On Fri, 19 Dec 2008, Peter Dalgaard wrote:
Prof Brian Ripley wrote:
'Writing R Extensions' tells you that $ needs to be escaped in Rd files
outside \code and similar. So I was surprised to find that ca 80 CRAN
packages have constructions like (from ISwR)
\item{\code{folate}}{
a numeric vector, folate concentration ($\mu$g/l).
}
This does not render sensibly in non-latex conversions, and it is what we
have \eqn{} for.
I suspect last I looked at this was in copy editing that getting the LaTeX to
look right took priority.
It renders as "$\mu$g/l" (for now) which is semi-sensible to my eyes. I can
Actually, it renders (e.g. in 2.8.0) as '$mu$g/l', which is less sensible
that what you read it as, but in my experience only people from the more
mathematical sciences are likely to be aware of TeX notation.
see that I have \eqn{\mu}g/l in other places, but that comes out as "mug/l"
which looks like an inverted measure for coffee cups. I probably gave up
deciding a good incantation for "microgram per liter" in text mode. Possibly
\eqn{\mu}{u} is the best on can do.
Well, why try an abbreviation that is unclear? E.g. other examples are
trying to get a degree sign as $^\circ$C, and why not just say 'degrees
Celsius'?
You probably not had a copy-editor make you write out DNA ....
--
Brian D. Ripley, rip...@stats.ox.ac.uk
Professor of Applied Statistics, http://www.stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley/
University of Oxford, Tel: +44 1865 272861 (self)
1 South Parks Road, +44 1865 272866 (PA)
Oxford OX1 3TG, UK Fax: +44 1865 272595
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