StandardForm

A standard form for representing math, colors, dates, graphics, which comes with visual decorations

This is a default representation used in output cells. You can apply it to expressions before using in EditorView and InputEditor and CellPrint and Interpretation

Forcing StandardForm

StandardForm[expr] can be used as a display wrapper around any expression. It is also useful in definitions (downvalues) that should transform their argument into a standard-form representation:

showAsStandardForm[expr_] := StandardForm[expr]

showAsStandardForm[Panel[1/2]]

In an ordinary Wolfram Language output cell, evaluating StandardForm[expr] looks the same as evaluating expr, because output cells already call MakeBoxes[expr, StandardForm].

The distinction matters when the result is placed in another cell type. Slides, WLX, and Markdown cells normally call MakeBoxes[expr, WLXForm]. If an expression is wrapped in StandardForm, its contents are rendered using the same standard-form decorations as an output cell, even though the result is being displayed on a slide, WLX cell, or Markdown cell.

For example:

expr = Panel[1/2];
ExprForSlide = StandardForm[expr];

Evaluating ExprForSlide in a slide, WLX, or Markdown cell displays expr using its StandardForm representation. For example:

.slide

<ExprForSlide/>

or

.md

<ExprForSlide/>

or

.wlx

<ExprForSlide/>

See MakeBoxes and WLXForm for the underlying output-form rules.