GameTextCompiler RTL

[DevGeniusCode]

Purpose of the PR

This PR introduces support for RTL (Right-to-Left) languages in the handling of generals.str files. The new functionality eliminates the need to manually reverse text when working with these files.

Key Changes

• Added a new flag: RTL_REVERSE.
  When enabled, this flag automatically reverses the text during file processing to accommodate RTL languages.

This enhancement simplifies workflows for projects involving languages like Arabic, ensuring proper text direction without additional manual steps.

You may want to review the commit c8ce01a and see if the changes in the commit really need to be made. I removed the const so I could change the text value.

Fix TheSuperHackers/GeneralsGameCode#2

[DevGeniusCode]

• Refactor Utf16String functions to use const references
• Updated Utf16String::Reverse with improved logic for handling ignored and special characters.
• Updated unicodestring.h to include necessary headers to improve functionality.

Reverse

• Added detailed handling for untranslated strings, numeric sequences, and format specifiers. See doc comments for more information.
• Other edge cases still need to be handled:
  • Mixed RTL and LTR word order.
  • Spaces and numbers.
  • Handling of - at the beginning of a word or sentence. ("- GLA has SCUD Storm")

[DevGeniusCode]

I added support for mixed strings and refactored the function into smaller, more manageable functions for easier maintenance. However, handling all edge cases for untranslated strings and language-specific directionality manually leads to a lot of complexity.

Instead of manually addressing every single case, I propose using specific Unicode characters to mark RTL strings, such as LRM (Left-to-Right Mark), RLM (Right-to-Left Mark), and others. With these characters, the engine can automatically identify RTL segments and handle them accordingly, even in mixed or untranslated strings. And maybe we won't need to use the RTL_REVERSE flag either.

Example usage:

// context: Button to go to the game options screen
GUI:GameOptions
US: "GAME OPTIONS"
AR: "[U+200F]خيارات اللعبة" // No need for [U+200E] if RTL text is at the end.

// context: The title that will have a player's name and location added to it on the stats screen
GUI:PlayerStatistics
US: "%hs, from %ls"
AR: "%hs[U+200F], من [U+200E]%ls"

CONTROLBAR:UpgradeChinaOverlordBattleBunker
US: "Battle Bunker: &B"
AR: "[U+200F]مخبأ المعركة: [U+200E]&B"

// context: Refresh the information about NAT (Network Address Translation)
GUI:FirewallRefresh
US: "Refresh NAT"
AR: "[U+200F]تحديث [U+200E]NAT"

// context: Beacons can be placed and removed from the map
GUI:DeleteBeacon
US: "Delete\nBeacon"
AR: "[U+200F]حذف\nالمنارة[U+200E]" 

How it works:

• The [U+200F] (RLM) character forces the text after it to be displayed from right to left, while the [U+200E] (LRM) character enforces left-to-right rendering.
• This solution allows the engine to render RTL text correctly without needing manual intervention for each case.
• Note that It's not enough to type the string "[U+200E]" as it is. need to copy and paste the actual character (U+200E) directly.

This makes the process much more scalable, especially for projects involving multiple languages, including mixed LTR and RTL segments. By using these characters, the reversal function becomes very simple, only needing to avoid reversing number sequences (unless explicitly marked).

while (start <= end_line && (buffer[start] != 0x200F)) {
    start++;
}
while (end <= end_line && ( buffer[start] != 0x200E)) { 
    end++;
}
Reverse(buffer, start, end);

For more information on Unicode characters for text directionality, you can refer to the following resource:

• Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm

[xezon]

Is the reverse is so specific to RTL languages then this function should not be part of this class.

I suggest create a new class for the RTL processing.

[xezon]

This algorithm is very complicated. I wonder if it can be simplified. Also, it is not clear to me if it is correct.

So for example this string:

AR: ": دراﻮﻟا لﺎﺳرﻹا\nقﺮﺸﻟا ﻦﻣ ﻢﮫﻤﺟﺎﮫﻨﺳ ﻦﺤﻧ\nﺔﯿﺑﻮﻨﺠﻟا ﻲﻜﻳﺮﻣﻷا ﻢﻋﺪﻟا ةﺪﻋﺎﻗ لزأ"

should simply reverse all sentences between \n

And

AR: "%d:%d : ﻲﻟﺎﺘﻟا لاﺰﻧﻺﻟ ﻲﻘﺒﺘﻤﻟا ﺖﻗﻮﻟا"

should reverse everything, except the %d:%d part in itself.

I think to program that, you can first locate the begin and end of the % format fields, then reverse the whole string, then reverse the local begin and end of the % format fields, and then revert the reversal on those % format fields.

[xezon]

To avoid reversing strings such as

AR: "MISSION OBJECTIVE:\nTeam 2: Destroy the Power Plants"

or

AR: "*You've brought Colonel Burton to our little war, General. Even he will fall when faced with the horde"

I suggest to add a feature where we say to apply the reversal only if a certain set of characters is contained in the string.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_script_in_Unicode

So for example we could pass codes 0600–06FF and only if at least 1 character is part of these codes, the reversal will be applied.

Alternatively could also give it a range for characters to not reverse inplace, such as ascii with 0000-007F