Manual:Mathoid

Group:	Wikimedia Engineering
Team members:	Wikimedia Services
Lead:	no lead

Mathoid is an application used by Extension:Math to convert various forms of math input to MathML + SVG or PNG output.

Warning:

Mathoid is no longer actively developed in favor of Native MathML mode. It will eventually be discontinued.

Getting started

Mathoid is a web service implemented using Node.js, often referred to simply as node.

Mathoid setup

MediaWiki-vagrant

Install MediaWiki vagrant and run

vagrant roles enable mathoid && sudo vagrant provision

NPM package (Debian Jessie)

Debian Jessie has been superseded by Debian Stretch. Jessie by default uses PHP 5.6 which is no longer supported as of MediaWiki 1.31+.

sudo apt-get install nodejs nodejs-legacy nodejs-dev npm librsvg2-dev pkg-config git g++
git clone https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/repos/mediawiki/services/mathoid.git
cd mathoid
npm install
screen
nohup node server.js

If you want to run npm test you'll need to install the mocha package.

NPM package (Debian Stretch)

Note: npm is not in the Debian Stretch repositories. Mathoid has been tested under nodejs version 10. It fails in the latest nodejs version (v12)

sudo apt-get install nodejs nodejs-legacy nodejs-dev npm librsvg2-dev pkg-config git g++
mkdir -p ~/git
cd ~/git
git clone https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/repos/mediawiki/services/mathoid.git
cd mathoid
npm install
cp config.prod.yaml config.yaml
# edit the config.yaml file to your convenience.
vim config.yaml

If you want to run npm test you'll need to install the mocha package.

To setup mathoid to run as a standalone daemon and start automatically, move the folder to a system folder, and create a "mathoid" user to run the daemon as:

sudo useradd --home=/var/lib/mathoid -M --user-group --system --shell=/usr/sbin/nologin -c "Mathoid for MediaWiki" mathoid
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/mathoid
sudo chown mathoid:mathoid /var/lib/mathoid

sudo mv ~/git/mathoid /usr/local/lib/mathoid
sudo chown -R root:root /usr/local/lib/mathoid

Create a /etc/systemd/system/mathoid.service file with the following content:

[Unit]
Description=MediaWiki Mathoid Service
Documentation=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mathoid
Wants=local-fs.target network.target
After=local-fs.target network.target

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=mathoid
Group=mathoid
WorkingDirectory=/usr/local/lib/mathoid
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /usr/local/lib/mathoid/server.js
KillMode=process
Restart=on-success
Nice=10
OOMScoreAdjust=900
PrivateTmp=true
StandardOutput=syslog

And then enable and start the service with the following commands:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable mathoid
sudo systemctl start mathoid
sudo systemctl status mathoid

NPM package (CentOS 7)

# install dependencies
sudo yum install -y epel-release
sudo yum install -y nodejs npm mocha librsvg2-devel pkgconfig git
sudo yum groupinstall -y 'Development Tools'

# put Mathoid in /etc or wherever else
cd /etc
sudo git clone https://github.com/wikimedia/mathoid
cd mathoid

# npm install and test
sudo npm install 
npm test

# Run server. Or use screen and nohup to run in background 
node server.js

Trouble shooting with CentOS 6.

If you have C++11 related error, install upgraded gcc.

# install upgraded gcc
sudo yum -y install centos-release-scl
sudo yum -y install devtoolset-3-toolchain

use new gcc. (you can back to old gcc with exit.)

# new shell with devtoolset-3
scl enable devtoolset-3 bash 
# you can verify gcc version with "gcc --version"

If you got error about CAIRO_FORMAT_INVALID, edit cairo.h in /usr/include/cairo/cairo.h like below.

/* /usr/include/cairo/cairo.h */  
 typedef enum _cairo_format {
     CAIRO_FORMAT_INVALID   = -1,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32    = 0,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24     = 1,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_A8        = 2,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_A1        = 3,
     //CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 = 4,
 } cairo_format_t;

/* comment out below */
// typedef enum _cairo_format {
//    CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32,
//    CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24,
//    CAIRO_FORMAT_A8,
//    CAIRO_FORMAT_A1
    /* The value of 4 is reserved by a deprecated enum value.
     * The next format added must have an explicit value of 5.
//    CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 = 4,
    */
//} cairo_format_t;

Ubuntu package (unmaintained)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:physikerwelt/mathoid
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mathoid

Scientific Linux 7.2

Instructions based on SL 7.2 minimal install. Should be the same for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS and clones. Important install latest Mathoid version, at time of writing 0.6.3 and corresponding node.js version, at time of writing 4.x LTS branch. Especially VM/Server needs direct internet connection during installation. Internet access via proxy did not work. Using node.js from repository did not work for Debian 8.5, Ubuntu 16.4, Ubuntu 14.4, Fedora 24 alpha and SL7 + EPEL.

