Direction

direction Support Key: [*CSS2\|CSS2.1] [IE5\|N6.1\|O7.2*\|S1]	Other International Properties
	unicode-bidi ruby-align ruby-overhang ruby-position line-break word-break writing-mode ime-mode	text-justify text-autospace text-kashida-space layout-flow layout-grid layout-grid-mode layout-grid-type layout-grid-line layout-grid-char layout-grid-char-spacing
= Index DOT Css by Brian Wilson =

Quick Statistics
Default Value:		ltr
Applicable Elements:		All
Inherit From Parent:		Yes
Applicable Media:		Visual
HTML Equivalent:		<element DIR="ltr\|rtl">
Official Docs:		CSS2: Sect. 9.10, CSS2.1: Sect 9.10 Microsoft MSDN Reference

What is it?: Text in some languages flows from right to left, while many other languages flow from left to right. There will inevitably be cases where left to right text and right to left content must be intermingled. Unicode allows for a complex process of determining the directional flow of content based on properties of the characters and content, as well as explicit controls for language "embeddings" and directional overrides. This algorithm should be used with bi-directional content as formatted by CSS. The 'unicode-bidi' and 'direction' properties specify how document content maps to the Unicode algorithm.

The 'direction' property specifies the base direction (reading order) for text content in an element. It is also meant to control the directionality of table columns, text overflow and positioning of justified text.

Allowed Values
inherit
[CSS2|CSS2.1] [IE5|N6.1|O7.2|S1]: Type: Explicit; Description:
Explicitly sets the value of this property to that of the parent.
ltr
[CSS2|CSS2.1] [IE5|N6.1|O7.2|S1]: Type: Explicit; Description:
Text flow is left-to-right.
rtl
[CSS2|CSS2.1] [IE5|N6.1|O7.2|S1]: Type: Explicit; Description:
Text flow is right-to-left.

Example: Ext/Doc: div { unicode-bidi: embed; direction: rtl }; In-Line: <div STYLE="unicode-bidi: embed; direction: rtl">Bidi content</div>

Notes

The 'unicode-bidi' property must be set to "embed" or "bidi-override" in order for the direction property to have an effect on inline elements.
CSS2 states that, because HTML 4.0 defines bidi behavior for HTML elements, a browser conforming to CSS2 may ignore the 'unicode-bidi' and 'direction' CSS properties.
This property should also control the direction of the layout of table columns, horizontal overflow content and the position of 'text-align: justify" last-line remainders.

Browser Peculiarities