Windows text edit controls allow the user to switch the components orientation by hitting the <ctrl><shift> key combination. This does not happen in swing under any of the look and feels. Without this feature, it is impossible for users to override the default assumptions that the Unicode bidi algorithm makes about the ordering of text. Unfortunately there are many common cases where the Unicode bidi algorithm's assumption is wrong.

This bug is being entered based on user feedback from IBM Egypt, Sun Egypt, IBM Israel and TclTek, an Israeli company.