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1 *arabic.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2005 Mar 29
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4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Nadim Shaikli
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7 Arabic Language support (options & mappings) for Vim *Arabic*
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8
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9 {Vi does not have any of these commands}
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10
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11 *E800*
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12 In order to use right-to-left and Arabic mapping support, it is
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13 necessary to compile VIM with the |+arabic| feature.
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14
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15 These functions have been created by Nadim Shaikli <nadim-at-arabeyes.org>
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16
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17 It is best to view this file with these settings within VIM's GUI: >
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18
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19 :set encoding=utf-8
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20 :set arabicshape
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21
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22
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23 Introduction
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24 ------------
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25 Arabic is a rather demanding language in which a number of special
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26 features are required. Characters are right-to-left oriented and
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27 ought to appear as such on the screen (i.e. from right to left).
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28 Arabic also requires shaping of its characters, meaning the same
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29 character has a different visual form based on its relative location
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30 within a word (initial, medial, final or stand-alone). Arabic also
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31 requires two different forms of combining and the ability, in
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32 certain instances, to either superimpose up to two characters on top
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33 of another (composing) or the actual substitution of two characters
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34 into one (combining). Lastly, to display Arabic properly one will
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35 require not only ISO-8859-6 (U+0600-U+06FF) fonts, but will also
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36 require Presentation Form-B (U+FE70-U+FEFF) fonts both of which are
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37 subsets within a so-called ISO-10646-1 font.
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38
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39 The commands, prompts and help files are not in Arabic, therefore
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40 the user interface remains the standard Vi interface.
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41
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42
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43 Highlights
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44 ----------
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45 o Editing left-to-right files as in the original VIM hasn't changed.
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46
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47 o Viewing and editing files in right-to-left windows. File
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48 orientation is per window, so it is possible to view the same
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49 file in right-to-left and left-to-right modes, simultaneously.
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50
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51 o No special terminal with right-to-left capabilities is required.
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52 The right-to-left changes are completely hardware independent.
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53 Only Arabic fonts are necessary.
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54
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55 o Compatible with the original VIM. Almost all features work in
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56 right-to-left mode (there are liable to be bugs).
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57
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58 o Changing keyboard mapping and reverse insert modes using a single
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59 command.
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60
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61 o Toggling complete Arabic support via a single command.
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62
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237
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63 o While in Arabic mode, numbers are entered from left to right. Upon
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64 entering a none number character, that character will be inserted
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65 just into the left of the last number.
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66
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67 o Arabic keymapping on the command line in reverse insert mode.
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68
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69 o Proper Bidirectional functionality is possible given VIM is
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70 started within a Bidi capable terminal emulator.
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71
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72
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73 Arabic Fonts *arabicfonts*
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74 ------------
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75
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76 VIM requires monospaced fonts of which there are many out there.
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77 Arabic requires ISO-8859-6 as well as Presentation Form-B fonts
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78 (without Form-B, Arabic will _NOT_ be usable). It is highly
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79 recommended that users search for so-called 'ISO-10646-1' fonts.
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80 Do an Internet search or check www.arabeyes.org for further
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81 info on where to attain the necessary Arabic fonts.
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82
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83
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84 Font Installation
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85 -----------------
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86
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87 o Installation of fonts for X Window systems (Unix/Linux)
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88
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89 Depending on your system, copy your_ARABIC_FONT file into a
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90 directory of your choice. Change to the directory containing
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91 the Arabic fonts and execute the following commands:
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92
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93 % mkfontdir
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94 % xset +fp path_name_of_arabic_fonts_directory
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95
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96
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97 Usage
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98 -----
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99 Prior to the actual usage of Arabic within VIM, a number of settings
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100 need to be accounted for and invoked.
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101
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102 o Setting the Arabic fonts
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103
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104 + For VIM GUI set the 'guifont' to your_ARABIC_FONT. This is done
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105 by entering the following command in the VIM window.
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106 >
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107 :set guifont=your_ARABIC_FONT
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108 <
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109 NOTE: the string 'your_ARABIC_FONT' is used to denote a complete
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110 font name akin to that used in Linux/Unix systems.
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111 (e.g. -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--20-200-75-75-c-100-iso10646-1)
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112
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113 You can append the 'guifont' set command to your .vimrc file
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114 in order to get the same above noted results. In other words,
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115 you can include ':set guifont=your_ARABIC_FONT' to your .vimrc
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116 file.
