BIDI package causes footnotes not to appear on dedication page

Question

I have a XeLaTeX problem I'm not sure how to solve.

I want to put a footnote on my dedication page. But if I have bidi package enabled, footnotes disappear.

With BIDI package

Without BIDI package

Code

In the code below, uncomment the BIDI lines to witness the breakage. :-(

\documentclass[a4paper,pagesize,openany,14pt,parskip=never]{scrbook}
\KOMAoptions{twoside=false}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{fontspec, newunicodechar}
\newfontfamily\Nhebrew{Noto Serif Hebrew}
%\usepackage{bidi}
\title{Why can't I put a footnote on dedication page}
\author{Help me please}
\dedication{{\small Hello \\ 
I want to put a footnote but it just turns into an asterisk\footnote{Why is this happening to me!?}}

And there's no footnote! But if I stop loading \texttt{bidi} package, it appears. What can I do if I want to use \texttt{bidi}?? 
%\begin{RTL}
%{\Nhebrew
%בבקשה תעזור לי
%
%}\end{RTL}
\footnote{please}

}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\tableofcontents
\addchap{Introduction}
\lipsum
\section{Two}
\lipsum
\addchap{Example}
\lipsum
\addchap{Hello}
\lipsum
\end{document}

Conclusion

How can I fix this so that I may use footnotes on dedication page even when I'm using BIDI elsewhere in my document? Just loading BIDI is enough to cause it to break, so I can't write Hebrew/Arabic/other RTL langs anywhere.

Answer 1

The dedication page set by \dedication is one of the title pages. Therefore you get an asterisk as first footnote mark etc.

With class scrbook package bidi uses file scrbook-xetex-bidi.def. This file redefines \maketitle and other commands. Unfortunaly the redefinition bases on a version before KOMA-Script 3.12. This version is outdated for 7 years. Current KOMA-Script version is 3.26b. Thats the reason why there other issues too. Eg \thanks in \author results in two equal footnotes on the title page.

Thanks for reporting the problem to the package author. In the mean time you can use the following package (thanks to Markus Kohm) as a workaround, but note there is no support and no warranty:

%
% Fix bidi redefinition of \maketitle in scrbook.
%
% Copyright (c) Markus Kohm, 2019
%
% This file may be distributed under the conditions of the
% LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3c
% of this license or (at your option) any later version.
% The latest version of this license is in
%    https://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt
% and version 1.3c or later is part of all distributions of LaTeX
% version 2005/12/01 or later.
% 
% This file has the LPPL maintenance status "unmaintained".
%
\ProvidesPackage{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}[2019/06/28 v0.1 unsupported bidi fix]
\PackageInfo{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}{%
  Hack to fix some of the bidi\MessageBreak
  \string\maketitle\space problems.\MessageBreak
  A better solution would be to fix\MessageBreak
  bidi and if it would use, e.g.,\MessageBreak
  \string\CheckCommand\space to check the current\MessageBreak
  definition before redefining a macro\MessageBreak
  or to use xpatch to patch the\MessageBreak
  original KOMA-Script macros instead of\MessageBreak
  defining them newly}
\@ifclassloaded{scrbook}{}{%
  \PackageError{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}{unsupported class}{%
    This package doesn't make sense without class scrbook.}%
  \expandafter\endinput
}
\@ifpackageloaded{bidi}{}{%
  \PackageError{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}{missing package bidi}{%
    This package doesn't make sense without package bidi.}%
  \expandafter\endinput
}
\CheckCommand*\maketitle[1][1]{%
  \if@titlepage
    \begin{titlepage}
      \setcounter{page}{%
        #1%
      }%
      \let\footnotesize\small
      \let\right@footnoterule\relax
      \let\left@footnoterule\relax
      \let\textwidth@footnoterule\relax
      \let\footnote\thanks
      \let\LTRfootnote\LTRthanks
      \let\RTLfootnote\RTLthanks
      \renewcommand*\thefootnote{\@fnsymbol\c@footnote}%
      \let\@oldmakefnmark\@makefnmark
      \renewcommand*{\@makefnmark}{\rlap\@oldmakefnmark}%
      \ifx\@extratitle\@empty \else
        \noindent\@extratitle\next@tpage\cleardoubleemptypage
        \thispagestyle{empty}%
      \fi
      \setparsizes{\z@}{\z@}{\z@\@plus 1fil}\par@updaterelative
      \ifx\@titlehead\@empty \else
        \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}%
        \@titlehead
        \end{minipage}\par
      \fi
      \null\vfill
      \begin{center}
        \ifx\@subject\@empty \else
          {\subject@font \@subject \par}%
          \vskip 3em
        \fi
        {\titlefont\huge \@title\par}%
        \vskip 1em
        {\ifx\@subtitle\@empty\else\usekomafont{subtitle}\@subtitle\par\fi}%
        \vskip 2em
        {\Large \lineskip 0.75em
          \begin{tabular}[t]{c}
            \@author
          \end{tabular}\par
        }%
        \vskip 1.5em
        {\Large \@date \par}%
        \vskip \z@ \@plus3fill
        {\Large \@publishers \par}%
        \vskip 3em
      \end{center}\par
      \@thanks
      \vfill\null
      \if@twoside\next@tpage
        \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}
          \@uppertitleback
        \end{minipage}\par
        \vfill
        \begin{minipage}[b]{\textwidth}
          \@lowertitleback
        \end{minipage}
      \fi
      \ifx\@dedication\@empty \else
        \next@tpage\null\vfill
        {\centering \Large \@dedication \par}%
        \vskip \z@ \@plus3fill
        \if@twoside \next@tpage\cleardoubleemptypage \fi
      \fi
    \end{titlepage}
  \else
    \par
    \@tempcnta=%
    #1%
    \relax\ifnum\@tempcnta=1\else
      \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
        Optional argument of \string\maketitle\space ignored
        at\MessageBreak
        notitlepage-mode%
      }%
    \fi
    \begingroup
      \renewcommand*\thefootnote{\@fnsymbol\c@footnote}%
      \let\@oldmakefnmark\@makefnmark
      \renewcommand*{\@makefnmark}{\rlap\@oldmakefnmark}
      \if@twocolumn
        \ifnum \col@number=\@ne
          \@maketitle
        \else
          \twocolumn[\@maketitle]%
        \fi
      \else
        \newpage
        \global\@topnum\z@
        \@maketitle
      \fi
      \thispagestyle{\titlepagestyle}\@thanks
    \endgroup
  \fi
  \setcounter{footnote}{0}%
  \let\thanks\relax
  \let\LTRthanks\relax
  \let\RTLthanks\relax
  \let\maketitle\relax
  \let\@maketitle\relax
  \global\let\@thanks\@empty
  \global\let\@author\@empty
  \global\let\@date\@empty
  \global\let\@title\@empty
  \global\let\@subtitle\@empty
  \global\let\@extratitle\@empty
  \global\let\@titlehead\@empty
  \global\let\@subject\@empty
  \global\let\@publishers\@empty
  \global\let\@uppertitleback\@empty
  \global\let\@lowertitleback\@empty
  \global\let\@dedication\@empty
  \global\let\author\relax
  \global\let\title\relax
  \global\let\extratitle\relax
  \global\let\titlehead\relax
  \global\let\subject\relax
  \global\let\publishers\relax
  \global\let\uppertitleback\relax
  \global\let\lowertitleback\relax
  \global\let\dedication\relax
  \global\let\date\relax
  \global\let\and\relax  
}
\renewcommand*\maketitle[1][1]{%
  \expandafter\ifnum \csname scr@[email protected]\endcsname>\scr@compatibility\relax
