Use right-to-left features in forms and reports

You can select the type of reading order you want in a label, text box, toggle button, combo box, list box, or command button.

1. Open a form or report in Design view.
2. Make sure the control is selected, and then click Properties on the Design toolbar.
3. On the All tab, in the ReadingOrder box, do one of the following:

   • To have the reading order follow the language of the text first entered, click Context.

   • To force the reading order in one direction, click Right-To-Left or Left-To-Right.

Note  CTRL+LEFT SHIFT and CTRL+RIGHT SHIFT shortcut keys used to dynamically change reading order and alignment in other bidirectional programs will temporarily change reading order only (alignment is excluded because changing alignment might negatively affect appearance). When the focus is moved outside the control, the display format returns to the previous control reading order.

You can select the type of keyboard language you want in a text box or combo box.

1. Open a form or report in Design view.
2. Make sure the control is selected, and then click Properties on the Design toolbar.
3. On the All tab, in the KeyboardLanguage box, do one of the following:

   • To make the keyboard language follow the most recent keyboard language you used, click System.

   • To make the keyboard language a particular language, click one of the languages shown in the list.

Note  The languages that appear in the KeyboardLanguage property box are determined by the keyboard languages you have installed. Available languages can be reviewed by double-clicking Keyboard or Regional Options in Microsoft Windows Control Panel.

1. Open a form or report in Design view.
2. Make sure the control is selected, and then click Properties on the Design toolbar.
3. On the All tab, in the TextAlign box, click one of the following:

   • To have text alignment follow the language used when the text was first entered or the user interface language, click General.

   • To set a fixed alignment, click one of the other choices.

Note  CTRL+LEFT SHIFT and CTRL+RIGHT SHIFT shortcut keys used to dynamically change reading order and alignment in other bidirectional programs will temporarily change reading order only (alignment is not changed because changing alignment might negatively affect appearance). When the focus leaves the control, the display format returns to the previous control reading order.

1. Open a form or report in Design view.
2. Make sure the control is selected, and then click Properties on the Design toolbar.
3. On the All tab, in the ScrollBarAlign box, do one of the following:

   • To have the scroll bar follow the setting of the Orientation property for the form or report that contains the control, click System. (A vertical scroll bar is placed on the left if the form or report Orientation property setting is Right-to-left and on the right if the form or report Orientation property setting is Left-to-right.)

   • To have the scroll bar on the right side of the control, click Right.

   • To have the scroll bar on the left side of the control, click Left.

1. Open a form or report in Design view.
2. Make sure the control is selected, and then click Properties on the Design toolbar.
3. On the All tab, in the NumeralShapes box, do one of the following:

   • For numerals formatted according to Unicode rules for adjacent text, click Context. In general, this means numeral shapes are Hindi if surrounding text is Arabic.

   • For numerals formatted according to the Numbers tab in regional settings in Windows Control Panel, click System.

   • For Western (Arabic) numeral shapes, click Arabic.

   • For locale-specific numeral shapes, click National.

The feature described in this Help topic is only available if support for right-to-left languages is enabled through Microsoft Office Language Settings.

In addition, to enable the right-to-left features in Microsoft Access 2000 (and later versions), you must be running a 32-bit Microsoft Windows operating system that has right-to-left support— for example, the Arabic version of Microsoft Windows 2000.

Most intrinsic Access controls can be configured to present right-to-left appearance and behavior. In some cases, this can be done by using standard Access control properties (for example, the TextAlign property) and repositioning of controls to achieve a right-to-left appearance.

However, in some cases right-to-left properties are needed to achieve proper right-to-left appearance and behavior. The following tables lists those controls for which new right-to-left properties are added: