RTL Support ARway App

Summary

In Unity, RTL (Right-to-Left) text is not supported by default and requires additional code or a Unity package to function properly. RTL support is included in Unity 6 (currently in beta); therefore, if the app is updated to this version in the future, RTL support will be included by default:

• Unity Forum: Arabic Text Support

• Unity Documentation: Advanced Text Generator

Adding RTL support directly to the ARway app could complicate development and maintenance with the inclusion of additional packages. Instead, providing instructions for implementing RTL support in our documentation allows developers who need this feature to tailor their setups, keeping the ARway app more efficient.

Using Unity Packages

For each of these Unity packages, the font used by the ARway app, Poppins, would need to be replaced with one that supports RTL text.

Package #1

This Unity package provides a new alternative component to the basic TextMeshPro in Unity. Each game object's Text component can be replaced with the new RTLTMPro component to add Arabic text.

• RTLTMPro on GitHub

Package #2

This Unity package adopts an alternative method by converting the existing text components to work with RTL writing systems.

• Unity3DFarsi on GitHub

Implementation using - Unity3DFarsi

Creating a New Script to Make the Components RTL

• In the folder Assets\ARWay\ViewerMode\2_Scripts\, create a new script file called MakeRTL.cs. The script file's content is as follows:

using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.UI;
using TMPro;
using System.Collections;

public class MakeRTL : MonoBehaviour
{
    void Start()
    {
        // Find all TextMeshPro components in the scene
        TextMeshProUGUI[] textMeshProComponents = FindObjectsOfType<TextMeshProUGUI>();

        // Process each TextMeshPro component
        foreach (TextMeshProUGUI textMeshProComponent in textMeshProComponents)
        {
            ApplyRTLText(textMeshProComponent);
        }

        // Find all Text components in the scene
        Text[] textComponents = FindObjectsOfType<Text>();

        // Process each Text component
        foreach (Text textComponent in textComponents)
        {
            ApplyRTLText(textComponent);
        }
    }

    void ApplyRTLText(TMP_Text textComponent)
    {
        // Apply RTL text processing only to TextMeshPro components
        if (textComponent is TextMeshProUGUI)
        {
            TextMeshProUGUI tmProComponent = (TextMeshProUGUI)textComponent;
            string fixedText = GetFixedTextFromRTL(tmProComponent.text);
            tmProComponent.text = fixedText;
        }
    }

    void ApplyRTLText(Text textComponent)
    {
        // Apply RTL text processing to Text components
        string fixedText = GetFixedTextFromRTL(textComponent.text);
        textComponent.text = fixedText;
    }

    string GetFixedTextFromRTL(string originalText)
    {
        string fixedText = originalText.faConvert();
        return fixedText;
    }
}

Attaching the Script MakeRTL.cs to a Game Object

1. In the Dashboard-SDK and ARMapSession scenes, open the folder Assets\ARWay\ViewerMode\0_Scene\.

2. Create a new empty game object.

3. In that game object, "Add Component" and select the "MakeRTL" script you created.

Setting the Locale to Arabic

• In the file Assets\ARWay\ViewerMode\2_Scripts\Localization\LocalizeManager.cs, modify the function at line 34 to be:

public void ChangeLocale()
{
    StartCoroutine(SetLocale("ar"));
}

Next, select the text objects to add the Arabic text.

Output:

After successful RTL implementation

Conclusion

As including RTL support requires the installation of an additional Unity package, it would be advisable to include information about RTL text support in the documentation.