diff -r 5dc02b23752f -r 3e2da88830cd src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp
--- a/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp	Tue Jul 06 15:10:48 2010 +0300
+++ b/src/gui/text/qtextengine.cpp	Wed Aug 18 10:37:55 2010 +0300
@@ -885,7 +885,7 @@
     QFixed letterSpacing = font.d->letterSpacing;
     QFixed wordSpacing = font.d->wordSpacing;
 
-    if (letterSpacingIsAbsolute)
+    if (letterSpacingIsAbsolute && letterSpacing.value())
         letterSpacing *= font.d->dpi / qt_defaultDpiY();
 
     if (letterSpacing != 0) {
@@ -1404,7 +1404,10 @@
 #else
     bool ignore = ignoreBidi;
 #endif
-    if (!ignore && option.textDirection() == Qt::LeftToRight) {
+
+    bool rtl = isRightToLeft();
+
+    if (!ignore && !rtl) {
         ignore = true;
         const QChar *start = layoutData->string.unicode();
         const QChar * const end = start + length;
@@ -1420,7 +1423,7 @@
     QVarLengthArray<QScriptAnalysis, 4096> scriptAnalysis(length);
     QScriptAnalysis *analysis = scriptAnalysis.data();
 
-    QBidiControl control(option.textDirection() == Qt::RightToLeft);
+    QBidiControl control(rtl);
 
     if (ignore) {
         memset(analysis, 0, length*sizeof(QScriptAnalysis));
@@ -1515,6 +1518,23 @@
     resolveAdditionalFormats();
 }
 
+bool QTextEngine::isRightToLeft() const
+{
+    switch (option.textDirection()) {
+    case Qt::LeftToRight:
+        return false;
+    case Qt::RightToLeft:
+        return true;
+    default:
+        break;
+    }
+    // this places the cursor in the right position depending on the keyboard layout
+    if (layoutData->string.isEmpty())
+        return QApplication::keyboardInputDirection() == Qt::RightToLeft;
+    return layoutData->string.isRightToLeft();
+}
+
+
 int QTextEngine::findItem(int strPos) const
 {
     itemize();
@@ -2511,7 +2531,7 @@
 
     QList<QTextOption::Tab> tabArray = option.tabs();
     if (!tabArray.isEmpty()) {
-        if (option.textDirection() == Qt::RightToLeft) { // rebase the tabArray positions.
+        if (isRightToLeft()) { // rebase the tabArray positions.
             QList<QTextOption::Tab> newTabs;
             QList<QTextOption::Tab>::Iterator iter = tabArray.begin();
             while(iter != tabArray.end()) {
@@ -2648,6 +2668,12 @@
         flags |= QTextItem::StrikeOut;
 }
 
+QTextItemInt::QTextItemInt(const QGlyphLayout &g, QFont *font, const QChar *chars_, int numChars, QFontEngine *fe)
+    : flags(0), justified(false), underlineStyle(QTextCharFormat::NoUnderline),
+      num_chars(numChars), chars(chars_), logClusters(0), f(font),  glyphs(g), fontEngine(fe)
+{
+}
+
 QTextItemInt QTextItemInt::midItem(QFontEngine *fontEngine, int firstGlyphIndex, int numGlyphs) const
 {
     QTextItemInt ti = *this;