3.4.2. Character shaping selectors

The character-shaping selector characters are used in conjunction with Arabic presentation forms. During the presentation process, certain characters may be joined together in cursive connections or ligatures. The following characters indicate that the character shape determination process used to achieve this presentation effect is to be either activated or inhibited. The following characters do not nest:

INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING (U+206C)

Between this character and the following ACTIVATE ARABIC FORM SHAPING format character (if any), the character-shaping determination process is to be inhibited. The stored Arabic presentation forms will be presented without shape modification. This is the default state.

ACTIVATE ARABIC FORM SHAPING (206D)

Note Between this character and the following INHIBIT ARABIC FORM SHAPING format character (if any), the stored Arabic presentation forms should be presented with shape modification by means of the character shaping determination process.

These characters have no effect on characters that are not presentation forms: In particular, Arabic nominal characters as from U+0600 to U+06FF are always subject to character shaping, and are unaffected by these formatting characters.