script.type = "text/javascript";
script.src = "http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_
˓→HTMLorMML-full";

document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script);
}
}

Source: mathjax_mathml.user.js

Here is a script that runs MathJax in Wikipedia pages after first converting the math images to their original TeX code.
// ==UserScript==
// @name MathJax in Wikipedia
// @namespace http://www.mathjax.org/
// @description Insert MathJax into Wikipedia pages
// @include http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/*
// ==/UserScript==

if ((window.unsafeWindow == null ? window : unsafeWindow).MathJax == null) {

//
// Replace the images with MathJax scripts of type math/tex
//
var images = document.getElementsByTagName('img'), count = 0;
for (var i = images.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
var img = images[i];
if (img.className === "tex") {
var script = document.createElement("script"); script.type = "math/tex";
if (window.opera) {script.innerHTML = img.alt} else {script.text = img.alt}
img.parentNode.replaceChild(script,img); count++;
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}
}
if (count) {
//
// Load MathJax and have it process the page
//
var script = document.createElement("script");
script.type = "text/javascript";
script.src = "http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=TeX-AMS-MML_
˓→HTMLorMML-full";

document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(script);
}
}

Source: mathjax_wikipedia.user.js

3.5 Modifying Math on the Page

If you are writing a dynamic web page where content containing mathematics may appear after MathJax has already
typeset the rest of the page, then you will need to tell MathJax to look for mathematics in the page again when that
new content is produced. To do that, you need to use the MathJax.Hub.Typeset() method. This will cause the
preprocessors (if any were loaded) to run over the page again, and then MathJax will look for unprocessed mathematics
on the page and typeset it, leaving unchanged any math that has already been typeset.
You should not simply call this method directly, however. Because MathJax operates asynchonously (see Synchroniz-
ing with MathJax for details), you need to be sure that your call to MathJax.Hub.Typeset() is synchronized
with the other actions that MathJax is taking. For example, it may already be typesetting portions of the page, or it may
be waiting for an output jax to load, etc., and so you need to queue the typeset action to be performed after MathJax
has finished whatever else it may be doing. That may be immediately, but it may not, and there is no way to tell.
To queue the typeset action, use the command

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset",MathJax.Hub]);

This will cause MathJax to typeset the page when it is next able to do so. It guarantees that the typesetting will
synchronize properly with the loading of jax, extensions, fonts, stylesheets, and other asynchronous activity, and is the
only truly safe way to ask MathJax to process additional material.
The MathJax.Hub.Typeset() command also accepts a parameter that is a DOM element whose content is to be
typeset. That could be a paragraph, or a <div> element, or even a MathJax math <script> tag. It could also be the
DOM id of such an object, in which case, MathJax will look up the DOM element for you. So

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset",MathJax.Hub,"MathExample"]);

would typeset the mathematics contained in the element whose id is MathExample. This is equivalent to

var math = document.getElementById("MathExample");

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Typeset",MathJax.Hub,math]);

If no element or element id is provided, the whole document is typeset.

Note that the MathJax.Hub.Queue() method will return immediately, regardless of whether the typesetting has
taken place or not, so you can not assume that the mathematics is visible after you make this call. That means that
things like the size of the container for the mathematics may not yet reflect the size of the typeset mathematics. If

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you need to perform actions that depend on the mathematics being typeset, you should push those actions onto the
MathJax.Hub.queue as well.
This can be quite subtle, so you have to think carefully about the structure of your code that works with the typeset
mathematics. Also, the things you push onto the queue should be Callback objects that perform the actions you want
when they are called, not the results of calling the functions that do what you want.

3.5.1 Manipulating Individual Math Elements

If you are not changing a complete DOM structure, but simply want to update the contents of a single mathematical
equation, you do not need to use innerHTML and MathJax.Hub.Typeset() to preprocess and process an
element’s new content. Instead, you can ask MathJax to find the element jax for the math element on the page, and use
its methods to modify and update the mathematics that it displays.
For example, suppose you have the following HTML in your document

<div id="MathDiv">
The answer you provided is: ${}$.
</div>

and MathJax has already preprocessed and typeset the mathematics within the div. A student has typed something
elsewhere on the page, and you want to typeset their answer in the location of the mathematics that is already there.
You could replace the entire contents of the MathDiv element and call MathJax.Hub.Typeset() as described
above, but there is a more efficient approach, which is to ask MathJax for the element jax for the mathematics, and
call its method for replacing the formula shown by that element. For example:

var math = MathJax.Hub.getAllJax("MathDiv")[0];

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Text",math,"x+1"]);

This looks up the list of math elements in the MathDiv element (there is only one) and takes the first one (element
0) and stores it in math. This is an element jax object (see the Element Jax specification for details), which has a
Text() method that can be used to set the input text of the math element, and retypeset it.
Again, since the typesetting should be synchronized with other actions of MathJax, the call should be pushed onto
the MathJax processing queue using MathJax.Hub.Queue(), as shown above, rather than called directly. The
example above performs the equivalent of math.Text("x+1") as soon as MathJax is able to do so. Any additional
actions that rely on the expression x+1 actually showing on screen should also be pushed onto the queue so that they
will not occur before the math is typeset.
The actions you can perform on an element jax include:
Text(newmath)
to set the math text of the element to newmath and typeset.
Rerender()
to remove the output and reproduce it again (for example, if CSS has changed that would alter the
spacing of the mathematics). Note that the internal representation isn’t regenerated; only the output
is.
Reprocess()
to remove the output and then retranslate the input into the internal MathML and rerender the output.
Remove()
to remove the output for this math element (but not the original <script> tag).
needsUpdate()
to find out if the mathematics has changed so that its output needs to be updated.

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SourceElement()
to obtain a reference to the original <script> object that is associated with this element jax.
Note that once you have located an element jax, you can keep using it and don’t have to look it up again. So for the
example above, if the student is going to be able to type several different answers that you will want to typeset, you
can look up the element jax once at the beginning after MathJax has processed the page the first time, and then use
that result each time you adjust the mathematics to be displayed.
To get the element jax the first time, you need to be sure that you ask MathJax for it after MathJax has processed the
page the first time. This is another situation where you want to use the MathJax queue. If your startup code performs
the commands

var studentDisplay = null;

MathJax.Hub.Queue(function () {
studentDisplay = MathJax.Hub.getAllJax("MathDiv")[0];
});

then you can use

MathJax.Hub.Queue(["Text",studentDisplay,studentAnswer])

to change the student’s answer to be the typeset version of whatever is in the studentAnswer variable.
Here is a complete example that illustrates this approach. Note, however, that Internet Explorer does not fire the
onchange event when you press RETURN, so this example does not work as expected in IE. A more full-featured
version that addresses this problem is available in test/sample-dynamic.html.

<html>
<head>
<title>MathJax Dynamic Math Test Page</title>

</head>
<body>

//
// Get the element jax when MathJax has produced it.
//
QUEUE.Push(function () {
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math = MathJax.Hub.getAllJax("MathOutput")[0];
});

//
// The onchange event handler that typesets the
// math entered by the user
//
window.UpdateMath = function (TeX) {
QUEUE.Push(["Text",math,"\\displaystyle{"+TeX+"}"]);
}
})();
</script>

Type some TeX code:

<div id="MathOutput">
You typed: ${}$
</div>

</body>
</html>

There are a number of additional example pages at test/examples.html that illustrate how to call MathJax dynamically
or perform other actions with MathJax.

3.6 The MathJax API

The following links document the various components that make up MathJax. These are implemented as JavaScript
objects contained within the single global variable, MathJax. Although JavaScript includes an object system with
some inheritance capabilities, they do not constitute a full object-oriented programming model, so MathJax imple-
ments its own object library. This means there is an ambiguity when we speak of an “object”, as it could be either a
native JavaScript object, or a MathJax object. When the distinction is importat, we will use Object (capitalized) or
MathJax.Object for the latter; the javascript object will always be listed in lower case.
You may also want to view the advanced topics on the main MathJax documentation page.

3.6.1 The MathJax variable

MathJax has a single global variable, MathJax, in which all its data, and the data for loaded components, are stored.
The MathJax variable is a nested structure, with its top-level properties being objects themselves.

Main MathJax Components

MathJax.Hub
Contains the MathJax hub code and variables, including the startup code, the onload handler, the browser data,
and so forth.
MathJax.Ajax
Contains the code for loading external modules and creating stylesheets. Most of the code that causes MathJax
to operate asynchronously is handled here.

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MathJax.Message
Contains the code to handle the intermittent message window that periodically appears in the lower left-hand
corner of the window.
MathJax.HTML
Contains support code for creating HTML elements dynamically from descriptions stored in JavaScript objects.
MathJax.CallBack
Contains the code for managing MathJax callbacks, queues and signals.
MathJax.Extension
Initially empty, this is where extensions can load their code. For example, the tex2jax preprocessor creates
MathJax.Extension.tex2jax for its code and variables.
MathJax.Menu
Initially null, this is where the MathJax contextual menu is stored, when extensions/MathMenu.js is
loaded.
MathJax.Object
Contains the code for the MathJax object-oriented programming model.
MathJax.InputJax
The base class for all input jax objects. Subclasses for specific input jax are created as sub-objects of MathJax.
InputJax. For example, the TeX input jax loads itself as MathJax.InputJax.TeX.
MathJax.OutputJax
The base class for all output jax objects. Subclasses for specific output jax are created as sub-
objects of MathJax.OutputJax. For example, the HTML-CSS output jax loads itself as MathJax.
OutputJax["HTML-CSS"].
MathJax.ElementJax
The base class for all element jax objects. Subclasses for specific element jax are created as sub-objects of
MathJax.ElementJax. For example, the mml element jax loads itself as MathJax.ElementJax.mml.

