Can ToExpression["<math>....</math>",MathMLForm] work without display set?

Questions
,
1

Is it possible to convert a mathML string to an expression from a Mathematica kernel with no front end and without
having to set up a display environment (this is in linux)? Thanks, - Elaine

2

Yes, it should be possible. For example, in a standalone kernel terminal session

In[1]:= ToExpression["<math><msup><mi>x</mi><mn>2</mn></msup></math>", MathMLForm]

         2
Out[1]= x
3

Thanks, but I’m afraid that at least under linux, you have to have a Display set up even if it isn’t used for displaying anything.
Wolfram support said they didn’t know any way around it, but I was hoping someone did. We were trying to make this work with
a math kernel running under WebMath in such a way that could easily be ported to any machine, and setting up the Display stuff properly isn’t easy because it is OS dependent.

4

Yes, that’s right. My example above was flawed since the Linux server I ssh’ed into wasn’t actually headless.

For now, it will be necessary to have a display, however it can be a virtual one provided e.g. by Xvnc or Xvfb. Both of these programs should be readily available on Linux. See also the documentation.

5

Thanks. We have looked at that documentation, but it is rather out of date and not as useful as one might hope. We will make it work one way or another. We already have it working on some machines, but we were just hoping for a simpler or more standardizable solution.

6

Thanks. We have looked at that documentation, but it is rather out of date and not as useful as one might hope. We will make it work one way or another. We already have it working on some machines, but we were just hoping for a simpler or more standardizable solution.