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.