BibLaTeX: ibidem tracker ignores references in footnotes when using RTL language (Hebrew / Arabic)

Question

I am using BibLaTeX, ibidem tracker and referencing in footnotes. The problem is, when I put a reference (\cite) inside a footnote, the ibidem tracker seems to ignore this reference. So, whenever there is the next reference outside of the footnote, mistakenly this reference might be replaced by "ibid" even though it is not the same as the previous reference found in the footnote.

It does work correctly if I use \autocites instead of citing within a footnote, but I don't want to do this, as I have lengthy footnotes with several quotes and it is inconvenient to put all the text in pre-/postnotes.

Edit: The issue seems to occur when I use polyglossia with an alternative language that has RTL script (such as Hebrew or Arabic). It doesn't matter whether the RTL language is actually used in the document or not, so it seems that package configurations are interfering.

This is my MWE:

\documentclass{scrreprt}

\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setdefaultlanguage{english}  % or other LTR language
\setotherlanguage{hebrew} % or other RTL language (arabic)
\usepackage[style=authortitle-icomp, backend=biber, autocite=footnote, idemtracker=constrict, opcittracker=constrict, loccittracker=constrict, citetracker=context]{biblatex}
\begin{filecontents}{\bibliography.bib}
@book{Doe2002,
    author = "John Doe",
    location = "New York",
    publisher = "Springer",
    shorttitle = "Wheel",
    title = "The Invention of the Wheel",
    year = "2002"
}

@book{Smith2004,
    author = "John Smith",
    location = "Boston",
    publisher = "Bookhouse",
    title = "Paradigm Shift",
    year = "2004"
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\bibliography.bib}
\begin{document}
Reference 1 to Doe\autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}.

Text and footnote references.\footnote{\cite[See][36]{Smith2004} and also \cite[see][187--195]{Doe2002}.}

%Text and cites references.\autocites[See][36]{Smith2004}[and also][187--195]{Doe2002}

Text and reference 3 (to Doe).\autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}
\end{document}

I would expect the following references:

• See Doe 2002 (p. 258)
• See Smith 2004 (p. 36), See Doe 2002 (p. 187-195)
• See Doe 2002 (p. 258)

However, what I get is this:

• See Doe 2002 (p. 258)
• See Smith 2004 (p. 36), See Doe 2002 (p. 187-195)
• See ibid.

So, the last reference is only "ibid" without specifying a page number. Thus, it mistakenly refers back to the very first reference, ignoring the references in the footnote.

Do you know how this can be fixed? I am using XeTeX 3.1415926-2.5-0.9999.3-2014012222 (TeX Live 2013/Debian) and biber 1.8.

This person seems to have had a similar problem, though for a different reason (combining BibLaTeX with memoir):

Difference between \footcite and \cite in BibLaTeX

Answer 1

This issue has now been fixed in biblatex 3.8. You should now get proper tracking of citations within footnotes for RTL languages. See https://github.com/plk/biblatex/pull/576 for details.

MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\usepackage{csquotes}
\setdefaultlanguage{english}
\setotherlanguage{hebrew}
\usepackage[style=authortitle-icomp]{biblatex}
\begin{filecontents}{\jobname.bib}
@book{Doe2002,
  author = {John Doe},
  location = {New York},
  publisher = {Springer},
  shorttitle = {Wheel},
  title = {The Invention of the Wheel},
  year = {2002}
}
@book{Smith2004,
  author = {John Smith},
  location = {Boston},
  publisher = {Bookhouse},
  title = {Paradigm Shift},
  year = {2004}
}
\end{filecontents}
\addbibresource{\jobname.bib}
\pagestyle{empty}
\parindent 0em
\begin{document}
\null\vfill
\verb+\autocite+ to Doe\autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}.

\verb+\autocites+ to Smith and Doe \autocites[See][36]{Smith2004}[and
also][187--195]{Doe2002}.

\verb+\autocite+ to Doe \autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}.

\verb+\footnote{\cite+ to Smith and \verb+\cite+ to
Doe\verb+}+.\footnote{\cite[See][36]{Smith2004} and also
\cite[see][187--195]{Doe2002}.}

\verb+\autocite+ to Doe\autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}.

\verb+\footnote{\cites+ to Smith and
Doe\verb+}+.\footnote{\cites[See][36]{Smith2004}[and
also][187--195]{Doe2002}.}

\verb+\autocite+ to Doe\autocite[See][258]{Doe2002}.

\end{document}