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117
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118 + Under the X Window environment, you can also start VIM with
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119 '-fn your_ARABIC_FONT' option.
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120
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121 o Setting the appropriate character Encoding
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122 To enable the correct Arabic encoding the following command needs
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123 to be appended,
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124 >
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125 :set encoding=utf-8
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126 <
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127 to your .vimrc file (entering the command manually into you VIM
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128 window is highly discouraged). In short, include ':set
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129 encoding=utf-8' to your .vimrc file.
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130
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131 Attempts to use Arabic without UTF-8 will result the following
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132 warning message,
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133
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134 *W17* >
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135 Arabic requires UTF-8, do ':set encoding=utf-8'
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136
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137 o Enable Arabic settings [short-cut]
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138
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139 In order to simplify and streamline things, you can either invoke
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140 VIM with the command-line option,
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141
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142 % vim -A my_utf8_arabic_file ...
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143
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144 or enable 'arabic' via the following command within VIM
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145 >
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146 :set arabic
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147 <
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148 The two above noted possible invocations are the preferred manner
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149 in which users are instructed to proceed. Baring an enabled 'termbidi'
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150 setting, both command options:
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151
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152 1. set the appropriate keymap
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153 2. enable the deletion of a single combined pair character
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154 3. enable rightleft mode
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155 4. enable rightleftcmd mode (affecting the command-line)
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156 5. enable arabicshape mode (do visual character alterations)
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157
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158 You may also append the command to your .vimrc file and simply
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159 include ':set arabic' to it.
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160
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161 You are also capable of disabling Arabic support via
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162 >
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163 :set noarabic
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164 <
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165 which resets everything that the command had enabled without touching
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166 the global settings as they could affect other possible open buffers.
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167 In short the 'noarabic' command,
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168
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169 1. resets to the alternate keymap
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170 2. disables the deletion of a single combined pair character
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171 3. disables rightleft mode
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172
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173 NOTE: the 'arabic' command takes into consideration 'termbidi' for
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174 possible external bi-directional (bidi) support from the
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175 terminal ("mlterm" for instance offers such support).
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176 'termbidi', if available, is superior to rightleft support
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177 and its support is preferred due to its level of offerings.
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178 'arabic' when 'termbidi' is enabled only sets the keymap.
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179
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180 If, on the other hand, you'd like to be verbose and explicit and
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181 are opting not to use the 'arabic' short-cut command, here's what
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182 is needed (i.e. if you use ':set arabic' you can skip this section) -
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183
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184 + Arabic Keymapping Activation
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185
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186 To activate the Arabic keymap (i.e. to remap your English/Latin
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187 keyboard to look-n-feel like a standard Arabic one), set the
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188 'keymap' command to "arabic". This is done by entering
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189 >
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190 :set keymap=arabic
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191 <
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192 in your VIM window. You can also append the 'keymap' set command to
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193 your .vimrc file. In other words, you can include ':set keymap=arabic'
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194 to your .vimrc file.
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195
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196 To turn toggle (or switch) your keymapping between Arabic and the
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197 default mapping (English), it is advised that users use the 'CTRL-^'
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198 key press while in insert (or add/replace) mode. The command-line
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199 will display your current mapping by displaying an "Arabic" string
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200 next to your insertion mode (e.g. -- INSERT Arabic --) indicating
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201 your current keymap.
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202
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203 + Arabic deletion of a combined pair character
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204
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205 By default VIM has the 'delcombine' option disabled. This option
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206 allows the deletion of ALEF in a LAM_ALEF (LAA) combined character
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207 and still retain the LAM (i.e. it reverts to treating the combined
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208 character as its natural two characters form -- this also pertains
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209 to harakat and their combined forms). You can enable this option
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210 by entering
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211 >
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212 :set delcombine
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213 <
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214 in our VIM window. You can also append the 'delcombine' set command
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215 to your .vimrc file. In other words, you can include ':set delcombine'
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216 to your .vimrc file.
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217
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218 + Arabic right-to-left Mode
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219
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220 By default VIM starts in Left-to-right mode. 'rightleft' is the
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221 command that allows one to alter a window's orientation - that can
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222 be accomplished via,
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223
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224 - Toggling between left-to-right and right-to-left modes is
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225 accomplished through ':set rightleft' and ':set norightleft'.
