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Re: SUO: Web-based ontology browsers


Robert,

I use HTML for all my mathematical writing.  I type the HTML tags
directly into a plain ASCII editor, but anyone who prefers WYSIWYG
can use Netscape Composer, which generates good HTML output.

For math symbols, I use the SGML/HTML/XML symbols: ∃ ∀
→ etc.  But instead of using special fonts, I run a little Python
program that converts the symbols to load appropriate .gif images.
For example, ∃ loads the file @exist.gif, which is only 97 bytes
in size.  If you have multiple occurrences of any symbol, it is only
downloaded once.

For examples, see my tutorial on math and logic:

    http://www.jfsowa.com/logic/math.htm

All those special symbols are implemented as .gif files.  I plan to put
the Python program on my web site, so you can just run it to translate
the symbols like ∃ to the appropriate files.

Another useful point:  The Python program also inserts an alt tag
with each symbol so that anyone who forgets what a symbol means
can move the mouse to the symbol to get a reminder.  The alt tag
for @exist.gif is "there exists".  That can be useful for readers
who feel uncomfortable with lots of new symbols.

John Sowa