Properties

MathJax.version
The version number of the MathJax library as a whole.
MathJax.fileversion
The version number of the MathJax.js file specifically.
MathJax.isReady
This is set to true when MathJax is set up and ready to perform typesetting actions (and is null otherwise).

3.6.2 The MathJax.Hub Object

The MathJax Hub, MathJax.Hub, is the main control structure for MathJax. It is where input and output jax are tied
together, and it is what handles processing of the MathJax <script> tags. Processing of the mathematics on the page
may require external files to be loaded (when the mathematics includes less common functionality, for example, that is
defined in an extension file), and since file loading is asynchronous, a number of the methods below may return before
their actions are completed. For this reason, they include callback functions that are called when the action completes.
These can be used to synchronize actions that require the mathematics to be completed before those actions occur. See
the Using Callbacks documentation for more details.

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Properties

config: { ... }
This holds the configuration parameters for MathJax. Set these values using MathJax.Hub.Config()
described below. The options and their default values are given in the Core Options reference page.
processUpdateTime: 250
The minimum time (in milliseconds) between updates of the “Processing Math” message. After this amount
of time has passed, and after the next equation has finished being processed, MathJax will stop processing
momentarily so that the update message can be displayed, and so that the browser can handle user interaction.
processUpdateDelay: 10
The amount of time (in milliseconds) that MathJax pauses after issuing its processing message before starting
the processing again (to give browsers time to handle user interaction).
signal
The hub processing signal (tied to the MathJax.Hub.Register.MessageHook() method).
queue
MathJax’s main processing queue. Use MathJax.Hub.Queue() to push callbacks onto this queue.
Browser
The name of the browser as determined by MathJax. It will be one of Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera,
MSIE, Konqueror, or unkown. This is actually an object with additional properties and methods concerning
the browser:
version
The browser version number, e.g., "4.0"
isMac and isPC
These are boolean values that indicate whether the browser is running on a Macintosh computer or a
Windows computer. They will both be false for a Linux computer.
isMobile
This is true when MathJax is running a mobile version of a WebKit or Gecko-based browser.
isFirefox, isSafari, isChrome, isOpera, isMSIE, isKonqueror
These are true when the browser is the indicated one, and false otherwise.
versionAtLeast(version)
This tests whether the browser version is at least that given in the version string. Note that you can
not simply do a numeric comparison, as version 4.10 should be considered later than 4.9, for example.
Similarly, 4.10 is different from 4.1, for instance.
Select(choices)
This lets you perform browser-specific functions. Here, choices is an object whose properties are the
names of the browsers and whose values are the functions to be performed. Each function is passed one
parameter, which is the MathJax.Hub.Browser object. You do not need to include every browser as
one of your choices — only those for which you need to do special processing. For example:

MathJax.Hub.Browser.Select(
MSIE: function (browser) {
if (browser.versionAtLeast("8.0")) {... do version 8 stuff ... }
... do general MSIE stuff ...
},

Firefox: function (browser) {

if (browser.isMac) {... do Mac stuff ... }
... do general Firefox stuff
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}
);

inputJax
An object storing the MIME types associated with the various registered input jax (these are the types of the
<script> tags that store the math to be processed by each input jax).
outputJax
An object storing the output jax associate with the various element jax MIME types for the registered output
jax.

Methods

Config(options)
Sets the configuration options (stored in MathJax.Hub.config) to the values stored in the options object.
See Configuring MathJax for details on how this is used and the options that you can set.
Parameters
• options — object containing options to be set
Returns null
Configured()
When delayStartupUntil is specified in the configuration file or in the script that loads MathJax.js,
MathJax’s startup sequence is delayed until this routine is called. See Configuring MathJax for details on how
this is used.
Returns null
Register.PreProcessor(callback)
Used by preprocessors to register themselves with MathJax so that they will be called during the MathJax.
Hub.PreProcess() action.
Parameters
• callback — the callback specification for the preprocessor
Returns null
Register.MessageHook(type,callback)
Registers a listener for a particular message being sent to the hub processing signal (where PreProcessing,
Processing, and New Math messages are sent). When the message equals the type, the callback will be called
with the message as its parameter.
Parameters
• type — a string indicating the message to look for
• callback — a callback specification
Returns null
Register.StartupHook(type,callback)
Registers a listener for a particular message being sent to the startup signal (where initialization and component
startup messages are sent). When the message equals the type, the callback will be called with the message as
its parameter. See the Using Signals documentation for more details.
Parameters
• type — a string indicating the message to look for

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• callback — a callback specification

Returns null
Register.LoadHook(file,callback)
Registers a callback to be called when a particular file is completely loaded and processed. (The callback is
called when the file makes its MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete() call.) The file should be the complete
file name, e.g., "[MathJax]/config/default.js".
Parameters
• file — the name of the file to wait for
• callback — a callback specification
Returns the callback object
Queue(callback, ...)
Pushes the given callbacks onto the main MathJax command queue. This synchronizes the commands with
MathJax so that they will be performed in the proper order even when some run asynchronously. See Using
Queues for more details about how to use queues, and the MathJax queue in particular. You may supply as
many callback specifications in one call to the Queue() method as you wish.
Parameters
• callback — a callback specification
Returns the callback object for the last callback added to the queue
Typeset([element[, callback ]])
Calls the preprocessors on the given element (or elements if it is an array of elements), and then typesets any
math elements within the element. If no element is provided, the whole document is processed. The element is
either the DOM id of the element, a reference to the DOM element itself, or an array of id’s or refereneces. The
callback is called when the process is complete. See the Modifying Math section for details of how to use this
method properly.
Parameters
• element — the element(s) whose math is to be typeset
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
PreProcess([element[, callback ]])
Calls the loaded preprocessors on the entire document, or on the given DOM element (or elements, if it is an
array of elements). The element is either the DOM id of the element, a reference to the DOM element itself, or
an array of id’s or references. The callback is called when the processing is complete.
Parameters
• element — the element to be preprocessed
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Process([element[, callback ]])
Scans either the entire document or a given DOM element (or array of elements) for MathJax <script> tags
and processes the math those tags contain. The element is either the DOM id of the element to scan, a reference
to the DOM element itself, or an array of id’s or references. The callback is called when the processing is
complete.
Parameters

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• element — the element(s) to be processed

• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Update([element[, callback ]])
Scans either the entire document or a given DOM element (or elements if it is an array of elements) for math-
ematics that has changed since the last time it was processed, or is new, and typesets the mathematics they
contain. The element is either the DOM id of the element to scan, a reference to the DOM element itself, or an
array of id’s or references. The callback is called when the processing is complete.
Parameters
• element — the element(s) to be updated
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Reprocess([element[, callback ]])
Removes any typeset mathematics from the document or DOM element (or elements if it is an array of elements),
and then processes the mathematics again, re-typesetting everything. This may be necessary, for example, if the
CSS styles have changed and those changes would affect the mathematics. Reprocess calls both the input and
output jax to completely rebuild the data for mathematics. The element is either the DOM id of the element to
scan, a reference to the DOM element itself, or an array of id’s or references. The callback is called when the
processing is complete.
Parameters
• element — the element(s) to be reprocessed
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Rerender([element[, callback ]])
Removes any typeset mathematics from the document or DOM element (or elements if it is an array of elements),
and then renders the mathematics again, re-typesetting everything from the current internal version (without
calling the input jax again). The element is either the DOM id of the element to scan, a reference to the DOM
element itself, or an array of id’s or references. The callback is called when the processing is complete.
Parameters
• element — the element(s) to be reprocessed
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
getAllJax([element ])
Returns a list of all the element jax in the document or a specific DOM element. The element is either the DOM
id of the element, or a reference to the DOM element itself.
Parameters
• element — the element to be searched
Returns array of element jax objects
getJaxByType(type[, element ])
Returns a list of all the element jax of a given MIME-type in the document or a specific DOM element. The
element is either the DOM id of the element to search, or a reference to the DOM element itself.
Parameters

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• type — MIME-type of element jax to find

