Mathematics and formatting

[A. Maitland Bottoms]

andre kesteloot writes:
 > Gang,
 > 
 > I wanted to write in a paper (in Word for Windows) "not A" , that is, 
 > the letter A with a horizontal bar over it.
 > 
 > If you Google "word overline", this is what you find:
 > 
 > 1. Go where you want to insert your "not A".
 > 2. Press Ctrl-F9. You'll see a pair of braces. This is "equation mode".
 > 3. Type this: EQ \x \to(A)
 > 4. Press Shift-F9 to get out of the mode.

In Openoffice.org, one gets into "equation mode" from the
"Insert -> Object -> Formula" menu selections
and can type in
x = bar A
to get the same result.

 > Bizarre and awkward, to say the least

There is a lot of elegance in the LaTeX style:
$x = \overline{A}$

As usual, it's not merely that things are "Bizarre and awkward", but
most often poorly documented. So it's good to share these sorts
of tips, we weren't born knowing these things.

-Maitland