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226
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227 - While in Left-to-right mode, enter ':set rl' in the command line
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228 ('rl' is the abbreviation for rightleft).
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229
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230 - Put the ':set rl' line in your '.vimrc' file to start Vim in
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231 right-to-left mode permanently.
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232
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233 + Arabic right-to-left command-line Mode
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234
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235 For certain commands the editing can be done in right-to-left mode.
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236 Currently this is only applicable to search commands.
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237
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238 This is controlled with the 'rightleftcmd' option. The default is
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239 "search", which means that windows in which 'rightleft' is set will
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240 edit search commands in right-left mode. To disable this behavior,
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241 >
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242 :set rightleftcmd=
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243 <
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244 To enable right-left editing of search commands again,
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245 >
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246 :set rightleftcmd&
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247 <
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248 + Arabic Shaping Mode
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249
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250 To activate the required visual characters alterations (shaping,
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251 composing, combining) which the Arabic language requires, enable
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252 the 'arabicshape' command. This is done by entering
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253 >
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254 :set arabicshape
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255 <
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256 in our VIM window. You can also append the 'arabicshape' set
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257 command to your .vimrc file. In other words, you can include
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258 ':set arabicshape' to your .vimrc file.
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259
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260
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261 Keymap/Keyboard *arabickeymap*
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262 ---------------
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263
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264 The character/letter encoding used in VIM is the standard UTF-8.
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265 It is widely discouraged that any other encoding be used or even
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266 attempted.
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267
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268 Note: UTF-8 is an all encompassing encoding and as such is
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269 the only supported (and encouraged) encoding with
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270 regard to Arabic (all other proprietary encodings
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271 should be discouraged and frowned upon).
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272
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273 o Keyboard
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274
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275 + CTRL-^ in insert/replace mode toggles between Arabic/Latin mode
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276
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277 + Keyboard mapping is based on the Microsoft's Arabic keymap (the
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278 defacto standard in the Arab world):
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279
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280 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
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281 |! |@ |# |$ |% |^ |& |* |( |) |_ |+ || |~ ّ |
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282 |1 ١ |2 ٢ |3 ٣ |4 ٤ |5 ٥ |6 ٦ |7 ٧ |8 ٨ |9 ٩ |0 ٠ |- |= |\ |` ذ |
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283 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
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284 |Q َ |W ً |E ُ |R ٌ |T لإ |Y إ |U ` |I ÷ |O x |P ؛ |{ < |} > |
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285 |q ض |w ص |e ث |r ق |t ف |y غ |u ع |i ه |o خ |p ح |[ ج |] د |
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286 +-----------------------------------------------------------+
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287 |A ِ |S ٍ |D [ |F ] |G لأ |H أ |J ـ |K ، |L / |: |" |
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288 |a ش |s س |d ي |f ب |g ل |h ا |j ت |k ن |l م |; ك |' ط |
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289 +------------------------------------------------------+
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290 |Z ~ |X ْ |C { |V } |B لآ |N آ |M ' |< , |> . |? ؟ |
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291 |z ئ |x ء |c ؤ |v ر |b لا |n ى |m ة |, و |. ز |/ ظ |
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292 +-------------------------------------------------+
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293
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294 Restrictions
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295 ------------
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296
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297 o VIM in its GUI form does not currently support Bi-directionality
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298 (i.e. the ability to see both Arabic and Latin intermixed within
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299 the same line).
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300
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301
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302 Known Bugs
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303 ----------
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304
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305 There is one known minor bug,
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306
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307 1. If you insert a haraka (e.g. Fatha (U+064E)) after a LAM (U+0644)
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308 and then insert an ALEF (U+0627), the appropriate combining will
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309 not happen due to the sandwiched haraka resulting in something
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310 that will NOT be displayed correctly.
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311
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312 WORK-AROUND: Don't include harakats between LAM and ALEF combos.
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313 In general, don't anticipate to see correct visual
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314 representation with regard to harakats and LAM+ALEF
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315 combined characters (even those entered after both
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316 characters). The problem noted is strictly a visual
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317 one, meaning saving such a file will contain all the
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318 appropriate info/encodings - nothing is lost.
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319
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320 No other bugs are known to exist.
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321
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322 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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