Ah, thanks! I was failing to distinguish between input and output. So my code does not need to care how a browser presents the sequence of columns.
Peter On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 12:10 PM, Bob Stayton <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 > [email protected] > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Desjardins" > <[email protected]> > To: "DocBook Apps" <[email protected]> > 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 >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] >> For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] >> >> >> > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