  \else
    \def\and{%
      \end{tabular}%
      \hskip 1em \@plus.17fil%
      \begin{tabular}[t]{c}%
    }%
  \fi
  \if@titlepage
    \begin{titlepage}
      \setcounter{page}{%
        #1%
      }%
      \if@titlepageiscoverpage
        \edef\titlepage@restore{%
          \noexpand\endgroup
          \noexpand\global\noexpand\@colht\the\@colht
          \noexpand\global\noexpand\@colroom\the\@colroom
          \noexpand\global\vsize\the\vsize
          \noexpand\global\noexpand\@titlepageiscoverpagefalse
          \noexpand\let\noexpand\titlepage@restore\noexpand\relax
        }%
        \begingroup
        \topmargin=\dimexpr \coverpagetopmargin-1in\relax
        \IfRTL{%
          \evensidemargin=\dimexpr \coverpageleftmargin-1in\relax
          \oddsidemargin=\dimexpr \coverpageleftmargin-1in\relax
        }{%
          \oddsidemargin=\dimexpr \coverpageleftmargin-1in\relax
          \evensidemargin=\dimexpr \coverpageleftmargin-1in\relax
        }%
        \textwidth=\dimexpr
        \paperwidth-\coverpageleftmargin-\coverpagerightmargin\relax
        \textheight=\dimexpr
        \paperheight-\coverpagetopmargin-\coverpagebottommargin\relax
        \headheight=0pt
        \headsep=0pt
        \footskip=\baselineskip
        \@colht=\textheight
        \@colroom=\textheight
        \vsize=\textheight
        \columnwidth=\textwidth
        \hsize=\columnwidth
        \linewidth=\hsize
      \else
        \let\titlepage@restore\relax
      \fi
      \let\footnotesize\small
      \let\right@footnoterule\relax
      \let\left@footnoterule\relax
      \let\textwidth@footnoterule\relax
      \let\footnote\thanks
      \let\LTRfootnote\LTRthanks
      \let\RTLfootnote\RTLthanks
      \renewcommand*\thefootnote{\@fnsymbol\c@footnote}%
      \let\@oldmakefnmark\@makefnmark
      \renewcommand*{\@makefnmark}{\rlap\@oldmakefnmark}%
      \ifx\@extratitle\@empty
        \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty
        \else
          \if@twoside\mbox{}\next@tpage\fi
          \noindent\@frontispiece\next@tdpage
        \fi
      \else
        \noindent\@extratitle
        \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty
        \else
          \next@tpage
          \noindent\@frontispiece
        \fi
        \next@tdpage
      \fi
      \setparsizes{\z@}{\z@}{\z@\@plus 1fil}\par@updaterelative
      \ifx\@titlehead\@empty \else
        \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}%
          \usekomafont{titlehead}{\@titlehead\par}%
        \end{minipage}\par
      \fi
      \null\vfill
      \begin{center}
        \ifx\@subject\@empty \else
          {\usekomafont{subject}{\@subject\par}}%
          \vskip 3em
        \fi
        {\usekomafont{title}{\huge \@title\par}}%
        \vskip 1em
        {\ifx\@subtitle\@empty\else\usekomafont{subtitle}{\@subtitle\par}\fi}%
        \vskip 2em
        {%
          \usekomafont{author}{%
            \lineskip 0.75em
            \begin{tabular}[t]{c}
              \@author
            \end{tabular}\par
          }%
        }%
        \vskip 1.5em
        {\usekomafont{date}{\@date \par}}%
        \vskip \z@ \@plus3fill
        {\usekomafont{publishers}{\@publishers \par}}%
        \vskip 3em
      \end{center}\par
      \@thanks\global\let\@thanks\@empty
      \vfill\null
      \if@twoside
        \@tempswatrue
        \expandafter\ifnum \@nameuse{scr@[email protected]}>\scr@compatibility\relax
        \else
          \ifx\@uppertitleback\@empty\ifx\@lowertitleback\@empty
            \@tempswafalse
          \fi\fi
        \fi
        \if@tempswa
          \next@tpage
          \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}
            \@uppertitleback
          \end{minipage}\par
          \vfill
          \begin{minipage}[b]{\textwidth}
            \@lowertitleback
          \end{minipage}\par
          \@thanks\global\let\@thanks\@empty
        \fi
      \else
        \ifx\@uppertitleback\@empty\else
          \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
            non empty \string\uppertitleback\space ignored
            by \string\maketitle\MessageBreak
            in `twoside=false' mode%
          }%
        \fi
        \ifx\@lowertitleback\@empty\else
          \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
            non empty \string\lowertitleback\space ignored
            by \string\maketitle\MessageBreak
            in `twoside=false' mode%
          }%
        \fi
      \fi
      \ifx\@dedication\@empty
      \else
        \next@tdpage\null\vfill
        {\centering\usekomafont{dedication}{\@dedication \par}}%
        \vskip \z@ \@plus3fill
        \@thanks\global\let\@thanks\@empty
        \cleardoubleemptypage
      \fi
      \ifx\titlepage@restore\relax\else\clearpage\titlepage@restore\fi
    \end{titlepage}
  \else
    \par
    \@tempcnta=%
    #1%
    \relax\ifnum\@tempcnta=1\else
      \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
        Optional argument of \string\maketitle\space ignored\MessageBreak
        in `titlepage=false' mode%
      }%
    \fi
    \ifx\@uppertitleback\@empty\else
      \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
