Live component authoring system

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage media having instructions stored therein that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to provide a live component for one or more displayable equation elements having user-edited format characteristics by performing contents configured to cause a computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving a first live component comprising a first viewer module and a first component description file, wherein the first viewer module and first component description file define a set of displayable equation elements;

executing an editor to:

display a subset of the displayable equation elements;

receive user input to invoke at least one rule in a pre-built application, the pre-built application included in the first viewer module, and the invoked at the least one rule related to editing the format of equation elements, wherein the at least one rule edits the format of at least one element in the displayed subset of displayable equation elements to indicate a new format for edited elements; and

generate and display, based on the invoked at least one rule, the edited elements including the indicated new format;

receiving edited displayable equation elements from the editor and generating a second component description file that includes items describing the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements;

generating a second viewer module that includes the pre-built application module used by the editor, rendering instructions, and equation evaluation instructions; the second viewer module executable in a browser to evaluate, render, or edit the elements in the second component description file; and

generating a second live component comprised of the second viewer module and the second component description file, the second live component executable on a server or downloadable to a local system to display a component with the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements according the second component description file, or further edit the format of the second live component using rules from the pre-built application module in the second viewer module.

2. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least one of a rendering instruction or an equation evaluation instruction of the second viewer module is executable by the additional computer system to display a version of the equation.

3. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least the first or second viewer module includes at least one of an interpreted script or a Java script.

4. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least the second component description file includes equation instructions to receive a value for a displayable equation element.

5. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , wherein the first and second component description files include at least one of mathematic markup language, a Uniform Resource Locator, or extensible markup language.

6. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the rendering instructions or equation evaluation instructions in the second viewer module is created using a rule in the pre-built application module.

7. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 1 , further comprising layout manager instructions to assign positions for displayable equation elements relative to each other, the layout manager instructions repositioning elements of a displayed subset of the displayable equation elements to new positions according to edits by user input in an editing browser interface, the layout manager instructions defining the new positions in terms of relative positioning between the displayable equation elements.

8. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 7 , wherein the layout manager instructions further position or reposition, the displayable equation elements relative to each other without constraint of a grid layout.

9. The computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 7 , wherein the layout manager instructions further position or reposition, the displayable equation elements relative to each other based on an alignment coordinate system that includes layout alignment positions and measurement values corresponding to the displayable equation elements.

10. A computer-implemented method for authoring a live component for one or more displayable equation elements having user-edited format characteristics, the method comprising:

receiving a live component comprising a viewer module and a component description file, wherein the viewer module and component description file define a set of displayable equation elements;

displaying a subset of the displayable equation elements in an editing browser interface;

receiving user input to the editing browser interface, causing:

invocation of at least one rule in a pre-built application, the pre-built application included in the viewer module, and the invoked at least one rule related to editing the format of equation elements, wherein the at least one rule edits the format of at least one element in the displayed subset of the displayable equation elements to indicate a new format for edited elements; and

generation and display, based on the invoked at least one rule, of the edited elements including the indicated new format;

receiving edited displayable equation elements from the editor and modifying the live component by changing the component description file to include items describing the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements;

wherein the live component, after being modified, is executable on a server or downloadable to a local system to display a component with the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements according the changed component description file, or to further edit the format of the live component using rules from the pre-built application module in the viewer module.

11. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising executing at least one of a rendering instruction or an equation evaluation instruction of the viewer module to display the version of the equation.

12. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the viewer module includes at least one of interpreted script or a Java script.

13. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the component description file includes instructions to receive a value for a displayable equation element.

14. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the component description file includes at least one of mathematic markup language or a Uniform Resource Locator.

15. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , further comprising receiving at least one element in the set of displayable equation elements as a numeric value from an additional user input via a data network.

16. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the displayable equation elements are positioned or repositioned, relative to each other without constraint of a grid layout.

17. The computer-implemented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein the displayable equation elements are positioned or repositioned, relative to each other based on an alignment coordinate system that includes layout alignment positions and measurement values corresponding to the displayable equation elements.

