<mo>

The MathML <mo> element represents an operator in a broad sense. Besides operators in strict mathematical meaning, this element also includes "operators" like parentheses, separators like comma and semicolon, or "absolute value" bars.

Attributes

accent

If the operator is used as an under- or overscript this attribute specifies whether the operator should be treated as an accent.
Allowed values are true or false.

class, id, style

Provided for use with stylesheets.

dir

The text direction. Possible values are either ltr (left to right) or rtl (right to left).

fence

There is no visual effect for this attribute, but it specifies whether the operator is a fence (such as parentheses).
Allowed values are true or false.

form

Specifies the role of the operator in an enclosed expression, which affects spacing and other default properties. For ordinary operators (+, -, etc. ) you usually do not need to specify this attribute explicitly.
Possible values are:

• prefix, for opening fences. (It is the default value if the operator is the first argument in a <mrow> element with more than one argument.)
• infix, for separators. (It is the default value if the operator is not included in a <mrow> element.)
• postfix, closing fences. (It is the default value if the operator is the last argument in a <mrow> element with more than one argument.)

href

Used to set a hyperlink to a specified URI.

largeop

Specifies whether the operator should be drawn larger than normal when displaystyle="true" is set. Allowed values are either true or false.

lspace

The amount of space before the operator (see length for values and units). The constant thickmathspace (5/18em) is the default value.

mathbackground

The background color. You can use #rgb, #rrggbb and HTML color names.

mathcolor

The text color. You can use #rgb, #rrggbb and HTML color names.

mathsize

The size of the content. See length for possible values.
Deprecated values are: small, normal and big. These will be removed in the future.

mathvariant

This attribute specifies the logical class of the operator which varies in typography. That is, although the names suggest the typographic style for the class, semantically, items with the same class are treated "the same" within an expression, which might or might not involve displaying them with the named typography. The following values are allowed:

• normal (Default value) ; $\mathrm{Example}$
• bold ; $\mathbf{Example}$
• italic ; $\mathit{Example}$
• bold-italic ; $\mathit{Example}$

• double-struck ; $\mathbb{Example}$
• bold-fraktur ; $\mathfrak{Example}$
• script ; $\mathcal{Example}$
• bold-script ; $\mathcal{Example}$
• fraktur ; $\mathfrak{Example}$

• sans-serif ; $\mathsf{Example}$
• bold-sans-serif ; $\mathsf{Example}$
• sans-serif-italic ; $\mathsf{Example}$
• sans-serif-bold-italic ; $\mathsf{Example}$
• monospace ; $\mathtt{Example}$

• initial ; ${مثال}$
• tailed ; ${مثال}$
• looped ; ${مثال}$
• stretched ; ${مثال}$

maxsize

If stretchy is true, this attribute specifies the maximum size of the operator. Allowed values are:

• infinity
• an arbitrary length

minsize

If stretchy is true, this attribute specifies the minimum size of the operator. Allowed values are:

• infinity
• an arbitrary length

movablelimits

Specifies whether attached under- and overscripts move to sub- and superscript positions when displaystyle is false.
Allowed values are either true or false.

rspace

The amount of space after the operator (see length for values and units). The constant thickmathspace (5/18em) is the default value.

separator

There is no visual effect for this attribute, but it specifies whether the operator is a separator (such as commas).
Allowed values are true or false.

stretchy

Specifies whether the operator stretches to the size of the adjacent element.
Allowed values are true or false.

symmetric

If stretchy is true, this attribute specifies whether the operator should be vertically symmetric around the imaginary math axis (centered fraction line).
The default value is true if stretchy is set to true and otherwise false. Allowed values are true or false.

Examples

<math>

<mrow>
  <mn>5</mn>
  <mo>+</mo>
  <mn>5</mn>
</mrow>

<mrow>
  <mo> [ </mo> <!-- default form value: prefix -->
  <mrow>
    <mn> 0 </mn>
    <mo> ; </mo> <!-- default form value: infix -->
    <mn> 1 </mn>
  </mrow>
  <mo> ) </mo> <!-- default form value: postfix -->
</mrow>

</math>

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Gecko-specific notes

• Starting with Gecko 16.0 (Firefox 16.0 / Thunderbird 16.0 / SeaMonkey 2.13) the default values for lspace and rspace have been corrected to match the MathML3 specification. They now default to the constant thickmathspace (5/18em).
• Some mathvariant values are only implemented starting with Gecko 28.0 (Firefox 28.0 / Thunderbird 28.0 / SeaMonkey 2.25) and require appropriate math fonts.
• Any linebreaking or indentation attributes are not implemented yet. See bug 534962.