OpenOffice 3.0 test drive: Math

This post illustrates some features of OpenOffice Math, a powerful tool, part of OpenOffice 3.0 Suite, for creating and editing mathematical formulas, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor.

First impression
Math UI is intuitive and essential. It consists of two main sections: Formula preview panel (1), Formula code panel (2):

... and Selection windows (3) which contains a set of math elements ready to use in your formulas.

Writing formulas
Writing formulas with Math is very simple. For adding new elements (relations, functions, operators, brackets...) you have to choose an element from Selection window:

...and customize it adding required parameters. You can also write directly the code in the Formula code panel (2). This is an example of the code I used to write my formula:

int from {a} to {b} {f(x)dx}`=` lim from{{e} toward {0}}int from {a} to {b-e}f(x)dx

...and this is the result in the preview panel:

Nice! Now, you can save your formula in ODF format and import it in other OpenOffice documents:

Import formulas into OpenOffice Writer
Math is fully integrated in Writer (the OpenOffice 3.0 text processor). For importing formulas which you created with Math into Writer select Insert > Object > OLE Object:

...and select the path of the formula previously saved which will be added as Object on your text document:

If you prefer you can write a new formula directly in Writer, from a text document simply selecting Insert > Object > Formula.

After all, Math is a great tool for editing simple or complex mathematical formulas using OpenOffice and obtaining professional results on your documents, absolutely to try!

External links
For more info about OpenOffice 3.0 take a look at the official web site.
For more info about Open Office Math take a look here.