"BiDi stands for support for languages with a bidirectional script. In bidirectional scripts text is written from right to left, while embedded numbers or segments of text in western scripts (Latin-based ones such as English or French, Cyrillic-based, or Greek) are written from left to right. Bidirectional scripts are used in languages spoken by more than half a billion people in the Middle East, Central and South Asia and in Africa. Prominent among these languages are Arabic, Persian (Farsi), Azerbaijani, Urdu, Punjabi (in Pakistan), Pushto, Dari, Uigur, Hebrew, and Yiddish. Furthermore, languages that use the Arabic script have special ligature and shaping features which add a level of complexity in the display and printing of the languages that do not apply to other European and Asian languages. Because of these factors, most developers do not have a good understanding of how to support bidirectional languages.
"In reality, supporting bidirectional languages is not very difficult. IBM has been investing in providing support of these languages in its operating systems, middle ware products, and development tools for the past several years, with a Bi-Directional Competency Centers based in Egypt and Israel. A number of IBM products are also translated into Arabic and Hebrew. These tools, combined with an awareness of the structure of these languages, allow programmers to accommodate them without a major development effort. This document provides an overview of BiDi languages and how to support them."
-Charles Pau,
Director, Globalization Architecture and Technology
IBM Software Group |
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