Re: [office] Style properties questions/requests

[Daniel Vogelheim <Daniel.Vogelheim@sun.com>]

Hi all,

David Faure wrote:

>>>Paragraph properties:
>>>
>>>fo:text-align (3.11.4) doesn't seem to have "auto" (for bidi text). This is used
>>>in KOffice to mean that the alignment of the paragraph depends on whether
>>>it starts with a RTL character. Apparently this is a common feature for RTL users,
>>>to have the alignment and the direction of the paragraph automatically detected
>>>that way.
>>>
What happens if a paragraph starts with a number (which is a 
left-to-right character), or a western name?

>>One might do so, but since XSL does not have a value for this, we would 
>>have to change the namespace. Instead we might also add a new attribute 
>>that only specifies that the alignment should be derived from the text 
>>and leave the fo:text-align unchanged.
>>    
>>
>
>Hmm, I see. How do Hebrew users use OOWriter BTW? Do they specify 
>right-alignment as part of their Standard style? It is obviously more convenient
>to have the paragraphs auto-align automatically depending on which kind
>of character one types into them. This value for the alignment attribute is
>mostly useful for styles of course, not for actual paragraphs.
>
When the user select right-to-left text, both the direction and the 
alignment of the paragraph are switched. In the file format, this will 
appear as two attributes being set in the respective styles.

>I'm ok with the solution of having another attribute for this, although it seems
>a bit overkill (hasn't it been done in other cases, to extend an FO attribute
>with a new possible value?).
>
I think we've done this before. One example would be the fo-compatible 
num-format attributes (values 1,a,A,i,I), an an additional 
num-letter-sync attribute for non-fo-compatible numberings 
(a,b,...z,aa,bb,.. instead of a,b,..,z,aa,ab,..).

>Another solution would be that when there is no text-align attribute in a style
>then it defaults to this "auto" behavior (at least in KWord). But with inherited
>styles this isn't very convenient.
>
Another variant could be to specify the alignment in terms of  the 
directionality. Rather than an alignment left/right, one would specify 
start/end. The 'start' alignment would then be left for left-to-right 
paragraphs, and right for right-to-left paragraphs; the opposite would 
apply for the 'end' alignment. This seems to be the default solution for 
most left/right attributes in bi-directional settings.

If I remember correctly, Ken Holman made similar suggestions for 
left/right margin when he was still member of the TC. I don't know 
whether this has been adressed already, but if not, I suggest that we 
do. At OOo, we interpret those left-/right margins as start-/end-margins 
anyway. I think it should also be specified that way.

I've copied Ken on the mail; maybe he has some additional comments.

Sincerely,
Daniel