• element — the element to be searched
Returns array of element jax objects
getJaxByInputType(type[, element ])
Returns a list of all the element jax associated with input <script> tags with the given MIME-type within the
given DOM element or the whole document. The element is either the DOM id of the element to search, or a
reference to the DOM element itself.
Parameters
• type — MIME-type of input (e.g., "math/tex")
• element — the element to be searched
Returns array of element jax objects
getJaxFor(element)
Returns the element jax associated with a given DOM element. If the element does not have an associated
element jax, null is returned. The element is either the DOM id of the element, or a reference to the DOM
element itself.
Parameters
• element — the element whose element jax is required
Returns element jax object or null
isJax(element)
Returns 0 if the element is not a <script> that can be processed by MathJax or the result of an output jax,
returns -1 if the element is an unprocessed <script> tag that could be handled by MathJax, and returns 1 if
the element is a processed <script> tag or an element that is the result of an output jax.
Parameters
• element — the element to inspect
Returns integer (-1, 0, 1)
setRenderer(renderer[, type ])
Sets the output jax for the given element jax type (or jax/mml if none is specified) to be the one given
by renderer, which must be the name of a renderer, such as NativeMML or HTML-CSS. Note that this
does not cause the math on the page to be rerendered; it just sets the renderer for output in the future (call
:meth:Rerender() above to replace the current renderings by new ones).
Parameters
• renderer — the name of the output jax to use for rendering
• type — the element jax MIME type whose renderer to set
Returns null
Insert(dst, src)
Inserts data from the src object into the dst object. The key:value pairs in src are (recursively) copied into dst, so
that if value is itself an object, its content is copied into the corresponding object in dst. That is, objects within
src are merged into the corresponding objects in dst (they don’t replace them).
Parameters
• dst — the destination object
• src — the source object

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Returns the modified destination object

formatError(script, error)
This is called when an internal error occurs during the processing of a math element (i.e., an error in the MathJax
code itself). The script is a reference to the <script> tag where the error occurred, and error is the Error
object for the error. The default action is to insert an HTML snippet at the location of the script, but this
routine can be overriden during MathJax configuration in order to perform some other action. MathJax.Hub.
lastError holds the error value of the last error on the page.
Parameters
• script — the <script> tag causing the error
• error — the Error object for the error
Returns null

3.6.3 The MathJax.Ajax Object

The MathJax.Ajax structure holds the data and functions for handling loading of external modules. Modules are loaded
only once, even if called for in several places. The loading of files is asynchronous, and so the code that requests an
external module will continue to run even when that module has not completed loading, so it is important to be aware
of the timing issues this may cause. Similarly, creating or loading stylesheets is an asynchronous action. In particular,
all actions that rely on the file or stylesheet having been loaded must be delayed until after the file has been downloaded
completely. This is the reason for the large number of routines that take callback functions.
Any operation that could cause the loading of a file or stylesheet must be synchronized with the rest of the code
via such callbacks. Since processing any mathematics might cause files to be loaded (e.g., little-used markup might
be implemented in an extension that is loaded only when that markup is used), any code that dynamically typesets
mathematics will need to be structured to use callbacks to guarantee that the mathematics has been completely pro-
cessed before the code tries to use it. See the Synchronizing with MathJax documentation for details on how to do this
properly.

Properties

timeout
Number of milliseconds to wait for a file to load before it is considered to have failed to load.
Default: 15 seconds
STATUS.OK
The value used to indicate that a file load has occurred successfully.
STATUS.ERROR
The value used to indicate that a file load has caused an error or a timeout to occur.
loaded
An object containing the names of the files that have been loaded (or requested) so far. MathJax.Ajax.
loaded["file"] will be non-null when the file has been loaded, with the value being the MathJax.
Ajax.STATUS value of the load attempt.
loading
An object containing the files that are currently loading, the callbacks that are to be run when they load or
timeout, and additional internal data.
loadHooks
An object containing the load hooks for the various files, set up by the LoadHook() method, or by the
MathJax.Hub.Register.LoadHook() method.

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Methods

Require(file[, callback ])
Loads the given file if it hasn’t been already. The file must be a JavaScript file or a CSS stylesheet; i.e., it must
end in .js or .css. Alternatively, it can be an object with a single key:value pair where the key is one of js or
css and the value is the file of that type to be loaded (this makes it possible to have the file be created by a CGI
script, for example, or to use a data:: URL). The file must be relative to the MathJax home directory and can
not contain ../ file path components.
When the file is completely loaded and run, the callback, if provided, will be executed passing it the status
of the file load. If there was an error while loading the file, or if the file fails to load within the time limit
given by MathJax.Ajax.timout, the status will be MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.ERROR otherwise it will
be MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.OK. If the file is already loaded, the callback will be called immediately and
the file will not be loaded again.
Parameters
• file — name of the file to be loaded
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Load(file[, callback ])
Used internally to load a given file without checking if it already has been loaded, or where it is to be found.
Parameters
• file — name of the file to be loaded
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
loadComplete(file)
Called from within the loaded files to inform MathJax that the file has been completely loaded and initialized.
The file parameter is the name of the file that has been loaded. This routine will cause any callback functions
registered for the file or included in the MathJax.Ajax.Require() calls to be executed, passing them
the status of the load (MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.OK or MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.ERROR) as their last
parameter.
Parameters
• file — name of the file that has been loaded
Returns null
loadTimeout(file)
Called when the timeout period is over and the file hasn’t loaded. This indicates an error condition, and
the MathJax.Ajax.loadError() method will be executed, then the file’s callback will be run with
MathJax.Ajax.STATUS.ERROR as its parameter.
Parameters
• file — name of the file that timed out
Returns null
loadError(file)
The default error handler called when a file fails to load. It puts a warning message into the MathJax message
box on screen.
Parameters

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• file — the name of the file that failed to load

Returns null
LoadHook(file, callback)
Registers a callback to be executed when the given file is loaded. The file load operation needs to be started
when this method is called, so it can be used to register a hook for a file that may be loaded in the future.
Parameters
• file — the name of the file to wait for
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Preloading(file1[, file2... ])
Used with combined configuration files to indicate what files are in the configuration file. Marks the files as
loading (since there will never be an explicit Load() or Require() call for them), so that load-hooks and
other load-related events can be properly processed when the loadComplete() occurs.
Parameters
• file1, file2, . . . — the names of the files in the combined file
Returns null
Styles(styles[, callback ])
Creates a stylesheet from the given style data. styles can either be a string containing a stylesheet definition, or
an object containing a CSS Style Object. For example:

MathJax.Ajax.Styles("body {font-family: serif; font-style: italic}");

and

MathJax.Ajax.Styles({
body: {
"font-family": "serif",
"font-style": "italic"
}
});

both set the body font family and style.

The callback routine is called when the stylesheet has been created and is available for use.
Parameters
• styles — CSS style object for the styles to set
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object

Note: Internet Explorer has a limit of 32 dynamically created stylesheets, so it is best to combine your styles
into one large group rather than making several smaller calls.

fileURL(file)
Returns a complete URL to a file (replacing [MathJax] with the actual root URL location).
Parameters
• file — the file name possibly including [MathJax]

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Returns the full URL for the file

3.6.4 The MathJax.Message Object

The MathJax.Message object contains the methods used to manage the small message area that appears at the
lower-left corner of the window. MathJax uses this area to inform the user of time-consuming actions, like loading
files and fonts, or how far along in the typesetting process it is.
The page author can customize the look of the message window by setting styles for the #MathJax_Message
selector (which can be set via

MathJax.Hub.Config({
styles: {
"#MathJax_Message": {
...
}
}
});

Because of a bug in Internet Explorer, in order to change the side of the screen where the message occurs, you must
also set the side for #MathJax_MSIE_Frame, as in

MathJax.Hub.Config({
styles: {
"#MathJax_Message": {left: "", right: 0},
"#MathJax_MSIE_Frame": {left: "", right: 0}
}
});

It is possible that a message is already being displayed when another message needs to be posted. For this reason,
when a message is displayed on screen, it gets an id number that is used when you want to remove or change that
message. That way, when a message is removed, the previous message (if any) can be redisplayed if it hasn’t been
removed. This allows for intermittent messages (like file loading messages) to obscure longer-term messages (like
“Processing Math” messages) temporarily.

Methods

Set(message[, n[, delay ]])

This sets the message being displayed to the given message string. If n is not null, it represents a message id
number and the text is set for that message id, otherwise a new id number is created for this message. If delay
is provided, it is the time (in milliseconds) to display the message before it is cleared. If delay is not provided,
the message will not be removed automatically; you must call the MathJax.Messsage.Clear() method
by hand to remove it.
Parameters
• message — the text to display in the message area
• n — the message id number
• delay — amout of time to display the message
Returns the message id number for this message.
Clear(n[, delay ])
This causes the message with id n to be removed after the given delay, in milliseconds. The default delay is 600
milliseconds.

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Parameters
• n — the message id number
• delay — the delay before removing the message
Returns null
Remove()
This removes the message frame from the window (it will reappear when future messages are set, however).
Returns null
File(file)
This sets the message area to a “Loading file” message, where file is the name of the file (with [MathJax]
representing the root directory).
Parameters
• file — the name of the file being loaded
Returns the message id number for the message created
filterText(text, n)
This method is called on each message before it is displayed. It can be used to modify (e.g., shorten) the
various messages before they are displayed. The default action is to check if the messageStyle configuration
parameter is simple, and if so, convert loading and processing messages to a simpler form. This method can
be overridden to perform other sanitization of the message strings.
Parameters
• text — the text of the message to be posted
• n — the id number of the message to be posted
Returns the modified message text
Log()
Returns a string of all the messages issued so far, separated by newlines. This is used in debugging MathJax
operations.
Returns string of all messages so far

3.6.5 The MathJax.HTML Object

The MathJax.HTML object provides routines for creating HTML elements and adding them to the page, and in
particular, it contains the code that processes MathJax’s HTML snippets and turns them into actual DOM objects. It
also implements the methods used to manage the cookies used by MathJax.

