homework in PreTeXt

[David Austin]

I recently gave a talk at my university about PreTeXt et al, and a number of students got excited about writing their homework solutions in PreTeXt, which seems like a very reasonable use case.  I think I have a fairly good idea for how they should be doing this using existing PreTeXt infrastructure.  However, there is a shift in perspective because the solution to an exercise or task is now the main content of the document.  As a result, it feels like it should be possible to present solutions to exercises and tasks without them being knowled, but I can't find a way to do that.  Is there something that I'm missing or is it intended that solutions will always be knowled?  If it's the latter, I would like to petition for a publisher option to unknowl solutions.

[Mark Fitch]

Someone will be along with the history of why this is not currently an option (I recall this coming up before).

One solution is of course to just not use the <solution> tags: everything goes into the <example> or <exercise>. 

Test answer keys are another place where the solutions being opened makes sense.

On 2/27/2026 1:58 PM, David Austin wrote:

I recently gave a talk at my university about PreTeXt et al, and a number of students got excited about writing their homework solutions in PreTeXt, which seems like a very reasonable use case.  I think I have a fairly good idea for how they should be doing this using existing PreTeXt infrastructure.  However, there is a shift in perspective because the solution to an exercise or task is now the main content of the document.  As a result, it feels like it should be possible to present solutions to exercises and tasks without them being knowled, but I can't find a way to do that.  Is there something that I'm missing or is it intended that solutions will always be knowled?  If it's the latter, I would like to petition for a publisher option to unknowl solutions.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/CANXmVMDyQmxzY-3ubESoGO_rZvaNzFMNxy0StZBkFOLsyScRrA%40mail.gmail.com.

[Oscar Levin]

What mechanism are you thinking about for students turning in their solutions?  If they create a PDF, then the solutions will be presented right there.  If they are going to create a web version, then would they print it from the page?  If they use a #worksheet or #handout, then when they go to the print preview, if they uncheck the "hide solutions" box, then the solutions will appear and will not be knowled.  They could then print to pdf to submit through canvas.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/02c90a55-a2fc-4bc0-adbd-7021be70b44f%40alaska.edu.

[David Austin]

I'm thinking about them writing homework solutions inside a #worksheet that could then be printed or uploaded into an LMS.  I understand that the solutions appear when they go to the print preview, but that doesn't feel right to me.  So I think my objection is somewhat philosophical.

Recent marketing has said that "PreTeXt is a modern replacement for LaTeX."  However, Principle 1 says that "PreTeXt is a markup language that captures the structure of textbooks and research papers."  Those now seem a little out of sync since LaTeX has many more uses than just textbooks and research papers, one of which is students authoring homework solutions.  I would also argue that "captures the structure" should be interpreted more broadly to include the entire authoring pipeline.  So if you are writing a document specifically to present a solution, you shouldn't need to go through additional steps just to examine the solution.  More practically, I think it would be somewhat burdensome to build to HTML, which is a reasonable choice, during the editing process and not be able to immediately see the thing I've been working on.  To me, it doesn't feel like the workflow that I've come to love about writing in PreTeXt.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/CAOU9BaU1Jbb%2BtOcGmLd3jULiAjEDx8x94KrQ7LppEftZ6Hsfzw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Rob Beezer]

Dear David,

It would be very interesting to add students to our list of "users."

> Recent marketing has said that "PreTeXt is a modern replacement for LaTeX."
> However, Principle 1 says that "PreTeXt is a markup language that captures the
> structure of textbooks and research papers."

Before there was marketing and principles, there was the raison d'etre for
PreTeXt - helping *authors* so that there would be an increase in the supply of
openly-licensed textbooks. (Especially for linear algebra.)

Oscar has done a very nice job of working on #worksheet, and adding #handout, in
order to help instructors. So that is a broadening of our appeal (which is not
necessarily implied by marketing).

Why is it this way? Since we can hide plot spoilers in HTML, we do. Routinely.
If you are writing a textbook and you want to "see" a #solution, then you are
doing exposition (rather than setting tasks for the reader), and so you should
author an #example, which has the property that you *cannot* put a #solution in
a knowl.

Do we want to broaden our constituency to include students as authors? I am
very conscious of what our scope and purpose is, and we will not be adding
features forever. PROJECT-LIKE has slowly morphed into a clode of #exercise,
which was never my intent. Do we want to blur the lines between #exercise and
#example?

