Read Me First…

LaTeX is processed ‘off device’. This means that your LaTeX snippets are sent (securely) over the internet to my server where they are converted into images and returned to your device. This means I can see your LaTeX (but not the rest of your map.) I don’t store or share your LaTeX snippets.

Obviously this is a bit of a privacy issue. For that reason, LaTeX support is disabled by default. If you’re happy to trust me, then you can enable LaTeX support in Settings on iOS/Windows and in the Preferences on Mac. If you don’t trust me then you can setup your own server to process the LaTeX snippets (email me and I’ll explain how.)

LaTeX

LaTeX is a ‘typesetting language’ - see https://www.latex-project.org

It’s often used to describe mathematical equations in a way that you’d like to see them in print. For example, the following LaTeX snippet…


F(y) &= \int^a_b \frac{1}{3}x^3


…will result in the following representation ‘on screen’.

If you’d like to see more of what’s possible (with LaTeX) then take a look at https://latex.js.org/playground.html

iThoughts supports LaTeX within the topic and note text. To indicate that the text should be interpreted as LaTeX you should place a $$ before and after the text. The following screenshot shows the topic text being edited on the left and the resultant topic (on the right) when editing is complete.

A topic can only contain one snippet of LaTeX but the notes field can contain any number of LaTeX snippets (as below)

Tables

The example above contains a table. It’s a bit long winded - but it can be achieved using LaTeX as below:

That’s a lot of typing!

Most of the text in the LaTeX above is ‘template’ stuff. To make it quicker and easier to enter it, you can start editing some text then:

  • On Mac, choose Text -> LaTeX menu option

  • On Windows, right click on text and choose LaTeX menu option

  • On iOS, tap on the ‘A’ button just above the screen keyboard on the right (or choose BIU from the popup menu)

This will insert ‘template’ LaTeX. You can define what the template is in the Settings on iOS/Windows and in the Preferences on Mac.



How Does It Work?

Converting LaTeX into something that can be displayed (i.e. an image) is a complex process. Many tools have already been developed to perform this magic. Unfortunately, it’s not really possible to integrate those tools within iThoughts itself so instead it calls out to the internet to get the LaTeX converted into an image. The image is then embedded into the topic (or note) like any other image.

toketaWare provides a secure server on the internet to perform the LaTeX to image conversion. This is used by default. This means an internet connection is required.

NB: The ‘text’ is actually an image - so you can’t copy/paste bits of it and it won’t adapt in terms of size and color like ‘proper’ text would.