First install prerequisites

Run the following as root. Disable SL7 fastbug repo (optional).

yum -y update
yum -y install gcc-c++ make epel-release librsvg2-devel git

Install Node.js and Mathoid

Run the following as root. Get node.js repo from nodesource. Note one may want to first save and inspect the script before executing it as root.

curl -sL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_4.x | bash -
yum -y install nodejs

Switch to user account

git config --get remote.origin.url
npm install mathoid@0.6.3
cd node_modules/mathoid
cp config.dev.yaml config.yaml
vi config.yaml # configure as needed

Test

To test run Mathoid as user with

./server.js
Ctrl + C # to end

Update firewall, setup security (e.g. SELINUX), setup to run as service, proxy server to access internet, etc... One should be able to install mocha through npm, if one wants.

LocalSettings.php

Config of LocalSettings.php in MediaWiki root directory.

wfLoadExtension( 'Math' );
$wgMathValidModes[] = 'mathml';
$wgDefaultUserOptions['math'] = 'mathml';
$wgMathMathMLUrl = 'http://12.23.34.45:10042/'; # IP of Mathoid server

Configuring

Check if the symlink config.yaml points either to config.prod.yaml or config.dev.yaml The settings should be self-explaining. Important is the port. Note that the port is different depending if you use config.prod.yaml (10042) or config.dev.yaml (10044).

Check the mwapi_req: section and change the uri: parameter to point to your api endpoint.

Check the restbase_req: section and change the uri: parameter to point to your RESTBase endpoint.

Performance

With speech support, performance may be terrible, if there are many complex equations. you can turn off speech support.

speech: false

Testing

After installation you can test your installation via

 curl -d 'q=E=mc^2' localhost:10042

the expected output is:

