WebEQ™ Equation Editor for Macintosh®


About the WebEQ Equation Editor | Top

Note: Depending on administrator settings, this feature may not be available.

The WebEQ Equation Editor allows you to create, view, and edit complex mathematical equations. The equations are encoded in a mark-up language known as MathML (.mml) which can be displayed on the Web. The WebEQ Equation Editor is available from Discussions, Mail, Quiz, and Student Presentations. You can

  • create an equation in Discussions, Mail, Quiz, or Student Presentations.
  • forward a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.
  • quote a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.

Each equation is assigned an ID reference, such as {Equation:id=1, title=}.

Important: To improve response time when using the WebEQ Equation Editor, we recommend that you and your students download the WebEQ Equation Editor plug-in. For more information on the WebEQ Equation Editor, go to the Design Science, Inc. website.

What do you want to do?

Creating equations | Top

You can create an equation and insert it into the following: a Discussions message, a Mail message, your answer to a Quiz question, or a file created in Student Presentations. Each equation is assigned an ID reference, such as {Equation:id=1, title=}. On the WebCT tool screen, the equation is displayed as its ID reference.

  1. In the WebCT tool, click Equation editor. The Equation Editor screen appears.
  2. Create an equation by clicking the icons on the toolbar and entering numerals and operators from your keyboard. Important: To advance the cursor, use the Tab key or your mouse. Do not use the spacebar.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and, in the Title text box, enter a title for the equation.
  4. Click Submit. The Equation Viewer screen appears, displaying the equation.
  5. Click Insert. The WebCT tool screen appears, displaying the equation as its ID reference.

The following is an explanation of the Equation Editor icons:

Icon Explanation
division or fractions
square root
general root
subscript
superscript
sub superscript
underscript
overscript
underoverscript
sum notation
product notation
integral
2x2 matrix
parentheses
cut
copy
paste
undo last action
zoom in
zoom out
insert special characters
WebEQ help

Editing equations | Top

You can edit a previously created equation if you are

  • forwarding a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.
  • quoting a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.
  • editing your answer to a Quiz question containing an equation.
  • editing a file containing an equation in Student Presentations.

Each time you edit an equation, the Equation Editor creates a new equation and assigns it an ID reference, such as {Equation:id=2, title=}. On the WebCT tool screen, the equation is displayed as its ID reference.

  1. From the Equation drop-down list, select the ID reference of the equation you want to edit, such as, Edit equation:[title](id=1)
  2. Click Equation editor. The Equation Editor screen appears, displaying the equation.
  3. Edit the equation by clicking the icons on the toolbar and entering numerals and operators from your keyboard. Important: To advance the cursor, use the Tab key or your mouse. Do not use the spacebar.
  4. When you have finished editing the equation, scroll to the bottom of the screen and, in the Title text box, enter a title for the equation.
  5. Click Submit. The Equation Viewer screen appears, displaying the edited equation.
  6. Click Insert. The WebCT tool screen appears, displaying the ID references for both the original and edited equations.
  7. If you want to display the edited equation only, you must delete the original equation:
    1. From the WebCT tool screen, locate and select the ID reference for the original equation.
    2. On your keyboard, press Delete. The original equation is deleted.

Deleting equations | Top

You can delete an existing equation if you are

  • forwarding a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.
  • quoting a Mail or Discussions message containing an equation.
  • editing your answer to a Quiz question containing an equation.
  • editing a file containing an equation in Student Presentations.
  1. In the WebCT content, locate and select the ID reference for the equation, such as, {Equation:id=1, title=}
  2. On your keyboard, press Delete. The equation is deleted.

Viewing equations | Top

  1. From the Equation drop-down list, select the ID reference of the equation you want to view, such as, Edit equation:[title](id=1)
  2. Click Equation editor. The Equation Editor screen appears, displaying the equation.

Note: If the equation is in a Mail or Discussions message, you can view the equation by clicking Preview from the Mail or Discussions screen.

Changing the equation font size | Top

You can change the font size of an equation. Each time you change the font size of an equation, the Equation Editor assigns it a new ID reference.

  1. From the Equation drop-down list, select the ID reference of the original equation, such as, Edit equation:[title](id=1)
  2. Click Equation editor. The Equation Editor screen appears, displaying the equation.
  3. Click Submit. The Equation Viewer screen appears.
  4. From the Font size drop-down list, select the new font size.
  5. Click Preview. A preview of the equation in the new font size appears.
  6. If you are satisfied with the new font size, click Insert. The WebCT tool screen appears, displaying the ID references for both the original and edited equations.
  7. If you want to display only the equation in the new font size, delete the original equation:
    1. From the WebCT tool screen, locate and select the ID reference for the original equation.
    2. On your keyboard, press Delete. The original equation is deleted.

Changing the Equation Editor size | Top

  1. Click Equation editor. The Equation Editor screen appears.
  2. Click Submit. The Equation Viewer screen appears.
  3. Click either Increase editor size or Decrease editor size.

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