Modern text editors (or word processors, although such a name for such programs are almost never used now) have been developing along the path of their universalization for a long time. They gradually gain more and more features that were previously inherent, for example, in publishing packages, table processors, CMS-systems. This allows many users when preparing a document, it is more difficult to advertise an apartment for sale, to get away from the need to simultaneously work with several software packages at once. And the editor of mathematical formulas, built into a text editor, in this connection looks quite in the spirit of the times.
The most common text editor is Microsoft Word. His name has already become a household word.
The formula editor in Word appeared in version 6.0, which was released for the Windows 3.1 operating shell. Since then, he has received a number of new features. In particular, starting with the version of the editor for Word 2007, a ribbon interface familiar to many appeared in it, and templates of typical mathematical functions were added. Actually, let's dwell on the consideration of this particular version of the editor.
There are two ways to start the formula editor. The first is used when creating a new formula. On the "Insert" tab, click the "Formula" button. If instead of the button, click on the drop-down list to the right of it, then, in addition to creating a new formula from scratch, it will be possible to select one of the predefined templates. The user can create their own standard formulas by adding them to this drop-down list.
The second way to go to the formula editor is to select a ready-made formula with the left mouse button. To the right of the standard tabs, the “Work with Formulas” tab appears, which contains the basic controls that allow you to add mathematical symbols and regular expressions.
A person who is familiar with the described add-in according to old versions of Word is likely to be struck by a 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 whole.
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 also typical, often used options for using these mathematical functions. By choosing such a predefined template, the user can freely change individual characters, add their own mathematical operators. Well, and the choice of mathematical operators and standard expressions is able to satisfy, I think, the most demanding specialist mathematician.
The previous formula editor in Word allowed the user to control the fonts used to display particular 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 indices, etc.), or change the display style of the formula as a whole, choosing from several standard options. The first approach made it possible to customize the appearance of certain elements, but its use was reflected in 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 customize the look of literally every character in the created formula. Moreover, the user does not need to delve into the jungle of managing text styles. It is enough just, being in the editing mode of a mathematical expression, go to the main tab, on which the main elements of text formatting are located, and select either the font, color, design effects for one character, or for a group of characters, or for the formula as a whole. In this case, the size of the formula will automatically change.
Some users will like such an innovation as the ability to cancel actions. Moreover, actions committed with the formula are in the same queue as 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), has become more flexible, on the one hand, and friendlier on the other, allowing him to focus not on formatting text, but on creating mathematical expressions.