Re: [office] xml:lang settings. Confused.

[Eike Rathke <erack@sun.com>]

Hi Dave,

On Thursday, 2007-06-07 14:47:39 +0100, Dave Pawson wrote:

> I'm assuming for mixed docs, somewhere within the body the change in 
> language
> would be signalled by an xml:lang attribute on the paragraph?

Only if it differs from the inherited setting. By using fo:* attributes
though, not xml:lang. However, a paragraph style may have one Western,
CJK and CTL language assigned. These are not repeated when script types
change.

> My question related to (mainly) single language documents,
> where I need the primary language of the document.

The primary aka default language should be the <dc:language> element of
<office-meta-data.> See "3.1.15 Language". However, that may get
overridden at any time any place, even for the entire document.

> Just wondered why xml:lang or dc:language
> isn't used in ODF.

I wish xml:lang was used, would had made the latest adaption to be able
to support RFC 4646 moot, as xml:lang already says "The values of the
attribute are language identifiers as defined by [IETF RFC 3066], Tags
for the Identification of Languages, or its successor". Which RFC 4646
is.

Does anyone happen to know why xml:lang exactly was not used?


> I'm curious. When I initially open a document authored in Japanese or 
> Chinese,
> how would I know whether to look at style:language-asian or fo:language?

I guess you don't without actually looking at the script type of the
textual content.

> I guess that defines what I meant by 'primary language' of the document?

The <dc:language> element may give a hint what might be the "primary
language"; however, if overridden by character attributes it may as well
be useless. Independent of whether a fo:language-asian is present
additionally to fo:language or not.

  Eike

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 OpenOffice.org Engineering at Sun: http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS