4

Perhaps I am doing something wrong, but to me, writing Matrices and tables in LaTeX code is rather onerous. Would it be possible to produce an n x n matrix using a format such as Python or Matlab:

A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]

Which should produce a square matrix with elements 1-9.

I understand tables and some matrix options would need to be specified in order for this to work, but that seems doable.

epR8GaYuh
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BactrianFan
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    you could of course write a parser for that but if you replace space by & and ; by \ you have the latex syntax so one extra character per row, is hardly "onerous" is it? \begin{pmatrix}1&2&3\\4&5&6\\7&8&9\end{pmatrix} – David Carlisle Jul 05 '21 at 20:49
  • You make a compelling argument – BactrianFan Jul 05 '21 at 21:02
  • Would PythonTeX be a reasonable choice? – citsahcots Jul 05 '21 at 21:10
  • https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/302213/how-to-make-a-matrix-that-wolfram-and-symbolab-can-read-ideally-through-lyx-ds/302217#302217 – David Carlisle Jul 05 '21 at 21:37
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    You can create a script in MATLAB that from a matrix create the LaTeX syntax for the table and then save the output as a text file with extension .tex and then use \input{<file>.tex} to import in LaTeX. I have made very long tables in this way with MATHEMATICA. – vi pa Jul 05 '21 at 21:49

3 Answers3

10

nicematrix is so cute...

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

\usepackage{nicematrix}


\begin{document}


$\begin{bNiceMatrix}[light-syntax]
    1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9
\end{bNiceMatrix}$


\end{document}

If you want, you can even create a dedicated macro.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

\usepackage{nicematrix}


\newcommand\matlabmat[1]{%
    \begin{bNiceMatrix}[light-syntax]
        #1
    \end{bNiceMatrix}%
}


\begin{document}


$\matlabmat{1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9}$


$\matlabmat{1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5 ; 6}$


\end{document}

This gives:

enter image description here

projetmbc
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1

If you are an AUCTeX/Emacs user, just active the embedded calc mode the point (cursor) on this expression (C-x * e)

\[A = [1 2 3; 4 5 6; 7 8 9]\]

instantanly the expression is converted in

\[A = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 2 & 3 \\ 4 & 5 & 6 \\ 7 & 8 & 9 \end{pmatrix} \]

This operation is reversible: still in calc embedded mode the command d N does it.

Unfortunately it do not seem possible to chose the matrix environment (bmatrix for example), you have to change it `manually'.

To do so you can configure the LaTeX langage mode 2 to display the output in two dimensional mode. C-u 2 d T do the trick. It can be

% [calc-mode: language: (latex 2)]
\[
A = \begin{pmatrix}
    1 & 2 & 3 \\ 
    4 & 5 & 6 \\ 
    7 & 8 & 9
    \end{pmatrix}
\]

Don't forget to return back to latex mode (C-x * e).

To change the pmatrix into bmatrix (or whatever matrix environment you want) Just C-u C-c C-e as usual. It may be easier to do a simple find and replace.

Note that calc can perform a large number of matrix operations for numeric or symbolic values, the ability to compose in LaTeX syntax is a very basic although excellent functionality.

gigiair
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1

Here's the link to proposed package nicematrix:

https://ctan.org/pkg/nicematrix?lang=en

MS-SPO
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