![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/a5d42c1ccacf33c72fd502fe1bb5ffa9.jpg?s=120&d=mm&r=g)
Hi folks. I just started thinking about further language support within ConTeXt now that the XeTeX-ConTeXt "basics" are done. XeTeX doesn't have the same character/line directionality control that is apparently in Omega, but it does control Right/Left typesetting fairly well. In particular, it makes a fairly big deal of its implementation of the eTeX beginR/beginL extensions. They seem to work fairly well in demos I've seen and simplistic tests I've done. I was wondering about the bigger issues in terms of BiDi support, though. Do people want an interface that mimics Omega's \pardir command? Or is there a more simple/focussed/specific way? (I imagine I don't see a single \beginR in ConTeXt's source code because it relies heavily on proper font support, probably beyond what the TFM system usually offers.) Anyway, I cooked up a quick simulation of the Omega \pardir command as used in m-gamma. It only supports \pardir TRT and \pardir TLT, but is it a way people want to progress? \def\pardir#1#2#3{%TRT,TLT \ifnum\TeXXeTstate=1\else \TeXXeTstate=1\fi % check or blindly set? \doifinsetelse{#2}{R,L} {\EveryPar{\setbox0=\lastbox % \csname begin#2\endcsname\box0}} {\message{Paragraph direction must be right or left}} \doifnot{#1#3}{TT} {\message{Typesetting lines from top to bottom only}}} Also, is dev-context the right place for a discussion like this? -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Adam T. Lindsay, Computing Dept. atl@comp.lancs.ac.uk Lancaster University, InfoLab21 +44(0)1524/510.514 Lancaster, LA1 4WA, UK Fax:+44(0)1524/510.492 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-