Rob

> On Fri, Feb 27, 2026 at 4:19 PM 'Mark Fitch' via PreTeXt support <pretext-
> sup...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext...@googlegroups.com>> wrote:
>
> __

>
> Someone will be along with the history of why this is not currently an
> option (I recall this coming up before).
>
> One solution is of course to just not use the <solution> tags:
> everything goes into the <example> or <exercise>.
>
> Test answer keys are another place where the solutions being opened
> makes sense.
>
> On 2/27/2026 1:58 PM, David Austin wrote:
>> I recently gave a talk at my university about PreTeXt et al, and a
>> number of students got excited about writing their homework solutions
>> in PreTeXt, which seems like a very reasonable use case.  I think I
>> have a fairly good idea for how they should be doing this using
>> existing PreTeXt infrastructure.  However, there is a shift in
>> perspective because the solution to an exercise or task is now the
>> main content of the document.  As a result, it feels like it should be
>> possible to present solutions to exercises and tasks without them
>> being knowled, but I can't find a way to do that.  Is there something
>> that I'm missing or is it intended that solutions will always be
>> knowled?  If it's the latter, I would like to petition for a publisher
>> option to unknowl solutions.
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
>> Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
>> an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com

>> <mailto:pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com>.

>> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
>> pretext-support/
>> CANXmVMDyQmxzY-3ubESoGO_rZvaNzFMNxy0StZBkFOLsyScRrA%40mail.gmail.com

>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/
>> CANXmVMDyQmxzY-3ubESoGO_rZvaNzFMNxy0StZBkFOLsyScRrA%40mail.gmail.com?
>> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> support/02c90a55-a2fc-4bc0-adbd-7021be70b44f%40alaska.edu <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/02c90a55-a2fc-4bc0-
> adbd-7021be70b44f%40alaska.edu?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an

> email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support+u...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-
> support/

> CAOU9BaU1Jbb%2BtOcGmLd3jULiAjEDx8x94KrQ7LppEftZ6Hsfzw%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/
> CAOU9BaU1Jbb%2BtOcGmLd3jULiAjEDx8x94KrQ7LppEftZ6Hsfzw%40mail.gmail.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email

> to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support+u...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/

> CANXmVMC6TifWXmccEi6i2toc0TJ%3DcjVYTGQg6oh6FN8t%3D%2BVYUA%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/
> CANXmVMC6TifWXmccEi6i2toc0TJ%3DcjVYTGQg6oh6FN8t%3D%2BVYUA%40mail.gmail.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[Sean Fitzpatrick]

so you should
author an #example, which has the property that you *cannot* put a #solution in
a knowl.

As far as I'm aware, a solution in an example *does* go into a knowl, no?

[David Austin]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your response.  I always appreciate your and others' attention to the scope of the project, even if I selfishly wish for more on occasion.  

Before there was marketing and principles, there was the raison d'etre for
PreTeXt - helping *authors* so that there would be an increase in the supply of
openly-licensed textbooks.  (Especially for linear algebra.)

And the increase in linear algebra textbooks continues, as you know!

Thanks again,

David 

[Chrissy Safranski]

Example solutions, hints, etc are knowled by default (actually so are example statements!) , but they can be unknowled in the publication file using the example-solution tag.  

I didn't think that examples could have tasks, but Jason's schema browser says both that they can have tasks and that "problem" and "question" are example-like.  

So maybe a good move for this use case would be for students to author a worksheet containing "problems" with tasks and solutions, and unknowl the solutions in the publication file.  

I think adding students is an interesting expansion of our usual way of thinking of who is an author and what are they authoring!

Chrissy

[Rob Beezer]

On 2/28/26 17:05, Sean Fitzpatrick wrote:
> As far as I'm aware, a solution in an example *does* go into a knowl, no?

You are right, as I think Chrissy has noted. I think I was confused with
*visibility*, which is a slighlty different thing.

Rob

[Rob Beezer]

Thanks for the discussion, Sean, Chrissy, and David.

To answer the original question, you can see the knowl/@example-solution
attribute in action in the sample artice, and documented here:

Table 44.4.1: Knowlization options
https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication-file-online.html#online-knowlization-options-6

Depending on how David A thinks this might go, here are some further suggestions.