Properties

Cookie.prefix: "mjx"
The prefix used for names of cookies stored by MathJax.
Cookie.expires: 365
The expiration time (in days) for cookies created by MathJax.

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Methods

Element(type[, attributes[, contents ]])

Creates a DOM element of the given type. If attributes is non-null, it is an object that contains key:value pairs
of attributes to set for the newly created element. If contents is non-null, it is an HTML snippet that describes
the contents to create for the element. For example

var div = MathJax.HTML.Element(

"div",
{id: "MathDiv", style:{border:"1px solid", padding:"5px"}},
["Here is math: \$x+1\$",["br"],"and a display $$x+1\\over x-1$$"]
);

Parameters
• type — node type to be created
• attributes — object specifying attributes to set
• contents — HTML snippet representing contents of node
Returns the DOM element created

addElement(parent, type[, attributes[, content ]])

Creates a DOM element and appends it to the parent node provided. It is equivalent to

parent.appendChild(MathJax.HTML.Element(type,attributes,content))

Parameters
• parent — the node where the element will be added
• attributes — object specifying attributes to set
• contents — HTML snippet representing contents of node
Returns the DOM element created

TextNode(text)
Creates a DOM text node with the given text as its content.
Parameters
• text — the text for the node
Returns the new text node
addText(parent, text)
Creates a DOM text node with the given text and appends it to the parent node.
Parameters
• parent — the node where the text will be added
• text — the text for the new node
Returns the new text node
setScript(script, text)
Sets the contents of the script element to be the given text, properly taking into account the browser
limitations and bugs.
Parameters

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• script — the script whose content is to be set

• text — the text that is to be the script’s new content
Returns null
getScript(script)
Gets the contents of the script element, properly taking into account the browser limitations and bugs.
Parameters
• script — the script whose content is to be retrieved
Returns the text of the script
Cookie.Set(name,data)
Creates a MathJax cookie using the MathJax.HTML.Cookie.prefix and the name as the cookie name,
and the key:value pairs in the data object as the data for the cookie. For example,

MathJax.HTML.Cookie.Set("test",{x:42, y:"It Works!"});

will create a cookie named “mjx.test” that stores the values of x and y provided in the data object. This data
can be retrieved using the MathJax.HTML.Cookie.Get() method discussed below.
Parameters
• name — the name that identifies the cookie
• data — object containing the data to store in the cookie
Returns null
Cookie.Get(name[,obj])
Looks up the data for the cookie named name and merges the data into the given obj object, or returns a new
object containing the data. For instance, given the cookie stored by the example above,

var data = MathJax.HTML.Cookie.Get("test");

would set data to {x:42, y:"It Works!"}, while

var data = {x:10, z:"Safe"};

MathJax.HTML.Cookie.Get("test",data);

would leave data as {x:42, y:"It Works!", z:"Safe"}.

3.6.6 The MathJax.Callback Class

The MathJax.Callback object is one of the key mechanisms used by MathJax to synchronize its actions with
those that occur asynchronously, like loading files and stylesheets. A Callback object is used to tie the execution of a
function to the completion of an asynchronous action. See Synchronizing with MathJax for more details, and Using
Callbacks in particular for examples of how to specify and use MathJax Callback objects.

Specifying a callback

When a method includes a callback as one of its arguments, that callback can be specified in a number of different
ways, depending on the functionality that is required of the callback. The easiest case is to simply provide a function
to be called, but it is also possible to include data to pass to the function when it is executed, and even the object that
will be used as the javascript this object when the function is called.

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Most functions that take callbacks as arguments accept a callback specification rather than an actual callback object,
though you can use the MathJax.Callback() function to convert a callback specification into a Callback object
if needed.
A callback specification is any one of the following:
fn
A function that is to be called when the callback is executed. No additional data is passed to it (other
than what it is called with at the time the callback is executed), and this will be the window object.
[fn]
An array containing a function to be called when the callback is executed (as above).
[fn, data...]
An array containing a function together with data to be passed to that function when the callback is
executed; this is still the window object. For example,

[function (x,y) {return x+y}, 2, 3]

would specify a callback that would pass 2 and 3 to the given function, and it would return their
sum, 5, when the callback is executed.
[object, fn]
An array containing an object to use as this and a function to call for the callback. For example,

[{x:'foo', y:'bar'}, function () {this.x}]

would produce a callback that returns the string "foo" when it is called.
[object, fn, data...]
Similar to the previous case, but with data that is passed to the function as well.
["method", object]
Here, object is an object that has a method called method, and the callback will execute that method
(with the object as this) when it is called. For example,

["toString",[1,2,3,4]]

would call the toString method on the array [1,2,3,4] when the callback is called, returning
1,2,3,4.
["method", object, data...]
Similar to the previous case, but with data that is passed to the method. E.g.,

["slice",[1,2,3,4],1,3]

would perform the equivalent of [1,2,3,4].slice(1,3), which returns the array [2,3] as a
result.
{hook: fn, data: [...], object: this}
Here the data for the callback are given in an associative array of key:value pairs. The value of hook
is the function to call, the value of data is an array of the arguments to pass to the function, and the
value of object is the object to use as this in the function call. The specification need not include all
three key:value pairs; any that are missing get default values (a function that does nothing, an empty
array, and the window object, respectively).
"string"
This specifies a callback where the string is executed via an eval() statement. The code is run
in the global context, so any variables or functions created by the string become part of the global
namespace. The return value is the value of the last statement executed in the string.

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Executing a Callback Object

The Callback object is itself a function, and calling that function executes the callback. You can pass the callback
additional parameters, just as you can any function, and these will be added to the callback function’s argument list
following any data that was supplied at the time the callback was created. For example

var f = function (x,y) {return x + " and " +y}

var cb = MathJax.Callback([f, "foo"]);
var result = cb("bar"); // sets result to "foo and bar"

Usually, the callback is not executed by the code that creates it (as it is in the example above), but by some other code
that runs at a later time at the completion of some other activity (say the loading of a file), or in response to a user
action. For example:

function f(x) {alert("x contains "+x)};

function DelayedX(time) {
var x = "hi";
setTimeout(MathJax.Callback([f, x], time));
}

The DelayedX function arranges for the function f to be called at a later time, passing it the value of a local variable,
x. Normally, this would require the use of a closure, but that is not needed when a MathJax.Callback object is used.

Callback Object Properties

hook
The function to be called when the callback is executed.
data
An array containing the arguments to pass to the callback function when it is executed.
object
The object to use as this during the call to the callback function.
called
Set to true after the callback has been called, and undefined otherwise. A callback will not be executed a
second time unless the callback’s reset() method is called first, or its autoReset property is set to true.
autoReset
Set this to true if you want to be able to call the callback more than once. (This is the case for signal listeners,
for example).
isCallback
Always set to true (used to detect if an object is a callback or not).

Callback Object Methods

reset()
Clears the callback’s called property.

MathJax.Callback Methods

Delay(time[, callback ])
Waits for the specified time (given in milliseconds) and then performs the callback. It returns the Callback
object (or a blank one if none was supplied). The returned callback structure has a timeout property set to the

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result of the setTimeout() call that was used to perform the wait so that you can cancel the wait, if needed.
Thus MathJax.Callback.Delay() can be used to start a timeout delay that executes the callback if an
action doesn’t occur within the given time (and if the action does occur, the timeout can be canceled). Since
MathJax.Callback.Delay() returns a callback structure, it can be used in a callback queue to insert a
delay between queued commands.
Parameters
• time — the amount of time to wait
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Queue([callback, ... ])
Creates a MathJax.CallBack.Queue object and pushes the given callbacks into the queue. See Using Queues for
more details about MathJax queues.
Parameters
• callback — one or more callback specifications
Returns the Queue object
Signal(name)
Looks for a named signal, creates it if it doesn’t already exist, and returns the signal object. See Using Signals
for more details.
Parameters
• name — name of the signal to get or create
Returns the Signal object
ExecuteHooks(hooks[, data[, reset ]])
Calls each callback in the hooks array (or the single hook if it is not an array), passing it the arguments stored
in the data array. If reset is true, then the callback’s reset() method will be called before each hook is
executed. If any of the hooks returns a Callback object, then it collects those callbacks and returns a new
callback that will execute when all the ones returned by the hooks have been completed. Otherwise, MathJax.
Callback.ExecuteHooks() returns null.
Parameters
• hooks — array of hooks to be called, or a hook
• data — array of arguments to pass to each hook in turn
• reset — true if the reset() method should be called
Returns callback that waits for all the hooks to complete, or null
Hooks(reset)
Creates a prioritized list of hooks that are called in order based on their priority (low priority numbers are
handled first). This is meant to replace MathJax.Callback.ExecuteHooks() and is used internally for
signal callbacks, pre- and post-filters, and other lists of callbacks.
Parameters
• reset — true if callbacks can be called more than once
Returns the Hooks object
The list has the following methods:

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Add(hook[, priority ])
Add a callback to the prioritized list. If priority is not provided, the default is 10. The hook is a
Callback specification as described above.
Parameters
• hook — callback specification to add to the list
• priority — priority of the hook in the list (default: 10)
Returns the callback object being added
Remove(hook)
Remove a given hook (as returned from Add() above) from the prioritized list.
Parameters
• hook — the callback to be removed
Returns null
Execute()
Execute the list of callbacks, resetting them if requested. If any of the hooks return callbacks, then
Execute() returns a callback that will be executed when they all have completed.
Returns a callback object or null

3.6.7 The MathJax.Callback.Queue Class

The MathJax.Callback.Queue object is one of the key mechanisms used by MathJax to synchronize its actions
with those that occur asynchronously, like loading files and stylesheets. A Queue object is used to coordinate a
sequence of actions so that they are performed one after another, even when one action has to wait for an asynchronous
process to complete. This guarantees that operations are performed in the right order even when the code must wait
for some other action to occur. See Synchronizing with MathJax for more details, and Using Queues in particular for
examples of how to specify and use MathJax Queue objects.