        non empty \string\uppertitleback\space ignored
        by \string\maketitle\MessageBreak
        in `titlepage=false' mode%
      }%
    \fi
    \ifx\@lowertitleback\@empty\else
      \ClassWarning{\KOMAClassName}{%
        non empty \string\lowertitleback\space ignored
        by \string\maketitle\MessageBreak
        in `titlepage=false' mode%
      }%
    \fi
    \begingroup
      \let\titlepage@restore\relax
      \renewcommand*\thefootnote{\@fnsymbol\c@footnote}%
      \let\@oldmakefnmark\@makefnmark
      \renewcommand*{\@makefnmark}{\rlap\@oldmakefnmark}%
      \next@tdpage
      \if@twocolumn
        \ifnum \col@number=\@ne
          \ifx\@extratitle\@empty
            \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty\else\if@twoside\mbox{}\fi\fi
          \else
            \@makeextratitle
          \fi
          \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty
            \ifx\@extratitle\@empty\else\next@tdpage\fi
          \else
            \next@tpage
            \@makefrontispiece
            \next@tdpage
          \fi
          \@maketitle
        \else
          \ifx\@extratitle\@empty
            \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty\else\if@twoside\mbox{}\fi\fi
          \else
            \twocolumn[\@makeextratitle]%
          \fi
          \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty
            \ifx\@extratitle\@empty\else\next@tdpage\fi
          \else
            \next@tpage
            \twocolumn[\@makefrontispiece]%
            \next@tdpage
          \fi
          \twocolumn[\@maketitle]%
        \fi
      \else
        \ifx\@extratitle\@empty
          \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty\else \mbox{}\fi
        \else
          \@makeextratitle
        \fi
        \ifx\@frontispiece\@empty
          \ifx\@extratitle\@empty\else\next@tdpage\fi
        \else
          \next@tpage
          \@makefrontispiece
          \next@tdpage
        \fi
        \@maketitle
      \fi
      \ifx\titlepagestyle\@empty\else\thispagestyle{\titlepagestyle}\fi
      \@thanks\global\let\@thanks\@empty
    \endgroup
  \fi
  \setcounter{footnote}{0}%
  \expandafter\ifnum \csname scr@[email protected]\endcsname>\scr@compatibility\relax
    \let\thanks\relax
    \let\LTRthanks\relax
    \let\RTLthanks\relax
    \let\maketitle\relax
    \let\@maketitle\relax
    \global\let\@thanks\@empty
    \global\let\@author\@empty
    \global\let\@date\@empty
    \global\let\@title\@empty
    \global\let\@subtitle\@empty
    \global\let\@extratitle\@empty
    \global\let\@frontispiece\@empty
    \global\let\@titlehead\@empty
    \global\let\@subject\@empty
    \global\let\@publishers\@empty
    \global\let\@uppertitleback\@empty
    \global\let\@lowertitleback\@empty
    \global\let\@dedication\@empty
    \global\let\author\relax
    \global\let\title\relax
    \global\let\extratitle\relax
    \global\let\titlehead\relax
    \global\let\subject\relax
    \global\let\publishers\relax
    \global\let\uppertitleback\relax
    \global\let\lowertitleback\relax
    \global\let\dedication\relax
    \global\let\date\relax
  \fi
  \global\let\and\relax
}%
\CheckCommand*{\@maketitle}{%
  \clearpage
  \let\footnote\thanks
  \let\LTRfootnote\LTRthanks
  \let\RTLfootnote\RTLthanks
  \ifx\@extratitle\@empty \else
    \noindent\@extratitle \next@tpage \if@twoside \null\next@tpage \fi
  \fi
  \setparsizes{\z@}{\z@}{\z@\@plus 1fil}\par@updaterelative
  \ifx\@titlehead\@empty \else
    \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}
      \@titlehead
    \end{minipage}\par
  \fi
  \null
  \vskip 2em%
  \begin{center}%
    \ifx\@subject\@empty \else
      {\subject@font \@subject \par}
      \vskip 1.5em
    \fi
    {\titlefont\huge \@title \par}%
    \vskip .5em
    {\ifx\@subtitle\@empty\else\usekomafont{subtitle}\@subtitle\par\fi}%
    \vskip 1em
    {\Large
      \lineskip .5em%
      \begin{tabular}[t]{c}
        \@author
      \end{tabular}\par
    }%
    \vskip 1em%
    {\Large \@date \par}%
    \vskip \z@ \@plus 1em
    {\Large \@publishers \par}
    \ifx\@dedication\@empty \else
      \vskip 2em
      {\Large \@dedication \par}
    \fi
  \end{center}%
  \par
  \vskip 2em
}
\renewcommand*{\@maketitle}{%
  \global\@topnum=\z@
  \setparsizes{\z@}{\z@}{\z@\@plus 1fil}\par@updaterelative
  \ifx\@titlehead\@empty \else
    \begin{minipage}[t]{\textwidth}
      \usekomafont{titlehead}{\@titlehead\par}%
    \end{minipage}\par
  \fi
  \null
  \vskip 2em%
  \begin{center}%
    \ifx\@subject\@empty \else
      {\usekomafont{subject}{\@subject \par}}%
      \vskip 1.5em
    \fi
    {\usekomafont{title}{\huge \@title \par}}%
    \vskip .5em
    {\ifx\@subtitle\@empty\else\usekomafont{subtitle}\@subtitle\par\fi}%
    \vskip 1em
    {%
      \usekomafont{author}{%
        \lineskip .5em%
        \begin{tabular}[t]{c}
          \@author
        \end{tabular}\par
      }%
    }%
    \vskip 1em%
    {\usekomafont{date}{\@date \par}}%
    \vskip \z@ \@plus 1em
    {\usekomafont{publishers}{\@publishers \par}}%
    \ifx\@dedication\@empty \else
      \vskip 2em
      {\usekomafont{dedication}{\@dedication \par}}%
    \fi
  \end{center}%
  \par
  \vskip 2em
}%

