MathML formatting with TEX rules , TEX fonts , and TEX quality ∗

In this paper we investigate the architecture of a MathML formatting engine based on an abstraction of the TEX box primitives. This engine is carefully designed so that the TEX-dependent formatting rules are isolated from the independent ones and is capable of achieving TEX-comparable output quality when used in conjunction with TEX fonts. We show how the formatting rules presented in Appendix G of the TEXbook can be easily adapted for MathML formatting, and how the semantically-rich MathML markup simplifies the rules themselves.