Properties

pending
This is non-zero when the queue is waiting for a command to complete, i.e. a command being processed returns
a Callback object, indicating that the queue should wait for that action to complete before processing additional
commands.
running
This is non-zero when the queue is executing one of the commands in the queue.
queue
An array containing the queued commands that are yet to be performed.

Methods

Push(callback, ...)
Adds commands to the queue and runs them (if the queue is not pending or running another command). If one
of the callbacks is an actual Callback object rather than a callback specification, then the command queued is
an internal command to wait for the given callback to complete. That is, that callback is not itself queued to be
executed, but a wait for that callback is queued. The Push() method returns the last callback that was added
to the queue (so that it can be used for further synchronization, say as an entry in some other queue).

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Parameters
• callback — the callback specifications to be added to the queue
Returns the last callback object added to the queue
Process()
Process the commands in the queue, provided the queue is not waiting for another command to complete. This
method is used internally; you should not need to call it yourself.
Suspend()
Increments the running property, indicating that any commands that are added to the queue should not be
executed immediately, but should be queued for later execution (when its Resume() is called). This method is
used internally; you should not need to call it yourself.
Resume()
Decrements the running property, if it is positive. When it is zero, commands can be processed, but that is not
done automatically — you would need to call Process() to make that happen. This method is used internally;
you should not need to call it yourself.
wait(callback)
Used internally when an entry in the queue is a Callback object rather than a callback specification. A callback
to this function (passing it the original callback) is queued instead, and it simply returns the callback it was
passed. Since the queue will wait for a callback if it is the return value of one of the commands it executes, this
effectively makes the queue wait for the original callback at that point in the command queue.
Parameters
• callback — the function to complete before returning to the queue
Returns the passed callback function
call()
An internal function used to restart processing of the queue after it has been waiting for a command to complete.

3.6.8 The MathJax.Callback.Signal Class

The MathJax.Callback.Signal object is one of the key mechanisms used by MathJax to synchronize its actions
with those that occur asynchronously, like loading files and stylesheets. A Signal object is used to publicize the fact
that MathJax has performed certain actions, giving other code running the web page the chance to react to those
actions. See Synchronizing with MathJax for more details, and Using Signals in particular for examples of how to
specify and use MathJax Signal objects.
The Callback Signal object is a subclass of the Callback Queue object.

Properties

name
The name of the signal. Each signal is named so that various components can access it. The first one to request
a particular signal causes it to be created, and other requests for the signal return references to the same object.
posted
Array used internally to store the post history so that when new listeners express interests in this signal, they
can be informed of the signals that have been posted so far. This can be cleared using the signal’s Clear()
method.
listeners
Array of callbacks to the listeners who have expressed interest in hearing about posts to this signal. When a post
occurs, the listeners are called, each in turn, passing them the message that was posted.

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Methods

Post(message[, callback ])
Posts a message to all the listeners for the signal. The listener callbacks are called in turn (with the message as
an argument), and if any return a Callback object, the posting will be suspended until the callback is executed.
In this way, the Post() call can operate asynchronously, and so the callback parameter is used to synchronize
with its operation; the callback will be called when all the listeners have responded to the post.
If a Post() to this signal occurs while waiting for the response from a listener (either because a listener
returned a Callback object and we are waiting for it to complete when the Post() occurred, or because the
listener itself called the Post() method), the new message will be queued and will be posted after the current
message has been sent to all the listeners, and they have all responded. This is another way in which posting
can be asynchronous; the only sure way to know that a posting has occurred is through its callback. When the
posting is complete, the callback is called, passing it the signal object that has just completed.
Returns the callback object (or a blank callback object if none was provided).
Parameters
• message — the message to send through the signal
• callback — called after the message is posted
Returns the callback or a blank callback
Clear([callback ])
This causes the history of past messages to be cleared so new listeners will not receive them. Note that since the
signal may be operating asynchronously, the Clear() may be queued for later. In this way, the Post() and
Clear() operations will be performed in the proper order even when they are delayed. The callback is called
when the Clear() operation is completed.
Returns the callback (or a blank callback if none is provided).
Parameters
• callback — called after the signal history is cleared
Returns the callback or a blank callback
Interest(callback[, ignorePast ])
This method registers a new listener on the signal. It creates a Callback object from the callback specification,
attaches it to the signal, and returns that Callback object. When new messages are posted to the signal, it runs the
callback, passing it the message that was posted. If the callback itself returns a Callback object, that indicates
that the listener has started an asynchronous operation and the poster should wait for that callback to complete
before allowing new posts on the signal.
If ignorePast is false or not present, then before Interest() returns, the callback will be called with all
the past messages that have been sent to the signal.
Parameters
• callback — called whenever a message is posted (past or present)
• ignorePast — true means ignore previous messages
Returns the callback object
NoInterest(callback)
This removes a listener from the signal so that no new messages will be sent to it. The callback should be the
one returned by the original Interest() call that attached the listener to the signal in the first place. Once
removed, the listener will no longer receive messages from the signal.
Parameters

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• callback — the listener to be removed from signal

Returns null
MessageHook(message, callback)
This creates a callback that is called whenever the signal posts the given message. This is a little easier than
having to write a function that must check the message each time it is called. Although the message here is a
string, if a message posted to the signal is an array, then only the first element of that array is used to match
against the message. That way, if a message contains an identifier plus arguments, the hook will match the
identifier and still get called with the complete set of arguments.
Returns the Callback object that was produced.
Parameters
• message — the message to look for from the signal
• callback — called when the message is posted
Returns the callback object
ExecuteHook(message)
Used internally to call the listeners when a particular message is posted to the signal.
Parameters
• message — the posted message
Returns null

3.6.9 The MathJax.InputJax Class

Input jax are the components of MathJax that translate mathematics from its original format (like TeX or MathML) to
the MathJax internal format (an element jax).
An input jax is stored as a pair of files in a subdirectory of the jax/input directory, with the subdirectory name
being the name of the input jax. For example, the TeX input jax is stored in jax/input/TeX. The first file, config.js,
is loaded when MathJax is being loaded and configured, and is indicated by listing the input jax directory in the jax
array of the MathJax configuration. The config.js file creates a subclass of the MathJax.InputJax object for the
new input jax and registers that with MathJax, along with the MIME-type that will be used to indicate the mathematics
that is to be processed by the input jax.
The main body of the input jax is stored in the second file, jax.js, which is loaded when the input jax is first called
on to translate some mathematics. This file augments the original input jax subclass with the additional methods
needed to do the translation. MathJax calls the input jax’s Translate() method when it needs the input jax to
translate the contents of a math <script> tag.
The MathJax.InputJax class is a subclass of the MathJax Jax class, and inherits the properties and methods of that
class. Those listed below are the additional or overridden ones from that class.

Properties

id
The name of the jax.
version
The version number of the jax.
directory
The directory where the jax files are stored (e.g., "[MathJax]/jax/input/TeX").

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elementJax
The name of the ElementJax class that this input jax will produce (typically mml, as that is the only ElementJax
at the moment).

