Type math in LaTeX

If you’re used to LaTeX, you can type math that way and Beermat turns it into its own math, drawn and worked out as usual.

A new statement

Press Ctrl+L (⌘L on a Mac), or the TeX button on the toolbar, at an empty spot. A LaTeX box opens at the crosshair. Type, for example:

M = \frac{q L^2}{8}

and press Enter: the box becomes the definition below, and the crosshair moves under it, ready for the next one. Esc closes the box without making anything.

As text

q := 12 kN/m
L := 6 m
M := q L^2/8
M = ?

Open this example · Download .bbm

If the LaTeX can’t be read, the box stays open and says why underneath, so you can fix it.

Change a statement as LaTeX

While you edit a statement, or with a math region selected, Ctrl+L shows it as LaTeX in the box. Change it and press Enter (or Ctrl+L again) to turn it back into math; Esc leaves it as it was. If you change nothing, nothing changes. A unit you asked for on a result (= ? kN·m) is kept, even though the LaTeX doesn’t show it.

Programs can’t be shown or typed as LaTeX yet.

Paste LaTeX

Paste LaTeX wrapped in $…$, $$…$$, \(…\) or \[…\] with Ctrl+V at the crosshair, and it becomes math, as if typed in the box. Copy as LaTeX gives LaTeX that pastes back the same way (Export).

What it reads

LaTeX	Beermat
\frac{a}{b}, a/b, a \div b	A fraction, a division on the line
x^2, x^{n+1}, e^{-x}	Powers
M_{max}, x_1, \sigma_y	Names with a subscript
v_{i+1}, M_{i,j}, v_{[i]}	Indices: an expression, or one name in brackets
\sqrt{x}, \sqrt[3]{x}	Roots
\alpha, \Delta, \pi, \infty	Greek letters and ∞
\sin x, \ln(x), \max(a, b)	Functions, with or without parentheses
a \cdot b, a \times b, 2x, q\,L	Multiplication
\left( … \right), `\left	x \right
\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 \\ 3 & 4 \end{bmatrix}	A matrix (pmatrix too)
\sum_{i=1}^{n} i^2, \prod_{k=1}^{n} k	Sums and products
\int_0^L x^2 \, dx	An integral
\frac{d}{dx} x^3, \frac{d^2}{dx^2} f(x)	Derivatives
12\,\mathrm{kN}, 12 kN, 20^{\circ}C	Units
\le, \ge, \ne, <, >	Comparisons
x^2 + 1 \to	A symbolic result
\mathit{width}, \mathrm{P}, \mathbf{F}	One long name, an upright name, a bold name
1.5 \times 10^{-3}	A number, 1.5e-3

How it reads, as LaTeX draws

• Letters side by side are multiplied, as LaTeX shows them: qL is q·L. Letters that name a unit or a built-in function stay together: kN, mm, max. For a variable with a longer name, write \mathit{width}.
• = with a name on its left defines it: x = 5 is the definition x := 5, and so is f(x) = x^2. x = with nothing after it shows x’s value. With more on the left, as in a + b = 10, it is a constraint for a solve block. :=, \coloneqq and \equiv (a global definition) work too.
• A subscript of letters or digits is part of the name (M_{max}, x_1), as it usually is in LaTeX. To index an array by a name, put it in brackets: v_{[i]}.