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Mirroring Layouts

This page describes how to mirror a given layout. Use this feature to create RTL (right-to-left) layouts for languages such as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu in which layout objects are displayed from right-to-left. When a standard LTR (left-to-right) layout is mirrored an exact mirror copy of the original layout will be created for you.

How to create a RTL layout

Open the LTR layout using the tool.

Go  to Edit menu and select Options.  From the IFS Report Designer Options dialog select Enable bidirectional printing and Persian Calendar support. Click Ok on the dialog. See below.

Bidirectional print options in Report Designer tool

Selecting the above checkbox will enable the following toolbar button for mirroring layouts:  Click the RTL button to begin mirroring.

From the Make mirrored layout dialog select the required mirroring options:

Mirror all blocks in the layout - each block will be shifted so it appears on the same distance from the right margin of the page as it did from the left margin.

Mirror all tables in the layout - the table columns will appear in the reverse order in which the left most column will appear in the right most edge of the table. That is, the column order will be readjusted to right-to-left.

Make all left aligned fields right aligned - blocks as well as table cells that have been set to left aligned will be adjusted to right. Center aligned blocks/cells will remain the same.

Make all right aligned fields left aligned -  All blocks and table cells  that are right aligned will be adjusted to left. Center aligned fields will be left as it is. To enable  this option clear the check box for Make all left aligned fields right aligned. Once enabled, simply select the checkbox. This feature is more useful if a RTL layout needs to be converted to LTR.

If only the blocks needs to be mirrored simply select Mirror all blocks in the layout option and clear Mirror all tables in the layout option. Same way if only the tables need to be mirrored and not the blocks, clear the checkbox for mirroring blocks and select the checkbox for mirroring tables. By default both these options are selected at the start.  To adjust the alignment of blocks and table cells use the last two options listed in the dialog. For a RTL layout select Make all left aligned fields right aligned.  Note that, out of the last two alignment options only one can be selected at a time. Therefore when one option is enabled the other will be disabled. To not change the alignment at all, simply clear the last two check boxes in the dialog. This way the alignment set in the original layout will remain the same in the mirrored layout as well.

To convert the entire layout to RTL select the first three dialog options. These options will also be selected by default.

Once you have selected the required options click OK on the dialog.

You will now have a mirrored copy of the original layout that can be used as a RTL layout.

Finally, set the text direction of the mirrored layout by selecting Bidirectional Printing from the Edit menu and select the direction of printing as RightToLeft.