More LaTex Support

FX Equation is progressively adding the ability to handle LaTex commands.

Pasting LaTex Into FX Equation

If you copy LaTex commands onto your clipboard they will be automatically transformed if you then paste them into FX Equation. This allows you to quickly transform LaTex equations into FX Equation equations.

To use this feature, select and copy the LaTex commands.

\dfrac{d}{dx}(\sin x)\approx \dfrac{\sin (x+0.01)-\sin x}{0.01}

and paste this directly into FX Equation

LaTex Command Support

We have also added support for the direct use of some LaTex commands. This allows you, for example, to type something like A \cup B and FX Equation will automatically replace the \cup command with a union sign.

Using LaTex symbols is a user selectable option.

New Grid Formatting Option (and New Alignment Type)

We have introduced a new way to format grids, using a LaTex style formatting string. The new system allows you to control the horizontal alignment of each column individually as well as allowing full control over the lines on the grid.

grid(opt(|C|NNN|RL01) … data goes here)

In this example, we are formatting the grid using the string

|C|NNN|RL01

Some of this string will be familiar to users of LaTex and some will not. First up, lets look at a slightly different string that would be understood by LaTex

|C|RL|

This string determines the horizontal alignment of three columns (Centered, Right aligned and Left aligned) and three vertical bars show where lines should be drawn on the grid. This formatting string would allow you to produce this grid.

Note that the first column is centered, the second column is right aligned and the third column is left aligned – with lines in the appropriate positions.

Efofex Extensions

We have extended the LaTex standard in two ways:

• We have added a N(umber) alignment option
• We have added the ability to mark horizontal lines.

Number Alignment

Number alignment aligns the decimal points of numbers.

Marking Horizontal Lines

Each row can be marked with 0, 1 or 2 lines, so 0211 will produce the following horizontal lines

You can also use – for single lines and = for double lines. This means that the grid above could be defined by 0=– if you wish.

New Vertical Centering Option for Grids/Tables/Matrices

We have added a new vertical centering option to grids/tables and matrices.

Previous versions always aligned to the natural baseline of the content.

The new setting will centre the content in the cell.

Change To Matrix/Grid/Table Entry

We have implemented a change which brings our matrix entry system into line with LaTex, as well as saving some keystrokes.

From V23.12.5, you can now mark the end of a cell with a single ampersand, rather than a double.

table(1&2&3\\4&5&6) instead of table(1&&2&&3\\4&&5&&6)

Any table/grid/matrix you have created with the old, double ampersand system will still render correctly.

New LabelMatrix Command

We have added a new command, lablematrix, to produce output such as the following.

You can find more details in our online help.

You can combine the new commands with a grid to produce output such as this…

gridc(&”Output”\\”Input”&labelmatrix(&A&B&C\\A&1&2&3\\B&4&5&6\\C&9&8&7)

Please note that we have introduced vertical centering and a new way of marking cells in this release.

MacOS Sonoma Security Annoyance

The recent release of Sonoma has lead to an annoying, security related issue.

MacOS is (rightfully) very security and privacy focussed. Whenever we release a new version of a product, users will be asked this question the first time they run the product.

Users will see this with many products and they are used to answering the question – once.

Another feature that MacOS uses for security is “sandboxed” data. This means that products (like Word) can create a data storage location that only it can access. As we need to interact with Word at quite a deep level, we need access to this location. This is something that the user will also be asked to allow.

The annoying aspect of Sonoma is that it asks this question every time the app is opened and it does not remember your previous response.

This change does not impact the use of our products – if you allow the access, they can do their job. We just wish that you were not asked every time.

Important Notes:

• This change affects a lot of software products, not just us.
• There is nothing we can do to mitigate this change. We are completely at the mercy of Apple.
• The issue has been reported to Apple by many developers and we anticipate that it will be addressed in future releases of MacOS. Having said that, Apple may just choose to keep it.
• The change does not impact on the effective use of our products, it is just annoying.

We will keep you informed of any changes in the future.

Online Backup Now Off By Default

Current versions of our products no longer upload copies of your graphics to our servers for backup. This should have no impact on your use of Efofex products. If you mostly use our products in Microsoft Word, you can safely ignore the rest of this post.

For the last decade, our products have been backing up your graphics to our servers (if possible). This was done for two reasons:

1. It provided a backup of your work.
2. It made it easier to use our products in a cross-platform way as it allowed for easier movement of graphics between Windows and Mac machines.

Over the last few years, this feature has become significantly less valuable for two reasons:

1. If you are using MultiDocs or Classic Mode in Word, your data is now stored within the document and does not require “backing up”.
2. School security policies have prevented the system from operating at all in many school situations.

As the feature is no longer central to our products, and was causing some issues in school situations, we have now decided to turn it off by default. For the vast majority of our users, this will have NO IMPACT on their use of our products and you are unlikely to even notice the change.

If your workflow still requires you to use the online backups, you can turn it on by choosing Preferences from the Tools menu and going to the Advanced tab.

Place a check mark in Allow Online Data Backup and the system will operate as it has in the past.

Root Certificate Revocation

A high level root certificate has recently been revoked on Windows machines. This is an old certificate, so it does NOT affect any recent versions, but downloads of some old versions (specifically FX Draw 5) may not work on current computers. Efofex has no way of rectifying this issue as it is due to certificate from a certificating authority.

If you are a current subscriber, you can ignore this issue. Just make that you are using a reasonably up-to-date version. This issue only affects downloads which were released approximately 10 years ago.

If you still use one of the old, affected versions of our products (especially FX Draw 5), you may be forced to upgrade to a newer version.

Using Parameters in Statistical Graphs

We recently included a new (and much simpler) way of using data parameters to draw statistical graphs. You can now use parameters in statistical graphs using formulas.

For example, if you create a data parameter using randnormal…

$p = randnormal(50,10,25)

This will create a data parameter containing 25 values which come from a normally distributed population with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10.

We can use this data parameter in a statistical graph by going to a cell in a column and right-clicking – then choosing Edit/Set Formula

The formula window will appear and we enter $p

The data in $p will fill column A and can then be used to draw a graph. The data will be updated every time we regenerate.

PrimeFactors and PrimeFactorString Commands

The inline calculator has two new commands that calculator prime factors. The primefactors command returns a list of NUMBERS which you can access individually. The primefactorstring command creates a string that you can output directly.

{primefactorstring(75)} will produce…

whereas primefactors(75) will give you access to the individual prime factors which can be used in further calculations.

The full description of the commands can be found here:

PrimeFactorString Command
PrimeFactors Command