Optimal preferences for computer,
browser and screen

Are your computer, browser and screen preferences adjusted such that optimal functionality of maths online is guaranteed? If you are not quite sure, you can perform a short check here.


  • Which browser?

    • Any modern browser should do for most of the material.
    • In Mozilla, Firefox and some other browsers mathematical symbols are not displayed correctly in the default configuration (for a fix for Mozilla see below) and some malfunctions arise in interactive tests (see the last item below).
     
    Sometimes the operating system Windows XP comes without the "Java Virtual Machine" (JVM). If your browser does not display Java applets, you might be a victim of the XP problem. In this case, you may download the JVM from this page.

    More details on browser issues may be found in the items listed below. Please inform us about any malfunction you encounter.
     
  • Pages containing formulae will look best if the following two pieces of text are represented with the same font size:
     
    Font Size Test
    This shows how your browser
    represents a piece of text.
    This shows the font size the text
    should have.

    In order to change the font size on Windows systems, you can choose "Small Fonts" in the settings of your operating system (right mouse chlick on your desktop background, then click "Properties"). Alternatively, you can change the representation style in your browser.

  • The applets of the Gallery only work in a browser which can interpret Java and for which this function is enabled.

  • The screen resolution shall be at least 800 x 600 pixels (otherwise some applet windows will be "too large").

  • For an optimal appearance, the color depth of your screen should be adjusted to be greater than 256 colors.

  • The functionality of Java applets should be the same for all platforms, at least in theory. In reality, the continuous development of both Java and the browser technology sometimes cause inconveniences. Should this happen, please tell us.

  • You may perform a check of Java functionality by clicking this button. It just calls a small Java applet.
    If your system does not pass the test, you either

    • have not enabled Java in your browser, or
    • your browser cannot run Java, or
    • you are behind a fire-wall or a severe proxy server which keeps Java applets out of your local net. Consult this page!

  • Recently, in some Windows machines, applets of the Gallery that have worked so far, suddenly cause a "ClassFormatError". This may be resolved as follows:
     
    • Go to the WIndows Control Panel, search for "Java".
    • Click the Java icon. This opens the Java Control Panel.
    • On "General" tab., under "Temporary Internet Files", click "Settings", then click "Delete Files".

  • In some of our pages, mathematical symbols have been represented according to the scheme of the program TTH (Version :1.5.5). It makes use of the "Symbol" font. In case of problems with mathematical symbols, you might try one of the following:

    • Windows users may easily enable the "Symbol" font for Mozilla: As soon as this browser is installed, there is a file named fontEncoding.properties on your computer (in the Mozilla directory, which is presumably located under Program Files\) whose path ends with

      ...\res\fonts\fontEncoding.properties.

      Using a tex editor, just replace the line

      encoding.symbol.ttf = Adobe-Symbol-Encoding

      by

      encoding.symbol.ttf = windows-1252

      After this change, in oder to enable the browser to correctly display MathML, you have to edit the file ...\res\mathml.css and reverse the order of the items Symbol and Times in the line beginning with

      font-family: CMSY10, Symbol, Times ...

      Likewise, these two steps may be done by running a program available at this page.
       
    • Linux/Unix will find general information (including Mozilla) on this page.
       
    • MacIntosh users should change their Document Encoding (under View) to "MacRoman" or "Western(MacRoman)" (detailed information).

  • The applets are suitable for all modern browsers. Unfortunately Mozilla and related browsers shows misfunctions in some of the interactive test puzzles. You will be notified about these (and how to get around) when loading the respective pages in such a browser.


       Gallery
       Maths links: online tools  topics  collections
       Welcome Page

 
Bundesministerium für Unterricht und kulturelle Angelegenheiten
Verband Wiener Volksbildung
Magistrat der Stadt Wien, MA13
Oesterreichische Nationalbank