Methods

Process(script, state)
This is the method that the MathJax.Hub calls when it needs the input jax to process the given math
<script>. Its default action is to do the following:
1. Start loading any element jax specified in the elementJax array;
2. Start loading the jax’s jax.js file;
3. Start loading the required output jax (so it is ready when needed); and
4. Redefine itself to simply return the callback for the load operation (so that further calls to it will cause the
processing to wait for the callback).
Once the jax.js file has loaded, this method is replaced by the jax’s Translate() method (see below), so
that subsequent calls to Process() will perform the appropriate translation.
Parameters
• script — reference to the DOM <script> object for the mathematics to be translated
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics (internal use)
Returns an ElementJax object, or null
Translate(script, state)
This is the main routine called by MathJax when a <script> of the appropriate type is found. The default
Translate() method throws an error indicating that Translate() hasn’t been defined, so when the jax.
js file loads, it should override the default Translate() with its own version that does the actual translation.
The translation process should include the creation of an Element Jax that stores the data needed for this element.
Parameters
• script — the <script> element to be translated
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics (internal use)
Returns the element jax resulting from the translation
Register(mimetype)
This registers the MIME-type associated with this input jax so that MathJax knows to call this input jax when
it sees a <script> of that type. An input jax can register more than one type, but it will be responsible for
distinguishing elements of the various types from one another.
Parameters
• mimetype — the MIME-type of the input this jax processes
Returns null
needsUpdate(jax)
This implements the element jax’s needsUpdate() method, and returns true if the jax needs to be reren-
dered (i.e., the text has changed), and false otherwise.
Perameters

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• jax — the element jax to be checked

Returns true if the jax’s text has changed, false otherwise

3.6.10 The MathJax.OutputJax Class

Output jax are the components of MathJax that translate mathematics from the MathJax internal format (an element
jax) to whatever output is required to represent the mathematics (e.g., MathML elements, or HTML-with-CSS that
formats the mathematics on screen).
An output jax is stored as a pair of files in a subdirectory of the the jax/output directory, with the subdirectory
name being the name of the output jax. For example, the NativeMML output jax is stored in jax/output/NativeMML.
The first file, config.js, is loaded when MathJax is being loaded and configured, and is indicated by listing the
input jax directory in the jax array of the MathJax configuration. The config.js file creates a subclass of the
MathJax.OutputJax object for the new output jax and registers it with MathJax, along with the MIME-type of the
element jax that it can process.
The main body of the output jax is stored in the second file, jax.js, which is loaded when the output jax is first
called on to translate some mathematics. This file augments the original output jax subclass with the additional
methods needed to produce the output. MathJax calls the input jax’s Translate() method when it needs the output
jax to translate an element jax to produce output.
The MathJax.OutputJax class is a subclass of the MathJax Jax class, and inherits the properties and methods of that
class. Those listed below are the additional or overridden ones from that class.

Properties

id
The name of the jax.
version
The version number of the jax.
directory
The directory where the jax files are stored (e.g., "[MathJax]/jax/output/HTML-CSS");
fontDir
The directory where the fonts are stored (e.g., "[MathJax]/fonts")
imageDir
The directory where MathJax images are found (e.g. "[MathJax]/images")

Methods

preProcess(state)
This is called by MathJax.Hub to ask the output processor to prepare to process math scripts. Its default
action is to start loading the jax’s jax.js file, and redefine itself to simply return the callback for the load
operation (so that further calls to it will cause the processing to wait for the callback).
Once the jax.js file has loaded, this method is replaced by the jax’s preTranslate() method, so that
subsequent calls to preProcess() will perform the appropriate translation.
Parameters
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics
Returns null

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preTranslate(state)
This routine replaces preProcess() above when the jax’s jax.js file is loaded. It is called by MathJax.
Hub to ask the output processor to prepare to process math scripts. (For example, the HTML-CSS output jax
uses this to determine em-sizes for all the mathematics at once, to minimize page reflows that slow down Internet
Explorer.)
The routine can use state.jax[this.id] to obtain the array of element jax that are to be processed. The
output jax can use the state variable to maintain its own state information, but any properties that it adds to
the variable should have a prefix that is the output jax’s ID. For example, the HTML-CSS output jax might use
state.HTMLCSSlast to keep track of the last equation it processed, or could add state.HTMLCSS =
{...} to create an object of its own within the state variable.
Parameters
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics
Returns null
Translate(script, state)
This is the main routine called by MathJax when an element jax is to be converted to output. The default
Translate() method throws an error indicating that Translate() hasn’t been defined, so when the jax.
js file loads, it should override the default Translate() with its own version that does the actual translation.
You should use MathJax.Hub.getJaxFor(script) to obtain the element jax for the given script. The
translation process may modify the element jax (e.g., if it has data that needs to be stored with the jax), and
may insert DOM elements into the document near the jax’s <script> tag. The output jax can use the state
variable to maintain information about its processing state, but see preTranslate() above for naming con-
ventions for properties that are added.
Parameters
• script — the <script> element to be translated
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics
Returns the element jax resulting from the translation
postTranslate(state)
This routines is called by MathJax.Hub when the translation of math elements is complete, and can be used
by the output processor to finalize any actions that it needs to complete. (For example, making the mathematics
visible, or forcing a reflow of the page.)
The routine can use state.jax[this.id] to obtain the array of element jax that were processed, or can use
the state variable to store its own state information (see preProcess() above for caveats about naming
properties).
Parameters
• state — a structure containing information about the current proccessing state of the
mathematics
Returns null
Register(mimetype)
This registers the MIME-type for the element jax associated with this output jax so that MathJax knows to call
this jax when it wants to display an element jax of that type. Several output jax may register for the same input
jax, in which case the first one to register will be the default one for that type.
Parameters
• mimetype — the MIME-type of the input this jax processes

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Returns null
Remove(jax)
Removes the output associated with the given element jax. The routine can use jax.SourceElement() to
locate the <script> tag associated with the element jax.
Parameters
• jax — the element jax whose display should be removed
Returns null
If an output jax wants its output to handle the contextual menu item and zooming, then it needs to tie into the event-
handling code (MathEvents) and the zoom-handling code (MathZoom). That requires the following methods.
getJaxFromMath(math)
This is called by the event-handling code (MathEvents) to get the element jax associated with the DOM element
that caused an event to occur. The output jax will have attached event handlers to some DOM element that is
part of its output, and the MathEvents code uses this routine to map back to the jax associated with that output.
Parameters
• math — a DOM element that triggered a DOM event (e.g., a mouse click)
Returns the ElementJax structure associated with the DOM element
Zoom(jax, span, math, Mw, Mh)
This routine is called by the zoom-handling code (MathZoom) when an expression has received its zoom trigger
event (e.g., a double-click). The jax is the math that needs to be zoomed, span is a <span> element in which
the zoomed version of the math should be placed, math is the DOM element that received the zoom trigger
event, and Mw and Mh are the maximum width and height allowed for the zoom box (the span).
The return value is an object with the following properties:
• Y — the vertical offset from the top of the span to the baseline of the mathematics
• mW — the width of the original mathematics element
• mH — the height of the original mathematics element
• zW — the width of the zoomed math
• zH — the height of the zoomed math
All of these values are in pixels.
Parameters
• jax — the jax to be zoomed
• span — the <span> in which to place the zoomed math
• math — the DOM element generating the zoom event
• Mw — the maximum width of the zoom box
• Mh — the maximum height of the zoom box
Returns a structure as described above

3.6.11 The MathJax.ElementJax Class

The element jax is the bridge between the input and output jax, and contains the data produced by the input jax needed
by the output jax to display the results. It is tied to the individual <script> tag that produced it, and is the object
used by JavaScript programs to interact with the mathematics on the page.

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An element jax is stored in the jax.js file in a subdirectory of the jax/element directory, with the subdirectory
name being the name of the element jax. Currently, there is only one element jax class, the mml element jax, and it is
stored in jax/element/mml.
The MathJax.ElementJax class is a subclass of the MathJax Jax class, and inherits the properties and methods of that
class. Those listed below are the additional or overridden ones from that class.

Class Properties

id
The name of the jax.
version
The version number of the jax.
directory
The directory where the jax files are stored (e.g., "[MathJax]/jax/element/mml").

Instance Properties

inputJax
The name of the input jax that created the element.
outputJax
The name of the output jax that has processed this element.
inputID
The DOM id of the <script> tag that generated this element (if it doesn’t have one initially, the MathJax hub
will supply one). Note that this is not a reference to the element itself; that element will have a reference to
this element jax, and if inputID were a reference back, that would cause a reference loop, which some browsers
would not free properly during trash collection, thus causing a memory leak.
originalText
A string indicating the original input text that was processed for this element. (In the future, this may be managed
by the input jax rather than MathJax.Hub.)
mimeType
The MIME-type of the element jax (jax/mml in the case of an mml element jax).
Other data specific to the element jax subclass may also appear here.

Methods

Text(text[, callback ])
Sets the input text for this element to the given text and reprocesses the mathematics. (I.e., updates the equation
to the new one given by text). When the processing is complete, the callback, if any, is called.
Parameters
• text — the new mathematics source string for the element
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Rerender([callback ])
Removes the output and produces it again (for example, if CSS has changed that would alter the spacing of the

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mathematics). Note that the internal representation isn’t regenerated; only the output is. The callback, if any, is
called when the process completes.
Parameters
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Reprocess([callback ])
Removes the output and then retranslates the input into the internal form and reredners the output again. The
callback, if any, is called when the process completes.
Parameters
• callback — the callback specification
Returns the callback object
Remove()
Removes the output for this element from the web page (but does not remove the original <script>). The
<script> will be considered unprocessed, and the next call to MathJax.hub.Typeset() will re-display
it.
Returns null
SourceElement()
Returns a reference to the original <script> DOM element associated to this element jax.
Returns the <script> element
needsUpdate()
Indicates whether the mathematics has changed so that its output needs to be updated.
Returns true if the mathematics needs to be reprocessed, false otherwise
Output jax may add new methods to the base element jax class to perform exporting to other formats. For example, a
MathML output jax could add toMathML(), or an accessibility output jax could add toAudible(). These could
be made available via the MathJax contextual menu.