MWE:

\documentclass{scrbook}
\KOMAoptions{twoside=false}
\usepackage{bidi}
\usepackage{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}
\title{Title}
\author{Author\thanks{Additional information}}
\dedication{%
Text,\thanks{First footnote}\\
more text\thanks{Second footnote}
}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
Text \footnote{\KOMAScriptVersion}
\end{document}

Result:

Your example (I have replaced an outdated option by fontsize=14pt):

\documentclass[%a4paper,pagesize,% default
  openany,
  fontsize=14pt,% <- syntax changed!
  parskip=never
]{scrbook}
\KOMAoptions{twoside=false}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{fontspec, newunicodechar}
\newfontfamily\Nhebrew{Noto Serif Hebrew}
\usepackage{bidi}
\usepackage{scrbook-bidi-maketitle-fix}
\title{Why can't I put a footnote on dedication page}
\author{Help me please}
\dedication{{\small Hello \\ 
I want to put a footnote but it just turns into an asterisk\footnote{Why is this happening to me!?}%
\par% <- use \par here!
}
And there's no footnote! But if I stop loading \texttt{bidi} package, it appears. What can I do if I want to use \texttt{bidi}?? 
\begin{RTL}
{\Nhebrew
בבקשה תעזור לי

}\end{RTL}
\footnote{please}

}

\begin{document}
\maketitle
\tableofcontents
\addchap{Introduction}
\lipsum
\section{Two}
\lipsum
\addchap{Example}
\lipsum
\addchap{Hello}
\lipsum
\end{document}

Result: