Overview Of OpenMath
OpenMath is an emerging standard for representing
mathematical objects with their semantics, allowing them to be
exchanged between computer programs, stored in databases, or
published on the worldwide web. While the original designers were
mainly developers of computer algebra systems, it is now attracting
interest from other areas of scientific computation and from many
publishers of electronic documents with a significant mathematical
content. There is a strong relationship to the MathML recommendation from the Worldwide Web Consortium, and a large
overlap between the two developer communities. MathML deals
principally with the presentation of mathematical objects,
while OpenMath is solely concerned with their semantic meaning or
content. While MathML does have some limited facilities for
dealing with content, it also allows semantic information encoded
in OpenMath to be embedded inside a MathML structure. Thus the two
technologies may be seen as highly complementary.
Mathematical objects encoded in OpenMath can be
- displayed in a browser
- exchanged between software systems
- cut and pasted for use in different contexts
- verified as being mathematically sound (or not!)
- used to make interactive documents really interactive.
OpenMath is highly relevant for persons working with mathematics on
computers, for those working with large documents (e.g. databases,
manuals) containing mathematical expressions, and for technical and
mathematical publishing.
The worldwide OpenMath activities are coordinated within the OpenMath Society, based in
Helsinki, Finland. It is coordinated by an executive committee, elected by
its members. It organizes
regular workshops and hosts
a number of electronic discussion
lists. The Society brings together tool builders, software
suppliers, publishers and authors.
Further Information
© The OpenMath Society 2001–2012