3.6.12 The Base Jax Class

The MathJax.InputJax, MathJax.OutputJax and MathJax.ElementJax classes are all subclasses of the base Jax class in
MathJax. This is a private class that implements the methods common to all three other jax classes.
Unlike most MathJax.Object classes, calling the class object creates a subclass of the class, rather than an instance of
the class. E.g.,
MathJax.InputJax.MyInputJax = MathJax.InputJax({
id: "MyInputJax",
version: "1.0",
...
});

creates MathJax.InputJax.MyInputJax as a subclass of MathJax.InputJax.

Class Properties

directory
The name of the jax directory (usually "[MathJax]/jax"). Overridden in the subclass to be the specific
directory for the class, e.g. "[MathJax]/jax/input".

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extensionDir
The name of the extensions directory (usually "[MathJax]/extensions").

Instance Properties

id
The name of the jax.
version
The version number of the jax.
directory
The directory for the jax (e.g., "[MathJax]/jax/input/TeX").
require: null
An array of files to load before the jax.js file calls the MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete() method.
config: {}
An object that contains the default configuration options for the jax. These can be modified by the author by
including a configuration subsection for the specific jax in question.
JAXFILE: "jax.js"
The name of the file that contains the main code for the jax.

Methods

Translate(script)
This is a stub for a routine that should be defined by the jax’s jax.js file when it is loaded. It should perform
the translation action for the specific jax. For an input jax, it should return the ElementJax object that it created.
The Translate() method is never called directly by MathJax; during the loadComplete() call, this
function is copied to the Process() method, and is called via that name. The default Translate() method
throws an error indicating that the Translate() method was not redefined. That way, if the jax.js file
fails to load for some reason, you will receive an error trying to process mathematics with this jax.
Parameters
• script — reference to the DOM <script> object for the mathematics to be translated
Returns an ElementJax object, or null
Register(mimetype)
This method is overridden in the InputJax, OutputJax and ElementJax subclasses to handle the registration of
those classes of jax.
Parameters
• mimetype — the MIME-type to be associated with the jax
Returns null
Config()
Inserts the configuration block for this jax from the author’s configuration specification into the jax’s config
property. If the configuration includes an Augment object, that is used to augment the jax (that is, the con-
figuration can override the methods of the object, as well as the data). This is called automatically during the
loading of the jax.js file.
Startup()
This is a method that can be overridden in the subclasses to perform initialization at startup time (after the
configuration has occurred).

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loadComplete(file)
This is called by the config.js and jax.js files when they are completely loaded and are ready to signal
that fact to MathJax. For config.js, this simply calls the MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete() method
for the config.js file. For jax.js, the actions performed here are the following:
1. Post the “[name] Jax Config” message to the startup signal.
2. Perform the jax’s Config() method.
3. Post the “[name] Jax Require” message to the startup signal.
4. Load the files from the jax’s require and config.extensions arrays.
5. Post the “[name] Jax Startup” message to the startup signal.
6. Perform the jax’s Startup() method.
7. Post the “[name] Jax Ready” message to the startup signal.
8. Copy the preTranslate, Translate, and postTranslate functions to preProcess,
Process, and postProcess.
9. Perform the MathJax.Ajax.loadComplete() call for the jax.js file.
Note that the configuration process (the Config() call) can modify the require or config.extensions
arrays to add more files that need to be loaded, and that the Startup() method isn’t called until those files
are completely loaded.

3.6.13 The MathJax Object-Oriented Programming Model

MathJax uses an object-oriented programming model for its main components, such as the Input jax, Output jax, and
Element jax. The model is intended to be light-weight and is based on JavaScript’s prototype inheritance mechanism.
Object classes are created by making subclasses of MathJax.Object or one of its subclasses, and are instantiated by
calling the object class as you would a function.
For example:

MathJax.Object.Foo = MathJax.Object.Subclass({
Init: function (x) {this.setX(x)},
getX: function () {return this.x},
setX: function (x) {this.x = x}
});
var foo = MathJax.Object.Foo("bar");
foo.getX(); // returns "bar"
foo.setX("foobar");
foo.getX(); // returns "foobar"

Object classes can have static properties and methods, which are accessed via the object class variable. E.g.,
MathJax.Object.Foo.SUPER or MathJax.Object.Foo.Augment() for the object in the example above.
Static values are not inherited by subclasses.

Static Properties

SUPER
Pointer to the super class for this subclass. (It is a reference to MathJax.Object in the example above.)

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Static Methods

Subclass(def [, static ])
Creates a subclass of the given class using the contents of the def object to define new methods and properties
of the object class, and the contents of the optional static object to define new static methods and properties.
Parameters
• def — object that defines the properties and methods
• static — object that defines static properties and methods
Returns the new object class
Augment(def [, static ])
Adds new properties and methods to the class prototype. All instances of the object already in existence will
receive the new properties and methods automatically.
Parameters
• def — object that defines the properties and methods
• static — object that defines static properties and methods
Returns the object class itself

Properties

constructor
Pointer to the constructor function for this class. E.g., foo.constructor would be a reference to
MathJax.Object.Foo in the example above.

Methods

Init([data ])
An optional function that is called when an instance of the class is created. When called, the this variable is
set to the newly instantiated object, and the data is whatever was passed to the object constructor. For instance,
in the example above, the variable foo is created by calling MathJax.Object.Foo("bar"), which calls
the MathJax.Object.Foo object’s Init() method with data equal to "bar". If desired, the Init()
method can create a different object, and return that, in which case this becomes the return value for the object
constructor.
Parameters
• data — the data from the constructor call
Returns null or the object to be returned by the constructor
isa(class)
Returns true if the object is an instance of the given class, or of a subclass of the given class, and false
otherwise. So using the foo value defined above,

foo.isa(MathJax.Object); // returns true

foo.isa(MathJax.Object.Foo); // returns true
foo.isa(MathJax.InputJax); // returns false

can(method)
Checks if the object has the given method and returns true if so, otherwise returns false. This allows you

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to test if an object has a particular function available before trying to call it (i.e., if an object implements a
particular feature). For example:

foo.can("getX"); // returns true

foo.can("bar"); // returns false

has(property)
Checks if the object has the given property and returns true if so, otherwise returns false. This allows you
to test if an object has a particular property available before trying to use it. For example:

foo.has("getX"); // returns true

foo.has("x"); // returns true
foo.has("bar"); // returns false

Accessing the Super Class

If a subclass overrides a method of its parent class, it may want to call the original function as part of its replacement
method. The semantics for this are a bit awkward, but work efficiently. Within a method, the value arguments.
callee.SUPER refers to the super class, so you can access any method of the superclass using that. In order to have
this refer to the current object when you call the super class, however, you need to use call() or apply() to access
the given method.
For example, arguments.callee.SUPER.method.call(this,data) would call the superclass’ method
and pass it data as its argument, properly passing the current object as this. Alternatively, you can use this.
SUPER(arguments) in place of arguments.callee.SUPER. It is also possible to refer to the super class
explicitly rather than through arguments.callee.SUPER, as in the following example:

MathJax.Class1 = MathJax.Object.Subclass({
Init: function(x) {this.x = x},
XandY: function(y) {return "Class1: x and y = " + this.x + " and " + y}
});

MathJax.Class2 = MathJax.Class1.Subclass({
XandY: function (y) {return "Class2: "+arguments.callee.SUPER.XandY.call(this,y)}
});

MathJax.Class3 = MathJax.Class2.Subclass({
XandY: function (y) {return "Class3: "+MathJax.Class2.prototype.XandY.call(this,y)}
});

MathJax.Class4 = MathJax.Class1.Subclass({
XandY: function (y) {return "Class4: "+this.SUPER(arguments).XandY.call(this,y)}
});

var foo = MathJax.Class2("foo");

foo.XandY("bar"); // returns "Class2: Class1: x and y = foo and bar"
var bar = MathJax.Class3("bar");
bar.XandY("foo"); // returns "Class3: Class2: Class1: x and y = bar and foo"
var moo = MathJax.Class4("moo");
moo.XandY("cow"); // returns "Class4: Class1: x and y = moo and cow"

Since both of these mechanisms are rather awkward, MathJax provides an alternative syntax that is easier on the
programmer, but at the cost of some inefficiency in creating the subclass and in calling methods that access the super
class.
Since most calls to the super class are to the overridden method, not to some other method, the method name and the
call() are essentially redundant. You can get a more convenient syntax by wrapping the def for the Subclass()

148 Chapter 3. Advanced Topics

MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

call in a call to MathJax.Object.SimpleSUPER(), as in the following example:

MathJax.Class1 = MathJax.Object.Subclass({
Init: function (x) {this.x = x},
XandY: function (y) {return "Class1: x and y = " + this.x + " and " + y}
});

