[WISH] Latex WYSIWYG

[Sebastian Berchtold <Sebastian.Berchtold@campus.lmu.de>]

Hi, my first post here: So big shout outs to all org-mode hackers. Great Stuff!

There is one feature I'd really like to have, but i couldn't find anything that does what i want. I guess it's just a small hack, but with my retarded elisp skills it would take me days to implement it.

WYSIWYG Latex is probably not the correct term for this. What i have in mind is more like seeing the formula, while editing the ASCII/Unicode representation.
I'll try to explain the idea more detailed.

* Reason of Request:

** Finding Errors
There is no avoiding mistakes for me when writing latex formulas and i just take note of them after recognizing that the image can't be rendered. For longer formulas it can be quite annoying and time consuming finding the errors and I sometimes end up splitting to the math-environment to several parts when trying to locate.

** Importance of seeing the equations while writing 
Hey, latex formulas are much more pleasant to the eye and striking in the brain than their ASCII representation, that's why we're using em. When developing a train of thought in formulas, I always need to see what I've written so far. So I feel forced to to split the math-environments into many small parts, and putting them together after wards. 
Or even worse when i loose track: I need to copy the line I'm writing on and push org-preview-latex-fragment before i can go on.

** Summarizing
I write a bit, hit preview-latex-fragment and copy it to keep it in mind while writing on.

Surely everyone using org-mode for heavily formula dependent text has the same problem.
I would be glad for every hint to avoid this, probably there are already good solutions for this.
In the following the one i imagine:


* Description of the feature wished
- Keep all latex-fragments in image representation
- Only the one at cursor position is in ASCII representation (as in preview-latex)
  but still showing the corresponding image above it
- editing the latex code segment updates the image

Rephrased:
When the caret enters a latex environment (usually shown as a picture) it's code shows up (maybe in a different color) with the caret at the position as if there would have never been an image. 

Maybe the code should be should be shown aboveHi, my first post here: So big shoutouts to all org-mode hackers. Great Stuff!
There is one feature i'd really like to have, but i couldn't find anything that does what i want. I guess it's just a small hack, but with my retarded elisp skills it would take me days to implement it.

WYSIWYG Latex is probably not the correct term for this. What i have in mind is more like seeing the formula, while editing the ASCII/Unicode representation.
I'll try to explain the idea more detailed below.

* Reason of Request:
** Finding Errors
There is no avoding mistakes for me when writing latex formulas and i just take note of them after recognizing that the image can't be rendered. For longer formulas it can be quite annoying and time consuming finding the errors and I sometimes end up splitting to the math-environment to several parts when trying to locate.

** Importance of seeing the equations while writing 
Hey, latex formulas are much more pleasant to the eye and striking in the brain than their ASCII represenation, that's why we're using em. When devoloping a train of thought in formulas, I always need need to see what I've written so far. So I feel forced to to split the math-environments into many small parts, and putting them together afterwards. Or even worse when i loose track: I need to copy the line I'm writing on and push org-preview-latex-fragment before i can go on.

** Summarizing
I write a bit, hit preview-latex-fragment and copy it to keep it in mind while writing on.

Surley everyone using org-mode for heavly formula dependent text has the same problem.
I would be glad for every hint to avoid this, probably there are already good solutions for this.
In the following the one i imagine:




* Description of the feature wished
- Keep all latex-fragments in image represenation
- Only the one at cursor position is in ASCII representation (as in preview-latex)
  but still showing the corresponding image above it
- editing the latex code segment updates the image

Rephrased:
When the caret enters a latex environment (usually shown as a picture) it's code shows up (maybe in a diffrent color) with the caret at the position as if there would have never been an image. 

Maybe the code should be should be shown below/above the the corresponding image wheather the carret enters from the top/bottom to avoid jumping of the image at focus (if this doesn't lead to more confusion than it helps)



It shouldn't be to hard to do? Just auto evaluate the latex snippets and showing it's code when the cursor is above it.
Could any elisp crack who's already into the org-latex code hack this?
Or are there already better solutions?

Thank you for any response,
JonnyB.


Another question: Is there a simple way to activate latex syntax highlighting in org-mode?)