LaTeX code can be added to the description of topics, questions and answers to represent mathematical formulas, tables or graphs. For example:
[tex]
\begin{displaymath}
\mathop{\mathrm{corr}}(X,Y)=
\frac{\displaystyle
\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\overline x)
(y_i-\overline y)}
{\displaystyle\biggl[
\sum_{i=1}^n(x_i-\overline x)^2
\sum_{i=1}^n(y_i-\overline y)^2
\biggr]^{1/2}}
\end{displaymath}
[/tex]
The TCExam LaTeX renderer converts the code to a PNG image that is cached in the cache/ folder
and reused for later calls with the same code.
Requirements
LaTeX rendering requires the following additional software to be installed on the server:
- LaTeX — https://www.latex-project.org/ or https://tug.org/texlive/ (on Windows, MiKTeX is a good option);
- ImageMagick — https://imagemagick.org/ .
Configuration
Edit shared/config/tce_latex.php (shipped as shared/config.default/tce_latex.php) to match
your system. The relevant constants include:
| Constant | Purpose |
|---|---|
K_LATEX_PATH_CONVERT | path to the ImageMagick convert (or magick) binary |
K_LATEX_PDFLATEX | path to the pdflatex (LaTeX) binary |
K_LATEX_FONT_SIZE | font size in points (default 10) |
K_LATEX_CLASS | LaTeX document class (default article) |
K_LATEX_FORMULA_DENSITY | output image density / DPI |
K_LATEX_MAX_WIDTH / K_LATEX_MAX_HEIGHT | maximum rendered image dimensions |
K_LATEX_IMG_FORMAT | output image format (default png) |
To find executable paths on Linux, use which pdflatex and which convert. On Windows, use
dir /x to find the short (DOS) path to the executables. The renderer implementation lives in
shared/code/tce_latexrender.php.
Notes
Debugging. To see raw errors while diagnosing problems, temporarily comment out the error-handler registration in
shared/code/tce_functions_errmsg.php://$old_error_handler = set_error_handler('F_error_handler', K_ERROR_TYPES);Font sizes. The default document class (
article) only supports 10, 11 and 12 pt font sizes. For smaller or larger fonts, install theextsizespackage from CTAN , refresh the TeX database (texhash, or MiKTeX Options → Refresh Now on Windows), then setK_LATEX_FONT_SIZEinshared/config/tce_latex.phpaccordingly.Multi-line environments. You can build equation arrays and other
\begin{…}blocks by prefacing them with two newlines.Display style. Render formulae in display style with
\displaystyle.Per-formula sizing. Even with a default size set, you can resize a single formula with
\mbox, e.g.\mbox{\huge\sqrt{2}}or\mbox{\footnotesize\sqrt{2}}.