MathJax.Class2 = MathJax.Class1.Subclass(
MathJax.Object.SimpleSUPER({
XandY: function (y) {return "Class2: "+this.SUPER(y)},
AnotherMethod: function () {return this.x} // it's OK if a method
˓→doesn't use SUPER

})
);

var foo = MathJax.Class2("foo");

foo.XandY("bar"); // returns "Class2: Class1: x and y = foo and bar"

3.6. The MathJax API 149

MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

150 Chapter 3. Advanced Topics

CHAPTER 4

Reference Pages

4.1 Describing HTML snippets

A number of MathJax configuration options allow you to specify an HTML snippet using a JavaScript object. This
lets you include HTML in your configuration files even though they are not HTML files themselves. The format is
fairly simple, but flexible enough to let you represent complicated HTML trees.
An HTML snippet is an array consisting of a series of elements that format the HTML tree. Those elements are one of
two things: either a string, which represents text to be included in the snippet, or an array, which represents an HTML
tag to be included. In the latter case, the array consists of three items: a string that is the tag name (e.g., “img”), an
optional object that gives attributes for the tag (as described below), and an optional HTML snippet array that gives
the contents of the tag.
When attributes are provided, they are given as name:value pairs, with the name giving the attribute name, and value
giving its value. For example

[["img",{src:"/images/mypic.jpg"}]]

represents an HTML snippet that includes one element: an <img> tag with src set to /images/mypic.jpg. That
is, this is equivalent to

Note that the snippet has two sets of square brackets. The outermost one is for the array that holds the snippet, and
the innermost set is because the first (and only) element in the snippet is a tag, not text. Note that the code ["img",
{src:"/images/mypic.jpg"}] is invalid as an HTML snippet. It would represent a snippet that starts with
“img” as text in the snippet (not a tag), but the second item is neither a string nor an array, and so is illegal. This is a
common mistake that should be avoided.
A more complex example is the following:

[
"Please read the ",
["a",{href:"instructions.html"},["instructions"]],
(continues on next page)

151
MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

(continued from previous page)

" carefully before proceeding"
]

which is equivalent to
please read the <a href="instructions.html">instructions</a> carefully
before proceeding.

A final example shows how to set style attributes on an object:

[["span",
{
id:"mySpan",
style: {color:"red", "font-weight":"bold"}
},
[" This is bold text shown in red "]
]]

which is equivalent to
<span id="mySpan" style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">
This is bold text shown in red
</span>

4.2 CSS Style Objects

Many MathJax components allow you to specify CSS styles that control the look of the elements they create. These
are described using CSS style objects, which are JavaScript objects that represent standard CSS declarations. The main
CSS style object is a collection of name:value pairs where the name is the CSS selector that is being defined, and the
value is an object that gives the style for that selector. Most often, the selector will need to be enclosed in quotation
marks, as it will contain special characters, so you would need to use "#myID" rather than just #myID and "ul li"
rather than just ul li.
The value used to define the CSS style can either be a string containing the CSS definition, or a javascript object that is
itself a collection of name:value pairs, where the name is the attribute being defined and value is the value that attribute
should be given. Note that, since this is a JavaScript object, the pairs are separated by commas (not semi-colons) and
the values are enclosed in quotation marks. If the name contains dashes, it should be enclosed in quotation marks as
well.
For example, jax/output/HTML-CSS/config.js includes the following declaration:
styles: {

".MathJax_Display": {
"text-align": "center",
margin: "1em 0em"
},

".MathJax .merror": {
"background-color": "#FFFF88",
color: "#CC0000",
border: "1px solid #CC0000",
padding: "1px 3px",
"font-style": "normal",
(continues on next page)

152 Chapter 4. Reference Pages

MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

(continued from previous page)

"font-size": "90%"
}

This defines two CSS styles, one for the selector .MathJax_Display, which specifies its text alignment and margin
settings, and a second for .MathJax .merror, which specifies a background color, foreground color, border, and
so on.
You can add as many such definitions to a styles object as you wish. Note, however, that since this is a JavaScript
object, the selectors must be unique (e.g., you can’t use two definitions for "img", for example, as only the last one
would be saved). If you need to use more than one entry for a single selector, you can add comments like /* 1 */
and /* 2 */ to the selector to make them unique.
It is possible to include selectors like "@media print", in which case the value is a CSS style object. For example:

styles: {
"@media print": {
".MathJax .merror": {
"background-color": "white",
border: 0
}
}
}

The various extensions and output processors include more examples of CSS style objects, so see the code for those
files for additional samples. In particular, the extensions/MathMenu.js, extensions/MathZoom.js,
extensions/FontWarnsing.js, and jax/output/HTML-CSS/jax.js files include such definitions.

4.3 Glossary

AsciiMath A notation for mathematics that uses characters commonly available on all computer keyboards to repre-
sent the math in an algebra-like syntax that should be intuitive and easily read.
See also:
AsciiMath home page
Callback A JavaScript function that is used to perform actions that must wait for other actions to complete before
they are performed.
Callback Queue MathJax uses Queues to synchronize its activity so that actions that operate asynchronously (like
loading files) will be performed in the right order. Callback functions are pushed onto the queue, and are
performed in order, with MathJax handling the synchronization if operations need to wait for other actions to
finish.
Callback Signal A JavaScript object that acts as a mailbox for MathJax events. Like an event handler, but it also
keeps a history of messages. Your code can register an “interest” in a signal, or can register a callback to be
called when a particular message is sent along the signal channel.
HTML-CSS MathJax output form that relys only on HTML and CSS 2.1, allowing MathJax to remain compatible
across all browsers.
jax MathJax’s input and output processors are called “jax”, as is its internal format manager. The code for the jax are
in the MathJax/jax directory.

4.3. Glossary 153

MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

LaTeX LaTeX is a variant of TeX that is now the dominant TeX style.
See also:
LaTeX Wikipedia entry
Markdown A text format commonly used in blogs and wikis for creating web pages without the need for complicated
markup notation. It is intended to be an easy-to-read and easy-to-write format that still gives you the ability to
specify a rich text result (including things like bold, italics, bullet lists, and so on).
See also:
Markdown home page
MathML An XML specification created to describe mathematical notations and capture both its structure and con-
tent. MathML is much more verbose than TeX, but is much more machine-readable.
See also:
MathML Wikipedia entry
STIX The Scientific and Technical Information Exchange font package. A comprehensive set of scientific glyphs.
See also:
STIX project
SVG Acronym for Scalable Vector Graphics. SVG is a graphics format that allows images to be described as a
collection of graphics objects (like lines, rectangles, etc) rather than as a bitmap of colored pixels. MathJax can
use this format to display mathematics as an alterantive to its HTML-CSS or NativeMML output.
See also:
SVG Wilipedia entry
TeX A document markup language with robust math markup commands developed by Donald Knuth in the late
1970’s, but still in extensive use today. It became the industry standard for typesetting of mathematics, and is
one of the most common formats for mathematical journals, articles, and books.
See also:
TeX Wikipedia entry
• Search
• User Help Pages:
– MathJax Font Help
– MathJax Contextual Menu
– MathJax Zoom Feature

This version of the documentation was built Jun 07, 2018.

154 Chapter 4. Reference Pages

Index

A H
Add(), 134 has(), 148
addElement(), 130 Hooks(), 134
addText(), 130 HTML-CSS, 153
AsciiMath, 153
Augment(), 147 I
Init(), 147
C Insert(), 124
call(), 136 Interest(), 137
Callback, 153 isa(), 147
Callback Queue, 153 isJax(), 124
Callback Signal, 153
can(), 147 J
Clear(), 128 jax, 153
Config(), 121
L
D LaTeX, 154
Delay(), 133 Load(), 126
loadComplete(), 126
E loadError(), 126
Element(), 130 LoadHook(), 127
Execute(), 135 loadTimeout(), 126
ExecuteHook(), 138 Log(), 129
ExecuteHooks(), 134
M
F Markdown, 154
File(), 129 MathML, 154
fileURL(), 127 MessageHook(), 138
filterText(), 129
formatError(), 125 N
needsUpdate(), 144
G NoInterest(), 137
getAllJax(), 123
getJaxByInputType(), 124 P
getJaxByType(), 123 Post(), 137
getJaxFor(), 124 postTranslate(), 141
getJaxFromMath(), 142 Preloading(), 127
getScript(), 131 PreProcess(), 122
preProcess(), 140

155
MathJax Documentation, Release 2.0

preTranslate(), 140
Process(), 122
Push(), 135

Q
Queue(), 134

R
Register(), 145
Remove(), 129
Reprocess(), 123
Require(), 126
Rerender(), 123
reset(), 133
Resume(), 136

S
Set(), 128
setRenderer(), 124
setScript(), 130
Signal(), 134
SourceElement(), 144
Startup(), 145
STIX, 154
Styles(), 127
Subclass(), 147
Suspend(), 136
SVG, 154

T
TeX, 154
Text(), 143
TextNode(), 130
Translate(), 145
Typeset(), 122

U
Update(), 123

W
wait(), 136

Z
Zoom(), 142

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