Note: This property is specific to bidirectional National Language Support (NLS) applications.
Specifies the layout direction for bidirectional objects.
For the purposes of this property, assume that Local refers to languages displayed Right-To-Left, and Roman refers to languages displayed Left-To-Right.
Direction is an umbrella property that provides as much functionality for each object as possible. For all objects except text items and display items, the Direction property is the only bidirectional property, and its setting controls the other aspects of bidirectional function. (List items, however, have both a Direction property and an Initial Keyboard Direction property.)
The form-level Direction property is the highest level setting of the property. When you accept the Default setting for the form-level Direction property, the layout direction for the form is inherited from the natural writing direction specified by the NLS language environment variable.
In most cases, leaving all the other Direction properties set to Default will provide the desired functionality--that is, the NLS language environment variable layout direction will ripple down to each subsequent level. You only need to specify the bidirectional properties when you want to override the inherited default values.
This chart summarizes inheritance for the Direction property.
Object |
Default Setting Derives Value From This Object |
---|---|
Form |
NLS environment variable |
All objects, such as Alert, Block, LOV, Window, and Canvas |
Form |
All items, such as Text Item, Display Item, Check Box, Button, Radio Group, and List Item |
Canvas |
This table summarizes the functions controlled by the Direction property for each object type. (Text items and display items do not have a Direction property; instead, in Oracle Forms, you can specifically set Justification, Reading Order, and Initial Keyboard Direction properties for these items. However, programmatically, you can get and set the Direction property only for all items, including text items and display items.)
Object |
Layout Direction |
Text Reading Order |
Text Alignment |
Scrollbar Position |
Initial Keyboard Direction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Form |
X |
||||
Alert |
X |
X |
X |
||
Block(for future use) |
|||||
LOV(for future use) |
|||||
Window |
X(of menu) |
X |
X |
||
Canvas |
X(also point of origin) |
X(boilerplate text) |
X(and rulers) |
||
Check Box |
X |
X |
X |
||
Button |
X |
X |
X |
||
Radio Group |
X |
X |
X |
||
List Item |
X |
X |
X |
X |
Note: The headings listed above represent functions, not properties: for example, the Direction property for alerts does not set the Initial Keyboard Direction property, it controls the initial keyboard state function.
The allowable values for this property are:
Value |
Description |
---|---|
Default |
Direction based on the property shown in the table. |
Right-To-Left |
Direction is right-to-left. |
Left-To-Right |
Direction is left-to-right. |
Applies to all objects listed in the table
Set Oracle Forms, programmatically
Direction (Alert)
Specifies the layout direction of the alert interface items, including the reading order of the text displayed within the alert window.
Direction (Button)
Specifies the reading order of button text and the initial keyboard state when the button receives input focus.
Direction (Canvas)
Specifies the layout direction of the canvas, including:
Direction (Check Box)
Specifies the layout direction of a check box, including:
Direction (Form)
Specifies the layout direction of a form. Setting the form-level Direction property to Default lets the form inherit layout direction from the natural writing direction of the language specified in the NLS environment variable.
Direction (List Item)
Specifies the layout direction of the list items in both popup lists and combo boxes, including:
Direction (Radio Group)
Specifies layout direction of the radio buttons of a group (position of the circle relative to the text), including:
Direction (Windows)
Specifies layout direction of the window object, including:
Reading Order Property
Defining Prompt Offset
within a Frame