Hi,
On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:36:00 -0600, Arthur Reutenauer
Also, we need not be too slavish: The Yudit author has pointed out areas where the bidi algorithm makes no sense or is deficient:
To be honest, this page dates back to half a dozen years ago and reflects Gáspár Sinai's positions at that time; there are hints that he has changed his mind at least slightly, as he started to make quite a scandal about possible "security problems" in the bidi algorithm and later backed off (http://yudit.org/security/). This is of course not to say that the bidi algorithm is perfect, because it's not, but I don't think that the link you quote makes a really strong point against it. In particular, I find that some of the recommandations Sinai criticizes are amazingly close to what we do in the TeX world ("formatting codes should be inserted" => mark up the text with direction-switching commands, etc.)
Granted. The main point is that we have to reinterpret bidi in way that fits with TeX's/ConTeXt's needs, idiosyncracies, etc.... I don't believe we need to treat the unicode bidi algorithm as canonical. But I'm still studying the matter. Best Idris -- Professor Idris Samawi Hamid, Editor-in-Chief International Journal of Shi`i Studies Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523