Lines: 67
Message-ID:  <pcbu067sp0.fsf@epsilon.ams.org>
Reply-To: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Date:         Thu, 30 Oct 1997 18:10:51 -0500
From: Michael John Downes <mjd@MATH.AMS.ORG>
Sender: Mailing list for the LaTeX3 project
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
To: Multiple recipients of list LATEX-L
              <LATEX-L@RELAY.URZ.UNI-HEIDELBERG.DE>
Subject:      Announce: alpha release of breqn package
Status: R

This to announce that an alpha release of the `breqn' package, which was
the subject of a talk I gave at the 1997 TUG conference in San
Francisco, is now available from e-math.ams.org. (Although it is not
being submitted to CTAN at this time because it is only an alpha
release, the fact that it is available may be of interest to the
CTAN-ANN list subscribers.)

From the READ.ME file:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
READ.ME for breqn.sty [Michael Downes, 1997/10/30]
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The alpha release of the `breqn' package for LaTeX is available from the
American Mathematical Society:

  ftp://e-math.ams.org/pub/tex/breqn.tar.gz

The following files comprise the alpha release of the package:

  breqn.sty          READ.ME           breqn.txt
  flexisym.sty       breqndoc.tex      flexisym.txt
  ltxbase.sym        breqn.bug

The files in the first column are what you need to use the package.

The files in the middle column are documentation: The READ.ME is this
file. The file breqn.bug is a list of known deficiencies that need
fixing in the alpha release. The file breqndoc.tex explains the usage of
the LaTeX commands and environments provided by the breqn package.

The files in the last column are source code and technical commentary;
these are likely to make dull reading except for TeXnicians. (They would
normally be in .dtx format but I was experimenting with an alternative
format whose macros are, as luck would have it, in a nonfunctional
transitional stage just now; the .txt files are an ASCII version
generated from the real sources.)

Some of the principal features of the breqn package are:

---Displayed equations are broken automatically to the available width,
without explicit line break commands.

---Line breaks within paired \left-\right delimiters work in a
natural way (splitting with null delimiters and awkward size adjustments
are unnecessary). You can specify a delimiter nesting depth beyond which
automatic line breaks must not occur.

---Punctuation at the end of a displayed equation can be written in its
logical place and will be assimilated into the display as necessary.

---Applying a background color or a frame to an equation is easily done.

For information on additional features consult the user's guide,
breqndoc.tex.

The amsmath package and the breqn package can be used together, but
then the amsmath package should be loaded first.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE BEAR IN MIND:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is an alpha release of the software; there are many gaps and
shortcomings in what is implemented and what is not. However, it is
working well enough that we think potential users will welcome the
chance at this time to try it out and to offer feedback.