Desired behavior of pathLength and startOffset

Hi,
        I am having some trouble figuring out the desired behavior for 
text being rendered on a path when both a pathLenght and a startOffset are 
specified.  It seems to me that setting pathLength=?2? and startOffset=?1? 
should cause the text to be rendered starting at the paths midpoint.  The 
attached SVG script demonstrates these conditions.  I would expect the 
text on the bottom rectangle to be rendered starting at the lower right 
hand corner of the path.  However, under these conditions both the SVG 
plugin by Adobe and the Batik SVG viewer display the text as if the 
pathLength attribute were unspecified.  In the Opera9 Beta the text is 
compressed and all the letters are rendered on top of one another at the 
start of the path.  I would appreciate any insights into the desired 
behavior under these conditions and thank you for your time. 

-Alex Menzies


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Alex Menzies
IBM Software Group 
Emerging Internet Technology / Browser Technology 
amenzie@us.ibm.com
512.828.8038