moz-extension toMathML.js load issue

[jordanc...@gmail.com]

Lately (I would guess for about a month) when I load a page like:

http://spot.pcc.edu/math/orcca/section-function-basics.html

in Firefox, when the MathJax "Processing math" meter at the

bottom of my window reaches 100%, I am seeing this message:

Loading moz-extension://12d05074-00e9-c949-96d0-cef6ac03a312/data/src/HTMLParser/toMathML.js

Which hangs there for a while, and is eventually replaced with a
failure to load message.

When this happens, the page may or may not have some (but not

necessarily all) of the math expressions showing the dreaded

"Math Processing Error" message. In some cases, it seems like

the message comes after the math, not replacing it. I have one

screen shot here from a WeBWorK problem showing this.

Frustratingly, I cannot produce an example of this that consistently

demonstrates the bad behavior. Sometimes things work fine an

hour later on the same machine with the same browser. Also I have

tried a little to see this on another machine, and I have not yet seen

it there. I am led to believe that you would also not see this issue if
you visit the page above.

I wanted to post here to see if there is something about that loading

message that could give a clue. I am more and more convinced

(though not yet 100%) that it is something to do with Firefox and my

installation of it. Maybe combined with settings I have for MathJax,

such as using the Explorer.

Does anyone have any ideas? Any theories why I would be seeing

that moz-extension message?

[Alex Jordan]

On one of these "Math Processing Error"s (specifically the one in that

screen shot) I entered the contextual menu. Under

"Show Math as -> Error Message",

I get:

Error: sre.HighlighterFactory is undefined

file: https://webwork.pcc.edu/webwork2_files/mathjax/extensions/a11y/explorer.js?V=2.7.3
line: 1

Debugging tips: use 'unpacked/MathJax.js', inspect 'MathJax.Hub.lastError' in the browser console

Does this offer a clue? This is supporting my hunch that the

Explorer accessibility extension has something to do with my issues.

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[Davide Cervone]

Alex:

As you suspect, I'm not able to reproduce the issue, even with Explorer activated.  On the other hand, the message that you give indicates a protocol of moz-extension://, which suggests that you might have some sort of extension that is adding MathJax to pages behind the scenes.  That could mean that MathJax is trying to be loaded twice, and the two copies might be interfering with each other.  That would account for both intermittent problems, and why I can't reproduce it.

It may also be that the extension uses a slimmed down version of MathJax and the toMathML extension is not included, and so that is the source of the error.  But since it sometimes works, that is less likely to be the case.

If you can determine which extension is involved, try disabling it and see if that makes a difference.

The reason you see the math processing error following some math is that the math being shown is the fast-preview output, but the processing error is occurring when the main output processor is running, and it inserts the message without removing the preview.  Your message indicates an appropriate https:// protocol rather than moz-extension://, so that seems to be coming from the proper distribution this time.

Finally, are the errors always in the WeBWorK problems, or does it occur in the main text as well?  Since the WeBWorK problems are within iframes, they load their own copies of MathJax.  That means some might work and others might not.

Davide

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<Screen Shot 2019-02-18 at 8.00.35 PM.png>

[Alex Jordan]

Thanks Davide,

As part of broad accessibility testing I am doing this term
for version 2.0 of that PCC Math Accessibility Study, I have
indeed been using plugins. I just disabled the Read&Write
plugin, and so far I am no longer seeing the issue. That is
a good sign, and makes complete sense with your analysis.
The unpredictable nature of it all makes me hesitant to reply
right now instead of waiting. But I'm naturally an optimist :)

If this turns out to be the cause of my issues, it will be an

important thing to note in the accessibility study in the section

on Read&Write.

Thanks again for your insight,

Alex

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[Davide Cervone]

Thanks for the update.  Keep us informed of the results.  I hope that does resolve the problem.

We do have contacts (or did at one time) at Read&Write, so perhaps we could coordinate a fix with them.  Perhaps they could check if the page already loads MathJax before inserting it themselves.  Or perhaps their detection of MathJax isn't perfect if they already try that.

Davide