Patent ID: 7398468

Claim:
A method for displaying bi-directional text in a browser program on a computer coupled to drive a display and having an operating system such that the computer normally writes text to the display in a default language in a first, default direction, the method comprising: obtaining a bi-directional language support utility program; the bi-directional language support utility program opening a window on the display; the bi-directional language support utility program receiving a string of codes, each code corresponding to a character in a passage of text, at least a portion of which is in a non-default language that is written in a second direction, opposite to the default direction; and the bi-directional language support utility program displaying the characters corresponding to the codes in the window such that the passage of text is displayed with all portions thereof arranged in respectively appropriate directions, such that the operating system and the browser program need not themselves provide bi-directional language support; wherein receiving the string of codes comprises receiving an input keyed by a user of the computer and generating the string of codes responsive to the input; wherein generating the string of codes comprises writing codes to the string corresponding to the portion of the passage in the non-default language in a reverse order, such that the characters in the non-default language are displayed in proper order in the second direction.