The trivial insert mode works like this: First you have to tell what element you want, then you can enter its content. When you are done with the content, you can usually let the cursor jump behind the element. In this way, you enter an expression in a depth first manner. Okay, this sounds a little bit esoterically.
Elements like mi, mo, mn
that contain text directly can be usually created in two ways. One way
is to create an element with one character as content:
For example
mi element. Now you need to enter
the character which will be the content and the element will be
created immediately and the cursor placed behind it. So, for example
mi element containing α.
The second way is to create an element with more than one character.
For example
mi element containing sin.
Elements that actually can have children are treated differently.
As soon as you hit the corresponding command, they get created
immediately. For those that have a fixed amount of children, as many
placeholder elements get inserted. For the others, one placeholder
gets inserted. The cursor is placed in front of the first placeholder.
When you enter a next element, it will replace the placeholder. If you are
done inserting the children for this element, you can hit
| Command | title | Function name |
|---|
Inserts an mtext element.
Inserts an mrow element.
Inserts a none element. This is used only inside
an mmultiscript element, designating an empty
script.
Inserts an mfrac element, a fraction.
Inserts an msub element.
Inserts an msup element.
Inserts an msubsup element.
Inserts a msqrt element, a square root.
Inserts a mroot element.
Inserts a munder element.
Inserts a mover element.
Inserts a munderover element.
Inserts a menclose element.
Inserts a mfenced element.
Inserts a mmultiscripts element.
Inserts a mprescripts element. This element is
only used as child of an mmultiscripts element. It
signifies that all elements that follow it are to be interpreded
as prescripts.
Inserts a mphantom element. This element hides its
contents but uses the space anyway.
This command can insert various table elements, depending on
the element the cursor lies in. If it is located in an
mtable element, it creates an mtr
element, i.e. a table row. If it is located in a row, it creates
an mtd element, a table cell. Otherwise, it creates
always an mtable element.
If you need a labeled row in a table, use this comand.
Selects one sibling more to the left to surround. If you insert a new element later on, the selection will become part of it, the new element will surround what is selected, so to say.
If you have selected some elements and you insert an mrow
element or an element that acts as an inferred mrow, the selected
elements become children of the new one. If you insert an element with
a fixed numer of children (for example an mfrac) or an
element which treates its children as a list (for example
mfenced) and you have selected more than one element,
the selected elements are put in an mrow which
then becomes child of the new element. If you have selected one
element, no mrow is used, it directly becomes the first child of
the element you insert. For other elements, the
selection is simply dropped.
Removes the selection of the leftmost selected element.
When you insert an element that can have children, the cursor is automatically into it. When you are done inserting the children you need, you can use this command to move the cursor out again, right behind the element so you can insert siblings.
Terminates the insert mode.