Determining the Layout Direction

When XmNlayoutDirection is specified as XmDEFAULT_DIRECTION, then the widget's layout direction is set at creation time from the governing pseudo-XOC. In the case of dynamic text (XmText and XmTextField), the governing pseudo-XOC is the one that is associated with the XmRendition used for the widget. In the case of static text (XmList, XmLabel, XmLabelG), the layout direction is set from the first compound string component that specifies a direction. This specification happens in one of two ways:

Directly

The component is of type XmSTRING_COMPONENT_LAYOUT_PUSH or XmSTRING_COMPONENT_DIRECTION.

Indirectly

The component is of type XmSTRING_COMPONENT_LOCALE_TEXT, XmSTRING_COMPONENT_WIDECHAR_TEXT, or XmSTRING_COMPONENT_TEXT, from the component's associated XmRendition's and associated LayoutObject.

When XmNlayoutDirection is not specified as XmDEFAULT_DIRECTION, and the XmNlayoutModifier @ls orientation value is not specified explicitly in the layout modifier string, then the XmNlayoutDirection value is passed through to the XOC and its LayoutObject.

If both XmNlayoutDirection and the XmNlayoutModifier @ls orientation value are explicitly specified, then the behavior is mixed. The XmNlayoutDirection controls widget object layout, and the XmNlayoutModifier @ls orientation value controls layout transformations.

See CAE Specification: Portable Layout Services: Context-dependent and Directional Text. The Open Group: Feb 1997; ISBN 1-85912-142-X; document number C616 for a description of portable functions for handling context-dependent and bidirectional text transformations as a logical extension to the existing POSIX locale model. The document is intended for system and application programmers who want to provide support for complex-text languages.