Hi Peter,
> I assume that the columns in a table used in a right-to-left language
> would be ordered sequentially from the right to the left. Can anyone
> confirm or deny that?
If I understand you correctly, I think I can confirm it. Actually, it is important to
distinguish between the input and the output. I presume you are working with the XML
input in your accessibility code. In the XML source file, there is no left-to-right
or right-to-left, there is only beginning to end, that is, the document order of the
elements in the XML file. It is only in the output (or an XML editor's display, which
is a kind of output) that presents things in left-to-right or right-to-left. Think of
the source markup for a table with the <entry> elements stacked one after another:
<row>
<entry>Column 1
<entry>Column 2
<entry>Column 3
</row>
There is no direction there except beginning to end. The first entry in document
order is column 1, the second entry is column 2, etc. When this table is formatted
with writing mode set to left-to-right, then column 1 is placed in the left-most
column. When this table is formatted with writing mode set to right-to-left, then
column 1 is placed in the right-most column.
So, yes, when you view the output in a right-to-left format, columns are ordered
sequentially from right to left. But your code for processing the input does not
require you to take that into account. That is, your code does not have to determine
the locale in order to do something different. Your code works on the entries in
document order, regardless of the output direction.
Bob Stayton
Sagehill Enterprises
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Desjardins" <>
To: "DocBook Apps" <>
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 5:05 AM
Subject: [docbook-apps] Table reading order in right-to-left languages
> Hi, I am writing a customization to add HTML table cell attributes for
> accessibility. Specifically, I am trying to write some logical rules
> for associating body cells with header cells. Some of the logic I am
> considering depends on the column sequence number.
>
> I assume that the columns in a table used in a right-to-left language
> would be ordered sequentially from the right to the left. Can anyone
> confirm or deny that?
>
> Is there any markup for DocBook 5.0 tables that establishes the
> direction of the column sequence? Or are the DocBook tables designed
> in a way so that direction is irrelevant? I see some documentation in
> the Definitive Guide for CALS tables that seems say that the first
> column is assumed to be the one on the far left.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Peter
>
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