"simple math syntax" to MathML converter

Question

I'd like something that converts a simple calculator like ascii math syntax to mathML.

I found this: http://www1.chapman.edu/~jipsen/mathml/asciimath.html

But I don't understand how to use it.. I'd like to make it work from the command line for example, so that I feed it some math formula and get back the mathMl version. How could I do it? Is there any other program like this, maybe in a less browser oriented language than javascript?

Answer 1

Perl has Text::ASCIIMathML, which works quite well.

Adapted from the Synopsys section:

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warning;
use Text::ASCIIMathML;

my $parser = Text::ASCIIMathML->new;

my $ASCIIMathML = "int_0^1 e^x dx";

print $parser->TextToMathML($ASCIIMathML);

gives (reformatted for legibility):

<math>
  <mstyle>
    <mrow><msubsup><mo>&#x222B;</mo><mn>0</mn><mn>1</mn></msubsup></mrow>
    <msup><mi>e</mi><mi>x</mi></msup>
    <mrow><mi>d</mi><mi>x</mi></mrow>
  </mstyle>
</math>