Talk:Comparison of TeX editors

I started this table (inspired by the wikimatrix) and I hope others will help populate it. And correct any mistakes etc. Hopefully people will find it useful too. Thanks. Simplifix (talk) 23:15, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

Nice. I added a row for Editing Style. It may be that it makes more sense to have a separate table for WYSIWYM editors, but I haven't used LyX enough to be the person to create one. Theodore.norvell (talk) 12:14, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

I tried to fill in the Scientific Workplace column. I found some of the rows need more explanation.
 * configurable There are many ways an editor could be configurable. E.g. in Scientific Workplace there are 2 kinds of keyboard macros and you can configure the meaning of the function keys, not to mention being able to configure the WYSIWYM display, so I supposed it to be configurable.
 * inverse search I know what this means, but many would not. (Perhaps I should fix this my self.)
 * intelligent error handling What does this mean? (The word intelligent is really over used in computing. Perhaps there is a more meaningful phrase that would do better.)
 * parenthesis matching Matching braces isn't relevant to WYSIWYM editors. Likewise (largely) for matching \begin and \end. Scientific Workplace treats blocks defined by \left and \right as single objects for the purpose of selection (and also some blocks defined by \begin and \end, for example arrays), so I put "yes". Theodore.norvell (talk) 12:14, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for everyone's contributions. A couple of comments: Simplifix (talk) 21:57, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
 * configurable indeed there are many ways an editor could be configurable, and if someone would like to think of a few, we could make a few rows on configurability into a separate table (on the same page)
 * parenthesis matching while I was mostly thinking of braces in writing latex code {...}, how many times has one seen things like f(sin(x), with a missing (or extra) close parenthesis for example, and parenthesis matching helps pick that up too.
 * By intelligent error handling I really meant the ability to find the error in the latex file. And to walk through the errors in the file (with a next error button), but if anyone has strong feelings on this one I don't!

Are there any MeWa users who can add info for it? PuerExMachina (talk) 04:29, 31 December 2009 (UTC)

Should the table be flipped to match other comparison pages for software, with the software on the left and the features along the top. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.77.48.236 (talk) 06:38, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

How do you define "integrated viewer"? Do you just mean previews? For instance, eclipse has a preview option, but it uses external viewers for that. Thus should it be a "No" for eclipse? Sendrullis (talk) 16:55, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

The sorting of some rows does not work. E. g. when I tried to sort the editors by "Costs", I was not able to relocate the category "Free" at the first position. I will be glad if someone with a greater knowledge than me knows how to fix this. Thank you! Anonymouse — Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.149.73.152 (talk) 17:49, 12 January 2015 (UTC)

Missing software

 * GNU TeXmacs. Someone can fill in a row about it? 190.50.97.120 (talk) 19:44, 18 March 2011 (UTC)
 * QuatraTeX - Wikipedia markup can be found at http://pastebin.com/kJ8LHvm4 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psmagunia (talk • contribs) 02:45, 2 March 2015 (UTC)
 * LaTeX Workshop (Visual Studio Code Extension) - Orangutan Edits (talk) 21:08, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

widget sets?
might be helpful to indicate which widget set each program requires (where applicable). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.248.248.11 (talk) 14:56, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Single Letter OS Mnemonics
I run L. You run M. Do you run B? What is B??? Ok, the truth here is that it's not intuitive. Could we consider writing out the OS names? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.200.111.197 (talk) 06:53, 10 November 2011 (UTC)

"Free"
The "Free" column is specifically labeled "libre" and yet several entries say "No" with links to pricing. That is the other definition of free (gratis) and probably does not belong in this column. Xxovercastxx (talk) 15:10, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

ConTeXT
Shouldn't ConTeXt be on this list? --Yoda of Borg (talk) 06:24, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Of course not: ConTeXt is not an editor, it's a document preparation system, in the same category as LaTeX (please read the relevant articles). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.36.80.11 (talk) 21:38, 23 September 2013 (UTC)

Arachnoid LaTeX
If you're looking for a quick TeX preview, check out Arachnoid here. It's an online, interactive LaTeX editor that shows how your documents is displayed by 3 different rendering engines.Slacka123 (talk) 10:09, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

WriteLatex
WriteLatex also has now a rich text option that enables partial-WYSIWYG features. The table may be changed.--212.128.135.93 (talk) 18:07, 14 January 2014 (UTC)

Sortable table
The table is very long and wide. I tried to make it sortable by copying code from another successful Wikipedia sortable table. It still does not work could be because it is very wide!! If someone could fix it. It is very helpful in conducting comparisons. Dr eng x (talk) 18:20, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Missing columns
The table is missing some important columns!

What needs to be added:

1. Integrated math engine 2. Ability to simplify algebraic expressions 3. Does integrals 4. Can check equality of algebraic expressions 5. Plots functions defined in text

Scientific Workplace does all of these things while producing LaTeX output, which saves a considerable amount of time. I don't know about all the other editors listed. 98.155.236.135 (talk) 21:31, 14 March 2015 (UTC)


 * Of course not. All those are not things that are usually part of an IDE. But if Scientific WorkPlace really was capable of all those things, someone should add them to its article. --Xario (talk) 15:47, 18 September 2015 (UTC)

TeXmacs??
Missing. Someone want to add it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 136.152.142.12 (talk) 10:01, 1 May 2015 (UTC)

TeXmacs is not a TeX editor. TeXmacs uses a similar but not identical syntax and has it's own file format. Conversion to LaTeX is often possible, but not always. . Woutersj (talk) 11:58, 27 January 2020 (UTC)

+1 Woutersj. I'd remove TeXmacs but fear it'll start a childish back and forth. Maybe remove TeXmacs and also include a note explaining the omission? Rodie9001 (talk) 00:56, 11 September 2021 (UTC)

Latexian (OSX editor)
This software has been discontinued by its creator. Should be mentioned in the chart — Preceding unsigned comment added by Francois 75015 (talk • contribs) 23:41, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

TeXlipse for Eclipse
New version of TeXlipse for Eclipse available: https://marketplace.eclipse.org/content/texlipse#group-details 37.24.21.116 (talk) 19:10, 24 August 2018 (UTC)br

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 16:22, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
 * Texlab.webm

TeXworks only editor marked not "Configurable"
TeXworks is the only editor marked as not Configurable. Why is this? Is it worth mentioning on the page? - AnnanFay (talk) 13:13, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:54, 1 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Mathematical typesetting with TeXmacs.png

Screenshots table
Please, transform this table into a Help:Gallery_tag tag. Thanks. AXO NOV (talk) ⚑ 11:15, 14 August 2021 (UTC)

Overleaf free?
Overleaf is listed as free in the table, but their website says that there is a free trial but then it cost money. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 02:24, 29 November 2021 (UTC)