startup.rst

Startup Options

The startup component is responsible for creating the objects needed by MathJax to perform the mathematical typesetting of your pages, and for setting up the methods you may need to call in order to do that. It is configured using the startup block in your configuration object.

---

The Configuration Block

In the example below, :data:`Startup` represents the :attr:`MathJax.startup` object, for brevity.

MathJax = {
  startup: {
    elements: null,          // The elements to typeset (default is document body)
    typeset: true,           // Perform initial typeset?
    ready: Startup.defaultReady.bind(Startup),          // Called when components are loaded
    pageReady: Startup.defaultPageReady.bind(Startup),  // Called when MathJax and page are ready
    document: document,      // The document (or fragment or string) to work in
    input: [],               // The names of the input jax to use from among those loaded
    output: null,            // The name for the output jax to use from among those loaded
    handler: null,           // The name of the handler to register from among those loaded
    adaptor: null            // The name for the DOM adaptor to use from among those loaded
  }
};

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Option Descriptions

.. describe:: elements: null

   This is either ``null`` or an array of DOM elements whose contents
   should be typeset.  The elements can either be actual DOM elements,
   or strings that give CSS selectors for the elements to typeset.

.. describe:: typeset: true

   This determines whether the initial typesetting action should be
   performed when the page is ready.

.. describe:: ready: Startup.defaultReady.bind(Startup)

   This is a function that is called when MathJax is loaded and ready
   to go.  It is called by the :ref:`loader-component` when all the
   components are loaded.  The default action is to create all the
   objects needed for MathJax, and set up the call to the
   :meth:`pageReady()` function below.  You can override this function
   if you want to modify the setup process; see :ref:`startup-action`
   for more details.  Note that this function may be called before the
   page is complete, so unless you are modifying the objects created
   by the `startup` module, replacing :meth:`pageReady()` may be the
   better choice.

.. describe:: pageReady: Startup.defaultPageReady.bind(Startup)

   This is a function that is called when MathJax is ready to go and
   the page is ready to be processed.  The default action is to
   perform the initial typesetting of the page, but you can override
   it to do whatever you would like.  See :ref:`startup-action` for
   more details and examples of how to do this.

.. describe:: document: document

   This is the document (or fragment or string of serialized HTML)
   that you want to process.  By default (for in-browser use) it is
   the browser document.  When there is no global :data:`document`
   variable, it is an empty HTML document.

.. describe:: input: []

   This is an array of names of input processors that you want to use,
   from among the ones that have been loaded.  So if you have loaded
   the code for several input jax, but only want to use the ``tex``
   input jax, for example, set this to ``['tex']``.  If set to an
   empty array, then all loaded input jax are used.

.. describe:: output: null

   This is the name of the output processor that you want to use,
   from among the ones that have been loaded.  So if you have loaded
   the code for several output jax, but only want to use the ``svg``
   output jax, for example, set this to ``'svg'``.  If set to ``null``
   or an empty string, then the first output jax that is loaded will
   be used.

.. describe:: handler: null

   This is the name of the document handler that you want to use,
   from among the ones that have been loaded.  Currently, there is
   only one handler, the HTML handler, so unless you are creating your
   own handlers, leave this as ``null``.

.. describe:: adaptor: null

   This is the name of the DOM adaptor that you want to use, from
   among the ones that have been loaded.  By default the components
   load the ``browser`` adaptor, but you can load the ``liteDOM``
   adaptor for use in `node` applications; if you do, it will set this
   value so that it will be used automatically.

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