18. The computer-implimented method as recited in claim 10 , wherein at least one of the rendering instructions or equation evaluation instructions in the viewer module is created using a rule in the pre-built application module.

19. A computer system, comprising:

at least a memory and a processor;

a receiving component configured to receive a live component comprising a viewer module and a component description file, wherein the viewer module and component description file define a set of displayable equation elements;

a display component configured to display a subset of the displayable equation elements in an editing browser interface, the editing browser interface configured to receive user input, and in response to the user input, causing:

invocation of at least one rule in a pre-built application, the pre-built application included in the viewer module, and the invoked at least one rule related to editing the format of equation elements, wherein the at least one rule edits the format of at least one element in the displayed subset of the displayable equation elements to indicate a new format for edited elements;

generation and display, based on the invoked at least one rule, of the edited elements including the indicated new format; and

modification of the component description file in the live component to include the edited displayable equation elements;

wherein the live component, after being modified, is executable on a server or downloadable to a local system to display a component with the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements according the changed component description file, or to further edit the format of the live component using rules from the pre-built application module in the viewer module.

20. The computer system as recited in claim 19 , wherein the additional computer system to execute at least one of a rendering instruction or an equation evaluation instruction of the viewer module is executable at the additional computer system to display the version of the equation.

21. The computer system as recited in claim 19 , wherein the input device includes a data network input configured to receive at least one element in the set of displayable equation elements as a numeric value from an additional user device via a data network.

22. The computer system as recited in claim 19 , further comprising a layout manager configured to position or reposition, the displayable equation elements relative to each other without constraint of a grid layout.

23. The computer system as recited in claim 19 , further comprising a layout manager configured to position or reposition, the displayable equation elements relative to each other based on an alignment coordinate system that includes layout alignment positions and measurement values corresponding to the elements in the set of displayable equation elements.

24. The computer system as recited in claim 19 , wherein at least one of the rendering instructions or equation evaluation instructions in the viewer module is created using a rule in the pre-built application module.

25. A computer system, comprising:

at least a memory and a processor;

means for receiving a live component comprising a viewer module and a component description file, wherein the viewer module and component description file define a set of displayable equation elements;

means for displaying a subset of the displayable equation elements

means for receiving user input, and in response to the user input, causing:

invocation of at least one rule in a pre-built application, the pre-built application included in the viewer module, and the invoked at least one rule related to editing the format of equation elements, wherein the at least one rule edits the format of at least one element in the displayed subset of the displayable equation elements to indicate a new format for edited elements;

means for generating and displaying, based on the invoked at least one rule, the edited elements including the indicated new format;

means for modifying the component description file in the live component to include the edited displayable equation elements;

wherein the live component, after being modified, is executable on a server or downloadable to a local system to display a component with the content and the modified format of the edited displayable equation elements according the changed component description file, or to further edit the format of the live component using rules from the pre-built application module in the viewer module.

26. The A computer system as recited in claim 25 , further comprising means for downloading the viewer module and the component description file of the live component to an additional computer system to render the version of the equation for display.

27. The computer system as recited in claim 25 , further comprising means for downloading the viewer module and the component description file of the live component to a computer system to execute at least one of a rendering instruction or an equation evaluation instruction of the viewer module to render the version of the equation for display.

28. The computer system as recited in claim 25 , further comprising means for receiving at least one element in the set of displayable equation elements as a numeric value from an additional user input via a data network.

29. The computer system as recited in claim 25 , further comprising means for positioning or repositioning, the displayable equation elements to a new position, the new position of the displayable equation elements defined relative to each other without constraint of a grid layout.

30. The computer system as recited in claim 25 , further comprising means for positioning or repositioning, the displayable equation elements to a new position, the new position of the displayable equation elements defined relative to each other based on an alignment coordinate system that includes layout alignment positions and measurement values corresponding to the displayable equation elements.

31. The computer system as recited in claim 25 , wherein at least one of the rendering instructions or equation evaluation instructions in the viewer module is created using a rule in the pre-built application module.