Re: [PATCH] Don't fill displayed equations

[Nicolas Goaziou <mail@nicolasgoaziou.fr>]

Hello,

Stefan Nobis <stefan-ml@snobis.de> writes:

> I wonder, why it is not a block element. As far as I know, the only
> difference (even in the context of Org) between \(...\) and \[...\]
> is, that the former denotes inline math and the latter denotes a math
> block. And at least exporting to HTML (with MathJax) and LaTeX results
> in a block equation for \[...\].

That's not true. Only some export back-ends can tell the difference
between \(...\) and \[...\], so in the context of Org, they are the
same.

> Do you have a short summary or a pointer why \[...\] has been choosen
> to be an inline element? 

Yes: habit. Also, I don't think LaTeX treats it as a block element.
E.g.,

    text
    \[1+1=3\]
    text

is a single paragraph in LaTeX.

> What's the advantage or what would be the downside of making it
> a block element?

If it's a block element, you cannot write \[...\] mid-line. Such
constructs must start at the beginning of the line, barring some initial
indentation. Also, they would end the current paragraph, so the example
above would generate three paragraphs.

The advantage, at least for some users, is that they are not subjects to
filling, and can contain empty lines. This is already provided by
\begin{equation*}...\end{equation*} LaTeX environments.

Regards,
-- 
Nicolas Goaziou