* #example, #question, #problem are clones and are meant to be expository.
They allow #hint, #answer, #solution. So I think they are a natural place for a
student's authored response to an #exercise. As I sais before an #exercise (and
friends) is meant to convey a task for the reader to do. Once a student has
worked the exercise, it is not an #exercise anymore?

* An instructor might not assign consecutive #exercise. I think it could often
be be problematic for a student to arrange their PreTeXt so the numbers that
PreTeXt assigns to the #exercise are identical to what gets assigned to the
#example. A single comprehensive #worksheet could be an exception. So the
#title to an #example could be used to identify the original #exercise.

"My Solution to Exercise 5.6"

And of course, #example could be renamed to something like "Worked Exercise".

So the gist of this is to suggest we see how far students can get with existing
features and perhaps identify any further changes based on experience, rather
than speculation at this point.

Rob

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
> to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-
> c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[David Austin]

Yesterday I ran some experiments abetted, I mean, aided by Chrissy's suggestions that appear earlier in this thread and found something pretty workable.  

Everything is inside a worksheet and assigned problems are in an #exercise inside a #problem (I didn't know there was a #problem!).  Multi-part problems have tasks with solutions.  Then in the publication file, I set html/knowl/example-solution="no".  The only thing I still wish for is the ability to customize the problem number in the manner of the #exercise element, which supports an attribute @number.  Rob anticipated this and has a reasonable suggestion.  

I really like this.  Like a lot of us, I allow students to resubmit earlier work so everything can be put into the same document (I used an #article) with #sections for each week's assignment.  At the end of the semester, the student has a nice portfolio of their work in the class.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

David

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/MTAwMDAzOS5iZWV6ZXI.1772468485%40pnsh.

[Rob Beezer]

I don't want to rain on your abetted parade, but

> assigned problems are in an #exercise inside a #problem

is not really a thing. You can't nest blocks like that, or maybe you meant
something else? This shouldn't be in the schema (but have not checked).

Rob

On 3/2/26 10:13, David Austin wrote:
> Yesterday I ran some experiments abetted, I mean, aided by Chrissy's suggestions
> that appear earlier in this thread and found something pretty workable.
>
> Everything is inside a worksheet and assigned problems are in an #exercise
> inside a #problem (I didn't know there was a #problem!).  Multi-part problems
> have tasks with solutions.  Then in the publication file, I set html/knowl/
> example-solution="no".  The only thing I still wish for is the ability to
> customize the problem number in the manner of the #exercise element, which
> supports an attribute @number.  Rob anticipated this and has a reasonable
> suggestion.
>
> I really like this.  Like a lot of us, I allow students to resubmit earlier work
> so everything can be put into the same document (I used an #article) with
> #sections for each week's assignment.  At the end of the semester, the student
> has a nice portfolio of their work in the class.
>
> Thanks for all the suggestions!
>
> David
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 11:21 AM 'Rob Beezer' via PreTeXt support <pretext-
> sup...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext...@googlegroups.com>> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the discussion, Sean, Chrissy, and David.
>
> To answer the original question, you can see the knowl/@example-solution
> attribute in action in the sample artice, and documented here:
>
> Table 44.4.1: Knowlization options
> https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication-file-online.html#online-

> knowlization-options-6 <https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication-
> file-online.html#online-knowlization-options-6>

> <mailto:dsfitz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >         so you should
> >         author an #example, which has the property that you *cannot* put a
> >         #solution in
> >         a knowl.
> >
> >
> >     As far as I'm aware, a solution in an example *does* go into a knowl, no?
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "PreTeXt support" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email
> > to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-

> support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com> <mailto:pretext- <mailto:pretext->
> > support+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>>.

> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext->
> > support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-
> <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629->
> > c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer
> <http://40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an

> email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> support/MTAwMDAzOS5iZWV6ZXI.1772468485%40pnsh <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/pretext-support/MTAwMDAzOS5iZWV6ZXI.1772468485%40pnsh>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email

> to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/

> CANXmVMB8tECEKTu1GkNNd8DUYDS%3Dt8xhvG2kYBtEKSAtQOZqGQ%40mail.gmail.com <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/
> CANXmVMB8tECEKTu1GkNNd8DUYDS%3Dt8xhvG2kYBtEKSAtQOZqGQ%40mail.gmail.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.

[David Austin]

Oops, hold off on the rain.  I meant a #solution inside a #problem.  Sorry for the confusion!

