Arabic languages support

You can render text in right-to-left order in the output, which is useful for Arabic languages. You can also specify that certain texts in a Document should be rendered right-to-left and others in left-to-right, also within the same paragraph.

Bi-directional support is implemented based on the ICU library, which also enables morphing of Arabic letter shapes depending on the position in a specific word.

Numerals are also converted into Arabic forms.

Right-to-left paragraphs

The following is valid if a paragraph uses right-to-left text:

•	Indents are applied from the right.

•	Bullets and numbering are applied to the right.

•	Text alignment is mirrored, i.e. if you specify to use left alignment by default, new texts are actually aligned at the beginning of the paragraph on the right side of the text, which is the usual way of aligning right-to-left text.

Note:

When entering the text, the alignment toolbar buttons reflects the actual alignment.

Example 19

Alignment

You want to add texts in a document in a right-to-left direction and align these to the right by default.

•	In Tools > Options > Paragraph, you set the following:

 

When editing text, the Align right toolbar button is active. To change the alignment while you edit, select the appropriate toolbar button. Alternatively you can change alignment in the Properties panel, in the Paragraph style settings.

 

Numerals

Different numerals are used depending on the region:

•	South-west Asia, (gulf countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia etc) use Indian digits, e.g.

•	North African countries use Hindu - Arabic numerals (0,1,2...).

The current locale or specified country-code determines which numerals are rendered in the output.

Tables

You can specify that a table is read from right to left, in the following places:

•	The Insert Table dialog when inserting a table.

•	The Properties panel Table category for an existing table.

Charts

Chart titles, labels and legends use the same formatting rules as other texts in the document.

Barcodes

Barcodes that supply human-readable information use the same formatting rules as other texts in the document.

RTF, HTML and LXF filters

•	The RTF and LXF input filters support right-to-left controls.

•	The HTML filter supports the dir (direction) command.