Re: [css-writing-modes] feedback: bottom-to-top scripts?

On 10/16/2013 09:56 AM, Martin Holmes wrote:
> This is really helpful. I wonder if you'd also be able to give me some advice on another Writing Modes/Transforms issue:
>
> Boustrophedon, which occurs in Greek and Latin inscriptions, is a kind of bidi text in which alternate lines are written ltr
> and rtl (the name comes from the path of an ox plowing a field). rtl lines in Boustrophedon are usually written not just with
> their glyphs in rtl order, but also with the glyphs themselves reversed (E becomes Ǝ, etc.).
>
> One way to encode this would be to treat it as a transformed line:
>
> <span style="transform: rotateY(180deg);">...</span><br/>

That's probably the best way to make it work, yes.

> This would the entire line around the Y axis, changing both the visible order of the glyphs and making the glyphs themselves
> appear reversed.
>
> I don't see any way to handle this using Writing Modes properties -- do you?

No, we explicitly decided it was out of scope. :) It *was* discussed,
but there was unanimous agreement that it didn't belong in Level 3.
It's a very rare use case, and not an easy one to implement. Also,
most use cases are transcribing documents in ways where the original
line-breaking is preserved, so you can use techniques like you describe
above.

> But my instinct is that this is actually a transform rather than
> a true "writing mode", so the transform is an appropriate way to
> describe the phenomenon. What do you think?

I think it is actually a writing mode.

~fantasai

Received on Wednesday, 16 October 2013 20:25:08 UTC