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/MTAwMDAzMi5iZWV6ZXI.1772486869%40pnsh.

[Rob Beezer]

> a #solution inside a #problem

That sounds better! ;-)

On 3/2/26 13:46, David Austin wrote:
> Oops, hold off on the rain.  I meant a #solution inside a #problem.  Sorry for
> the confusion!
>

> On Mon, Mar 2, 2026 at 4:27 PM 'Rob Beezer' via PreTeXt support <pretext-

> > sup...@googlegroups.com <mailto:sup...@googlegroups.com>
> <mailto:pretext...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-

> sup...@googlegroups.com>>> wrote:
> >
> >     Thanks for the discussion, Sean, Chrissy, and David.
> >
> >     To answer the original question, you can see the knowl/@example-solution
> >     attribute in action in the sample artice, and documented here:
> >
> >     Table 44.4.1: Knowlization options
> > https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication-file-

> online.html#online- <https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication-
> file-online.html#online->
> >     knowlization-options-6 <https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/
> publication- <https://pretextbook.org/doc/guide/html/publication->

> >     <mailto:dsfitz...@gmail.com <mailto:dsfitz...@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >         so you should
> >      >         author an #example, which has the property that you
> *cannot* put a
> >      >         #solution in
> >      >         a knowl.
> >      >
> >      >
> >      >     As far as I'm aware, a solution in an example *does* go into a
> knowl, no?
> >      >
> >      > --
> >      > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups
> >      > "PreTeXt support" group.
> >      > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send an
> >     email
> >      > to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com> <mailto:pretext- <mailto:pretext->

> > support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%252Buns...@googlegroups.com>> <mailto:pretext-
> <mailto:pretext-> <mailto:pretext- <mailto:pretext->>
> >      > support+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>
> >     <mailto:support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%252Buns...@googlegroups.com>>>.

> >      > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pretext- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext->

> >     <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext- <https://
> groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext->>
> >      > support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com
> <http://40googlegroups.com>
> >     <http://40googlegroups.com <http://40googlegroups.com>> <https://
> >      > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629-
> <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-b629->
> >     <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-
> b629- <http://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/2480d0b5-cb86-4162-
> b629->>
> >      > c4732a16ea5dn%40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer <http://40googlegroups.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
> >     <http://40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer

> <http://40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>>>.
> >
> >     --
> >     You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> >     "PreTeXt support" group.
> >     To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> >     email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com

> <mailto:pretext-support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com> <mailto:pretext-
> <mailto:pretext->
> > support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%252Buns...@googlegroups.com>>.

> >     To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/
> pretext- <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext->

> >     support/MTAwMDAzOS5iZWV6ZXI.1772468485%40pnsh <https://
> groups.google.com/d/ <https://groups.google.com/d/>

> >     msgid/pretext-support/MTAwMDAzOS5iZWV6ZXI.1772468485%40pnsh>.
> >
> > --
> > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> > "PreTeXt support" group.
> > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email
> > to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-

> support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com> <mailto:pretext- <mailto:pretext->
> > support+u...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>>.
> > To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> support/ <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/>
> > CANXmVMB8tECEKTu1GkNNd8DUYDS%3Dt8xhvG2kYBtEKSAtQOZqGQ%40mail.gmail.com
> <http://40mail.gmail.com> <https://
> > groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/ <http://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/pretext-support/>
> > CANXmVMB8tECEKTu1GkNNd8DUYDS%3Dt8xhvG2kYBtEKSAtQOZqGQ%40mail.gmail.com
> <http://40mail.gmail.com>?

> > utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an

> email to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-

> support/MTAwMDAzMi5iZWV6ZXI.1772486869%40pnsh <https://groups.google.com/d/
> msgid/pretext-support/MTAwMDAzMi5iZWV6ZXI.1772486869%40pnsh>.

>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "PreTeXt support" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
> to pretext-suppo...@googlegroups.com <mailto:pretext-
> support+u...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/

> CANXmVMD%3DfQ7qK75fbRQ%3DGNqtDp9CsvHD%3DD47BdcGwQJOOr0S-A%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pretext-support/
> CANXmVMD%3DfQ7qK75fbRQ%3DGNqtDp9CsvHD%3DD47BdcGwQJOOr0S-A%40mail.gmail.com?
> utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.