I was watching the getting started with Monarch, and in the word processor section there was
a command with m to enter math mode
an eds to show math had started (Nemeth)
and another random ed signal when it ended
Why are the Nemeth start and Nemeth close indicators from braille (456, sh / 456wh) not used in these positions? Since Nemeth in UEB Context needs switch indicators anyway?
Hello Sarah Elizabeth,
This is a very good observation and question. Let me see if I can clarify this for you. I believe you understand why there needs to be indicators for math in a literary document. On the Monarch, the “ed” sign with “ms” at the beginning represents “math start” and “ed” and “me” for “math end”. Your question about why Monarch does not use the Nemeth indicators is because not all Monarch users use Nemeth. A growing number of individuals are using UEB math, so the Nemeth indicators would not apply here. And since the user sets their math input/output preferences in the options menu, the code is predetermined by the user.
but the Nemeth users are lacking the Nemeth start at stop indicators when switching codes, which is the UEB requirement. I would suggest, that when a document is displaying in Nemeth, the Nemeth indicators should be there in leiu of ms or me, as the device knows which it’s displaying, and could use the braille native display option.
I think it’s one of the reasons Nemeth is so much more elegant than UEB technical. It respects the structure of equations, and thus very much handles equations how a computer would. It feels like defeating the elegance of a system that is already well aligned to be used with computers.