{"mml":"<math xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML\" display=\"block\" alttext=\"upper E equals m c squared\">\n  <mi>E</mi>\n  <mo>=</mo>\n  <mi>m</mi>\n  <msup>\n    <mi>c</mi>\n    <mrow class=\"MJX-TeXAtom-ORD\">\n      <mn>2</mn>\n    </mrow>\n  </msup>\n</math>","speakText":"upper E equals m c squared","svg":"<?xml version=\"1.0\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN\" \"http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd\">\n<svg xmlns:xlink=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink\" style=\"vertical-align: -0.167ex; \" width=\"9ex\" height=\"2.167ex\" viewBox=\"0 -904.8 3885.6 940.8\" xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\" role=\"math\" aria-labelledby=\"MathJax-SVG-1-Title MathJax-SVG-1-Desc\">\n<title id=\"MathJax-SVG-1-Title\">Equation</title>\n<desc id=\"MathJax-SVG-1-Desc\">upper E equals m c squared</desc>\n<defs aria-hidden=\"true\">\n<path stroke-width=\"10\" id=\"E1-MJMATHI-45\" d=\"M492 213Q472 213 472 226Q472 230 477 250T482 285Q482 316 461 323T364 330H312Q311 328 277 192T243 52Q243 48 254 48T334 46Q428 46 458 48T518 61Q567 77 599 117T670 248Q680 270 683 272Q690 274 698 274Q718 274 718 261Q613 7 608 2Q605 0 322 0H133Q31 0 31 11Q31 13 34 25Q38 41 42 43T65 46Q92 46 125 49Q139 52 144 61Q146 66 215 342T285 622Q285 629 281 629Q273 632 228 634H197Q191 640 191 642T193 659Q197 676 203 680H757Q764 676 764 669Q764 664 751 557T737 447Q735 440 717 440H705Q698 445 698 453L701 476Q704 500 704 528Q704 558 697 578T678 609T643 625T596 632T532 634H485Q397 633 392 631Q388 629 386 622Q385 619 355 499T324 377Q347 376 372 376H398Q464 376 489 391T534 472Q538 488 540 490T557 493Q562 493 565 493T570 492T572 491T574 487T577 483L544 351Q511 218 508 216Q505 213 492 213Z\"></path>\n<path stroke-width=\"10\" id=\"E1-MJMAIN-3D\" d=\"M56 347Q56 360 70 367H707Q722 359 722 347Q722 336 708 328L390 327H72Q56 332 56 347ZM56 153Q56 168 72 173H708Q722 163 722 153Q722 140 707 133H70Q56 140 56 153Z\"></path>\n<path stroke-width=\"10\" id=\"E1-MJMATHI-6D\" d=\"M21 287Q22 293 24 303T36 341T56 388T88 425T132 442T175 435T205 417T221 395T229 376L231 369Q231 367 232 367L243 378Q303 442 384 442Q401 442 415 440T441 433T460 423T475 411T485 398T493 385T497 373T500 364T502 357L510 367Q573 442 659 442Q713 442 746 415T780 336Q780 285 742 178T704 50Q705 36 709 31T724 26Q752 26 776 56T815 138Q818 149 821 151T837 153Q857 153 857 145Q857 144 853 130Q845 101 831 73T785 17T716 -10Q669 -10 648 17T627 73Q627 92 663 193T700 345Q700 404 656 404H651Q565 404 506 303L499 291L466 157Q433 26 428 16Q415 -11 385 -11Q372 -11 364 -4T353 8T350 18Q350 29 384 161L420 307Q423 322 423 345Q423 404 379 404H374Q288 404 229 303L222 291L189 157Q156 26 151 16Q138 -11 108 -11Q95 -11 87 -5T76 7T74 17Q74 30 112 181Q151 335 151 342Q154 357 154 369Q154 405 129 405Q107 405 92 377T69 316T57 280Q55 278 41 278H27Q21 284 21 287Z\"></path>\n<path stroke-width=\"10\" id=\"E1-MJMATHI-63\" d=\"M34 159Q34 268 120 355T306 442Q362 442 394 418T427 355Q427 326 408 306T360 285Q341 285 330 295T319 325T330 359T352 380T366 386H367Q367 388 361 392T340 400T306 404Q276 404 249 390Q228 381 206 359Q162 315 142 235T121 119Q121 73 147 50Q169 26 205 26H209Q321 26 394 111Q403 121 406 121Q410 121 419 112T429 98T420 83T391 55T346 25T282 0T202 -11Q127 -11 81 37T34 159Z\"></path>\n<path stroke-width=\"10\" id=\"E1-MJMAIN-32\" d=\"M109 429Q82 429 66 447T50 491Q50 562 103 614T235 666Q326 666 387 610T449 465Q449 422 429 383T381 315T301 241Q265 210 201 149L142 93L218 92Q375 92 385 97Q392 99 409 186V189H449V186Q448 183 436 95T421 3V0H50V19V31Q50 38 56 46T86 81Q115 113 136 137Q145 147 170 174T204 211T233 244T261 278T284 308T305 340T320 369T333 401T340 431T343 464Q343 527 309 573T212 619Q179 619 154 602T119 569T109 550Q109 549 114 549Q132 549 151 535T170 489Q170 464 154 447T109 429Z\"></path>\n</defs>\n<g stroke=\"currentColor\" fill=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"0\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 -1 0 0)\" aria-hidden=\"true\">\n <use xlink:href=\"#E1-MJMATHI-45\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"></use>\n <use xlink:href=\"#E1-MJMAIN-3D\" x=\"1046\" y=\"0\"></use>\n <use xlink:href=\"#E1-MJMATHI-6D\" x=\"2107\" y=\"0\"></use>\n<g transform=\"translate(2990,0)\">\n <use xlink:href=\"#E1-MJMATHI-63\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"></use>\n <use transform=\"scale(0.707)\" xlink:href=\"#E1-MJMAIN-32\" x=\"619\" y=\"583\"></use>\n</g>\n</g>\n</svg>","img":"<img src=\"file.svg\" style=\"vertical-align: -0.167ex; margin-left: 0ex; margin-right: 0ex; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-top: 1px; width:9ex; height:2.167ex;\" alt=\"upper E equals m c squared\" />","success":true,"log":"success","sanetex":"E=mc^{2}"}

you can use the option type=mml for mathml input.

Credits for

Gabriel Wicke
Frédéric Wang
Anton Grbin
Davide P. Cervone
Marko Obrovac

Troubleshooting

app.js is not found

in the config file change services->mathoid->module from app.js to mathoid/app.js

Development

Code review happens in Gerrit. See Gerrit/Getting started and ping the parsoid team in #mediawiki-parsoid ^connect.

The most recent development version is available from

https://gitlab.wikimedia.org/repos/mediawiki/services/mathoid

MathOnWikipedia meeting

Improving the rendering of chemical formulae (slide deck)