Formatting Arabic text to read right to left

verydeepwater · 03-13-2015, 11:18 AM

I have seen some where posts where this is accomplished by adding to the CSS stylesheet something like:

p.arabic {
}
direction:rtl;
}
The trouble is when I try to validate the file, I get the error message : The 'direction' property must not be included in an EPUB Style Sheet. I am unable to put dir="rtl" in the body tag of the html pages, as I have mixed English and Arabic paras in each document.

Could anyone help me with this?

HarryT · 03-13-2015, 12:39 PM

What device do you intend to read your books on? It's worth noting that Adobe Digital Editions, which forms the basis of the ePub renderer found in the majority of eInk readers, does not currently support right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.

odedta · 03-13-2015, 12:54 PM

dir="rtl" or dir="ltr" is the correct form of telling the device of the text direction in an EPUB3. In EPUB2 you should use CSS rule "direction:rtl;".

You should use the dir="rtl" attribute if the majority of the text on that page is in Arabic, for all the English paragraphs you add dir="ltr". e.g.

PHP Code:


			
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="rtl" lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">

...
<p class="test"> &#1575;لأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p>
<p class="test"> &#1575;لأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p>
<p class="test"> &#1575;لأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p>
<p class="test2" dir="ltr">Hello world!</p>
<p class="test2" dir="ltr">Hello world! 2</p>

This will validate perfectly and work on all EPUB3 supporting devices.

HarryT · 03-13-2015, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odedta

This will validate perfectly and work on all EPUB3 supporting devices.

... hence the reason I asked the OP what device he's aiming his text at. ePub3 renderers are still something of a rarity.

verydeepwater · 03-13-2015, 02:10 PM

Thank you very much, Odedta. I am using EPUB 3. I was trying to add the direction rule to the stylesheet, but it looks as though I should add it to the html. The majority of the text is in English, so I should add dir="rtl" to all the Arabic paragraphs and add dir="ltr" to the <html... at the top as you have shown. And forget about the stylesheet. This is what I needed to know, thanks.

[QUOTE=odedta;3063758]dir="rtl" or dir="ltr" is the correct form of telling the device of the text direction in an EPUB3. In EPUB2 you should use CSS rule "direction:rtl;".

You should use the dir="rtl" attribute if the majority of the text on that page is in Arabic, for all the English paragraphs you add dir="ltr". e.g.

[PHP]<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="rtl" lang="ar" xml:lang="ar">

verydeepwater · 03-13-2015, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

... hence the reason I asked the OP what device he's aiming his text at. ePub3 renderers are still something of a rarity.

OK, so this method will not work on devices using ADE. Is there a way round this, or is this something I have to live with?

HarryT · 03-13-2015, 02:30 PM

I'm afraid there's no way around it. ADE doesn't support RTL languages at all. The Kindle, however, does (at least in its more recent "KF8" file format).

verydeepwater · 03-13-2015, 04:24 PM

So it will work at least on Apple products, probably most kobo devices and kindles with KF8. not bad

PeterT · 03-13-2015, 05:08 PM

Um.. maybe Kobo devices using kEpub format...

PeterT · 03-13-2015, 05:12 PM

Addiotionaly from https://github.com/kobolabs/epub-spec

Quote:

Kobo has support for right-to-left language formatting in the following areas:

Kobo supports the OPF spine-level page-progression-direction attribute for right-to-left page flow
Kobo supports the writing-mode CSS3 property and associated elements for vertical text layouts (LTR or RTL)
Kobo supports the HTML5 dir attribute
Kobo supports ruby text*

*This support excludes the Windows 8 platform.

odedta · 03-14-2015, 08:46 AM

Works on Kindle (KF8), iBooks, Android, Readium, Calibre.

Support for EPUB3 will only increase in the future so I think it's good that you're aiming for an EPUB3.

JSWolf · 03-14-2015, 09:25 AM

Gitden Reader supports ePub 3 and it will run on your iPad as long as it's not a 1st gen iPad.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gitd...524939666?mt=8

03-13-2015, 12:54 PM	#3
odedta Addict Posts: 398 Karma: 96448 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad	dir="rtl" or dir="ltr" is the correct form of telling the device of the text direction in an EPUB3. In EPUB2 you should use CSS rule "direction:rtl;". You should use the dir="rtl" attribute if the majority of the text on that page is in Arabic, for all the English paragraphs you add dir="ltr". e.g. PHP Code: `<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="rtl" lang="ar" xml:lang="ar"> ... <p class="test"> الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p> <p class="test"> الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p> <p class="test"> الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة‎</p> <p class="test2" dir="ltr">Hello world!</p> <p class="test2" dir="ltr">Hello world! 2</p>` This will validate perfectly and work on all EPUB3 supporting devices.

03-13-2015, 02:10 PM	#5
verydeepwater Member Posts: 86 Karma: 12586 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Ipad and Kindle Fire	Thank you very much, Odedta. I am using EPUB 3. I was trying to add the direction rule to the stylesheet, but it looks as though I should add it to the html. The majority of the text is in English, so I should add dir="rtl" to all the Arabic paragraphs and add dir="ltr" to the <html... at the top as you have shown. And forget about the stylesheet. This is what I needed to know, thanks. [QUOTE=odedta;3063758]dir="rtl" or dir="ltr" is the correct form of telling the device of the text direction in an EPUB3. In EPUB2 you should use CSS rule "direction:rtl;". You should use the dir="rtl" attribute if the majority of the text on that page is in Arabic, for all the English paragraphs you add dir="ltr". e.g. [PHP]<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="rtl" lang="ar" xml:lang="ar"> Last edited by verydeepwater; 03-13-2015 at 02:12 PM.

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03-13-2015, 11:18 AM	#1
verydeepwater Member Posts: 86 Karma: 12586 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Ipad and Kindle Fire	Formatting Arabic text to read right to left I have seen some where posts where this is accomplished by adding to the CSS stylesheet something like: p.arabic { } direction:rtl; } The trouble is when I try to validate the file, I get the error message : The 'direction' property must not be included in an EPUB Style Sheet. I am unable to put dir="rtl" in the body tag of the html pages, as I have mixed English and Arabic paras in each document. Could anyone help me with this?

03-13-2015, 12:39 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	What device do you intend to read your books on? It's worth noting that Adobe Digital Editions, which forms the basis of the ePub renderer found in the majority of eInk readers, does not currently support right-to-left languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.

03-13-2015, 02:30 PM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	I'm afraid there's no way around it. ADE doesn't support RTL languages at all. The Kindle, however, does (at least in its more recent "KF8" file format).

03-13-2015, 04:24 PM	#8
verydeepwater Member Posts: 86 Karma: 12586 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: Ipad and Kindle Fire	So it will work at least on Apple products, probably most kobo devices and kindles with KF8. not bad

03-13-2015, 05:08 PM	#9
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 12,250 Karma: 74007256 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Nexus 7, Clara, Touch, Tolino EPOS	Um.. maybe Kobo devices using kEpub format...

03-14-2015, 08:46 AM	#11
odedta Addict Posts: 398 Karma: 96448 Join Date: Dec 2013 Device: iPad	Works on Kindle (KF8), iBooks, Android, Readium, Calibre. Support for EPUB3 will only increase in the future so I think it's good that you're aiming for an EPUB3.

03-14-2015, 09:25 AM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,542 Karma: 129670952 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Gitden Reader supports ePub 3 and it will run on your iPad as long as it's not a 1st gen iPad. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gitd...524939666?mt=8

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