mathema

Convert math formulas between LaTeX, MathML, OMML, MTEF, and UnicodeMath via a shared AST. Optionally render to SVG, PNG, or JPEG.

Quick start

use mathema::{convert, Format};

// One-liner conversion
let mathml = convert("x^2 + y^2 = z^2", Format::LaTeX, Format::MathML).unwrap();

// Builder API — parse once, write to multiple formats
let result = mathema::from_latex(r"\frac{1}{2}").unwrap();
let mathml = result.to_mathml().unwrap();
let omml   = result.to_omml().unwrap();
let umath  = result.to_unicode_math().unwrap();

Supported formats

Format	Read	Write
LaTeX	Yes	Yes
MathML	Yes (Presentation + Content)	Yes (Presentation only)
Office MathML (OMML)	Yes	Yes
UnicodeMath	Yes	Yes
MathType (MTEF)	Yes	Yes
SVG	--	Yes (render)
PNG	--	Yes (raster)
JPEG	--	Yes (raster)

MathML note: input accepts both Presentation and Content MathML (Content is lowered to Presentation on read); output emits Presentation MathML only.

CLI

cargo build --release --features raster   # or just --features render for SVG only

# Convert between text formats
mathema convert -f latex -t mathml "x^2"
echo "x^2" | mathema convert -f latex -t omml

# Render to SVG, PNG, or JPEG
mathema render "x^2"                              # SVG to stdout
mathema render --format png -o out.png "x^2"      # PNG (requires raster)
mathema render --format jpeg -o out.jpeg "x^2"    # JPEG (requires raster)
mathema render --font-size 24 --color black "x^2" # custom options

# Validate input
mathema validate -f latex "x^2"

# Batch processing (pass multiple files)
mathema convert -t mathml -o out/ *.tex
mathema render --format png -o out/ *.tex

The --from / -f flag is optional; the format is auto-detected from file extension or content when omitted.

SVG output is self-contained by default: glyph outlines from Latin Modern Math are embedded as <path>/<use> elements, so the SVG renders identically everywhere (no fonts to install). It is rasterized from the same glyph outlines as the PNG/JPEG output and uses the same layout, so the two match closely (pixel-level luminance parity within ~8%, since SVG is rasterized via resvg and PNG/JPEG via tiny-skia).

Format names: latex (tex), mathml (mml), omml, mtef, unicodemath (um), svg, png, jpeg (jpg).

Features

Feature	Description
render	SVG output via a built-in TeX-style layout engine, including standalone SVG with embedded Latin Modern glyph outlines
raster	PNG/JPEG output (implies render)
font-embed	Alias of render (kept for forward compatibility); standalone embedded-outline SVG is already available under render
serde	Serialize / deserialize the AST
wasm	WebAssembly bindings (implies serde)

cargo build --features render          # SVG rendering
cargo build --features raster          # PNG/JPEG rendering
cargo build --features font-embed      # standalone SVG with embedded fonts
cargo build --features "render,serde,wasm"  # all optional features

WASM

Pre-built bindings and an example page live in wasm/. See wasm/README.md for build instructions and usage.

Architecture

Input string ──Reader──▸ MathExpr (AST) ──Writer──▸ Output string
                              │
                         LayoutBox tree ──emit──▸ SVG       (render)
                              │
                         rasterize ──▸ PNG/JPEG             (raster)

The shared AST (MathExpr / MathNode) has 30 node variants covering the union of all supported formats. Readers parse format-specific input into this AST; writers serialize it back out.

The optional render pipeline applies core TeXBook typesetting rules (radicals — Rule 11; accent skew — Rule 12; axis centering — Rule 13a; fractions — Rule 15; sub/superscript positioning — Rules 18a/c–f) to produce positioned layout boxes, then emits them as SVG. The raster feature adds PNG/JPEG rasterization via fontdue + tiny-skia. Standalone SVG embeds glyph <path> outlines for rendering without external fonts; this is available under the render feature (the font-embed feature is currently an alias of render).

License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See LICENSE for details.