RE: [iri] #121: BIDI: Some users are requiring right-to-left label ordering.

>Also within this subset of URLs it is possible to have browsers draw these  in the URL bar
>right-to-left and right aligned. But I do not know if this  document is the place for such a definition.

The document explicitly prohibits alternate renderings, like LKJ/IHG.FED.CBA//:http

I find the current behavior very bad since it treats the IRI like unstructured text.  However there is a structure; there's an order to the labels.  If we'd never heard of the BIDI algorithm, our first attempt, from a clean slate, to solve this problem would not allow the ordering of the labels to be exchanged.  The only reason we're considering that is because we've seen what the Bidi Algorithm does to other text in completely different contexts.

My requirements are:
1) The logical order of the parts MUST be preserved.
2) There MUST be a way for mostly Arabic, etc. IRIs to be rendered right to left.
 * So the corollary of 1 & 2 is that the protocol has to go on the right
3) I'd really like a MAY that allows some flexibility for 2; when it's LTR and when it's RTL.  I don't think we're going to get it perfect in our first pass.

At a minimum, I'd suggest that any RTL characters in the domain or email local parts should force 2).  

-Shawn

Received on Thursday, 29 March 2012 17:10:06 UTC