WebMath: standard notation for negative numbers?

[June Lester]

>Date: Mon, 22 Jul 2002 17:00:02 +0200
>Subject: Re: WebMath: standard notation for negative numbers?
>Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v482)
>From: Paul Libbrecht <paul at activemath.org>
>To: webmath at camel.math.ca
>In-Reply-To: <3D3BEEDB.20398.2E7A80 at localhost>
>Message-Id: <B3405B4A-9D83-11D6-BECC-0003934D43BA at activemath.org>
>X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.482)
>
> From a technical point of view, I think a "content" encoding would
>answer all of this.
>In OpenMath, and OMdoc and ActiveMath, the two minus are different.[*]
>
>Is it the case in MathML-content ? Presumably yes.
>
>Now, depending on the course where it is used, or even your taste, it
>can be rendered the same or not...
>Engines converting content to presentation (very often an XSL
>stylesheet) can also output the same sign but keep a "track" of the
>original meaning of the symbol allowing, for example, a user to see in
>the status-bar the "minus" or "substraction" name when having the mouse
>over it.
>
>A similar approach should be taken within interactive exercises where
>the users will enter their formulas.
>
>Although the approaches to "content encoding" are not completely ready
>to be used, I think they answer most of the notation ambiguities while
>respecting the practices of teachers and content editors.
>If an international standard has to be found, it should really be at the
>level of the content encoding and not at the level of graphical
>notations where one expects flexibility and internationalization...
>
>Paul
>
>[*] For a little taste, please have a look
>			http://www.activemath.org/demo/
>	Although it doesn't appear when using the system, the formulas
>	are converted from content encoding. The name-in-status-bar feature
>	is in for most symbols as well as the ability to click on it
>	to obtain a view in the dictionary and browse, for example, to
>	its definition.
>	Please avoid using Netscape 4 and prefer Mozilla.
>
>	(few other products exist, others may comment on this)
>
>
>
>On Lundi, juillet 22, 2002, at 12:39 , Pam Bishop wrote:
>
>> Is there an international standard in notation for negative numbers?
>> One  enquirer has asked:
>>
>> "Personally, I have been brought up differentiating between 'negative
>> seven'  and 'subtract seven' through the former being a 'raised' sign
>> compared with the  subtraction sign.  However, is this 'standard'
>> world-wide or is there no agreed
>> standard?
>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
WebMath at mail.math.ca - WebMath Mailing List
To unsubscribe:
via Web:     http://camel.math.ca/cgi-bin/wcms/webmath.pl
via e-mail:  send message a to majordomo at mail.math.ca with
"unsubscribe webmath" in the BODY of message
List Archives: http://camel.math.ca/mail/webmath/
-----------------------------------------------------------------