Built-in formula editor in MS Word

Modern text editors (or word processors, although such a name for such programs are now practically not used) have been developing for a long time along the path of their universalization. They are gradually gaining more and more features, previously inherent in, for example, publishing packages, tabular processors, CMS-systems. This allows many users to prepare a document, it is more difficult to advertise the sale of an apartment, to avoid the need for simultaneous work with several software packages at once. And the editor of mathematical formulas, built into the text editor, looks quite in the spirit of the time in this connection.

The most common text editor is Microsoft Word. Its name has already become a household name.

The formula editor in Word appeared in version 6.0, which was released for the Windows 3.1 operating system. Since then, he has received a number of new opportunities. In particular, starting with the version of the editor for Word 2007, it already had a customary for many a tape interface, templates of typical mathematical functions were added. Actually, let's dwell on the consideration of this version of the editor.

You can run the formula editor in two ways. The first one is used when creating a new formula. On the "Insert" tab, you must click the "Formula" button. If instead of clicking a button on the drop-down list to the right of it, then, besides creating a new formula from scratch, you will be able to select one of the predefined templates. The user can create his own formulas, adding them to this drop-down list.

The second way to go to the formula editor is to select the finished formula with the left mouse button. To the right of the standard tabs, the "Work with formulas" tab appears, which contains the main controls that allow you to add mathematical symbols and regular expressions.

A person familiar with the described add-on by the old versions of Word, in the beginning, most likely, will be struck by the smaller number of sections responsible for writing standard mathematical expressions and symbols. This is achieved by combining such sections as the Greek alphabet, basic mathematical operators and some others into one.

Standard mathematical expressions (trigonometric functions, integrals, fractions, etc.) in the new editor are presented as separate buttons with a drop-down list. Moreover, in addition to the usual templates with empty fields intended for filling, there are typical and frequently used variants of using these mathematical functions. Having chosen such a predefined template, the user can freely change individual symbols, add their mathematical operators. Well, the choice of mathematical operators and standard expressions is able to satisfy, I think, the most demanding specialist mathematician.

The former formula editor in Word allowed the user to control the fonts used to display certain mathematical operators. True, the implementation of this management was far from ideal. It was possible to either change the standard styles for individual controls (text, upper and lower indexes, etc.), or change the display style of the formula as a whole, choosing from several standard options. The first approach allowed to customize the appearance of certain elements, but its use was reflected on all similar elements in all editable formulas, the second one made it possible to control the form of the formula only as a whole. The new formula editor allows you to flexibly adjust the appearance of literally every symbol in the generated formula. And to delve into the jungle of managing text styles the user is not necessary. It's enough to go to the main tab, where the main text formatting elements are located, while in the editing mode of the mathematical expression, and select either the desired font, color, design effects for one symbol, or for a group of symbols, or for a formula as a whole. In this case, the size of the formula will automatically change.

Some users will like this innovation, such as the possibility of canceling actions. And the actions performed with the formula are in the same queue with actions committed with other elements of the text.

In general, as you can see, the new formula editor built into Microsoft Word 2007 (and in 2010), on the one hand, became more flexible, and on the other hand it is friendlier to the user, allowing him to focus not on text formatting, but on creating mathematical Expressions.