Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 87364
Kleene Star Operator
Last modified: 2013-08-07 14:54:45 UTC
When typing up work for a course in computer science theory, I found that there is no real support for the Kleene star operator. The best I could do is L"*", which added an asterisk next to the L.
Nothing is perfect, but did you try L rsup {{}*{}} ? The problem is * is a binary operator, means needs two operands, else "?" appears (an that's normal) Maybe I'm plain wrong, but what about define a new symbol with the name %kleenstar , and draw * when used ? Not sure it is more fast to write it, than the working solution,though .. Anyway, I'll add me on CC of the issue.
L rsup {{}*{}} works, but it is indeed messy. I just feel that the Kleene star is a common enough operator that something like %kleene or %kleenestar should be pre-defined in future releases, perhaps even added to the drop-down menus for selecting automatic input. It could even use the rsup {{}*{}} method for doing it.
Another way to get this is L sup "*". To have this symbol as %smallasterisk or anything else is currently not possible. The symbol itself is not available in the fonts, afaik. MRU->TL: do you think this >L sup "*"< could by added perhaps to the "others" section in the Selection toolbox?
Setting target to OOo later since there are suitable workarounds.