Understanding bidirectional language support (Arabic and Hebrew)

Help for VT bidirectional language support (Arabic and Hebrew) is available.

Understanding bidirectional Arabic support

Understanding bidirectional Arabic limitations

Using installation tips

• ..\netscape\communicator\program\java\classes for Netscape 4.x
• ..\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.0_01\lib for Netscape 6.0
• For Java 2 browsers, please refer to \lib subdirectory of the used plug-in
  

• font.properties.win for Windows (using Netscape 4.x)
• font.properties.ar.13 for Windows (using Netscape 6.0 and later)

Configuring a workstation

Setting the code page

1. Click Preload Options on the Additional Options window in the Deployment Wizard.
2. Select Codepages2 in the preload tree.
3. Select Arabic.

Configuring an Arabic session

Setting the code page

1. Right-click a 3270 or 5250 configured session icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Select 420 Arabic Speaking for the Host Code Page.
4. Click Page Setup in the tree view and either select the bitmap font ARB3270 to be the active font for display or leave the default font, Courier, which is the system font.

Setting the swapping option

1. Click View.
2. Add a checkmark next to the Numeric Swapping or Symmetric Swapping option.


Changes are immediately reflected in the active session.
 


Numeric swapping is a 3270-only feature and is not available for an iSeries session.

Transferring files

• 864: Arabic PC code pages for OS/2
• 1256: Arabic PC code page for Windows NT
• ISO 8859-6 (01089) (ar_A): Arabic ISO code page for AIX
• 1046: Arabic code page for AIX
• Unicode (UTF-8): PC File is in UTF-8 encoding
• Unicode (UCS2): PC File Data is in Unicode range

Unicode Transfer options (UTF-8 and UCS2) are not available in the PC code page list. To enable Unicode Transfer options, in the Receive Text File or Send Text File Options on the i5/OS and OS/400 tree view in the File Transfer Defaults window, replace the keyword ASCII with either Unicode (UTF8) or Unicode (UCS2), depending on the user requirement.

Unicode transfer options are available only in 5250 sessions.

To set the Bidi properties:

1. Click Actions > File Transfer Defaults.
2. Select the appropriate PC code page.
3. Select the Bidi settings:
• For right-to-left host file orientation, check the Right-To-Left Host File Orientation checkbox.
• For left-to-right host file orientation, check the Left-To-Right Host File Orientation checkbox.
• For right-to-left PC file orientation, check the Right-To-Left Local File Orientation checkbox.
• For left-to-right PC file orientation, check the Left-To-Right Local File Orientation checkbox.
• For visual PC file type, check the Visual Local File Type checkbox.

Visual Local File Type is only highlighted for PC code page 864, AIX-1046, 1256, 1089, and Unicode. Select a PC code page first, then select the Local file type.

If you select Visual Local File Type during Unicode Transfer, Arabic data is received in the shaped FE range. Otherwise, Arabic data is received in the 06 isolated range.

• PC Default CodePage 1256
• Implicit PC File Type
• Left-To-Right PC File orientation
• Left-To-Right Host File orientation
• Lam-Alef Expansion On
• Lam-Alef Compression On
• Symmetric Swapping On
• Round Trip On
• Nominal Numerals Shape

Note: These new HTML parameters listed below have been added to the HTML parameters to control the end of file (EOF) behavior for downloaded files from Host to PC.

Understanding bidirectional keyboard functions for 3270

The keys unique to bidirectional 3270 are:

Language selection

The key combination Ctrl+N or Ctrl+L allows you to change the language layer. If the language layer is Latin, pressing Ctrl+N changes the language layer to Arabic. If the language layer is Arabic, pressing Ctrl+L changes the language layer to Latin.

Screen reverse

The key combination Ctrl+S reverses the screen image. If the screen orientation is left-to-right, pressing Ctrl+S reverses the screen image right-to-left. If the screen orientation is right-to-left, pressing Ctrl+S reverses the screen image to left-to-right.

Screen reverse does not reverse the operator information area.

When the screen orientation is changed, the language layer changes to the default language of the new screen orientation. If the screen is reversed to right-to-left, the language changes to Arabic. If the screen is reversed to left-to-right, then the language changes to Latin.
If the swapping of symmetric characters is enabled, the inversion of the screen causes directional characters to be replaced by their counterparts.
If the swapping of numeric characters is enabled, the inversion of the screen causes Hindi numerals to be replaced by their Arabic counterparts and the Arabic numerals to be replaced by their Hindi counterparts.

Field reverse

The key combination Ctrl+F toggles the field orientation to either opposite to or the same as the screen orientation. In most cases, the field direction is the same as the general screen direction. However, sometimes it is necessary to have a field whose direction is the opposite of the screen direction. The Field Reverse function allows such transitions. When this function is activated, the typing direction reverses, but the existing text in the field and the screen image do not change. When activated, this function creates a temporary change which stays in effect as long as the cursor remains within the field, or until Field Reverse is activated again.

If the function is activated while the cursor is at the beginning of a line or field, the cursor jumps to the end of the line or field, so that the reversed field begins logically from that position. Otherwise, the cursor remains in its position and allows natural and correct editing of existing texts whose direction is the opposite of the screen direction.

Auto field reverse

The key combination Ctrl+R toggles the auto field reverse mode for the current screen orientation.

Auto field reverse affects the automatic selection of the field orientation of unprotected fields:

• When auto field reverse is enabled, upon initial entry to an alphanumeric field, the field orientation will be set to right-to-left (for both left-to-right and right-to-left screen orientations).
• When auto field reverse is enabled, upon initial entry to a numeric field, the field orientation will be set to left-to-right (for both left-to-right and right-to-left screen orientations).
• When auto field reverse is disabled, upon initial entry to a field (whether numeric or alphanumeric), the field orientation is always set equal to the screen orientation.

Push and end push

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+P and allows the entering and editing of text whose direction is opposite from the field direction. When this function is activated, the cursor orientation is reversed, the language layer is changed accordingly, and a push segment is created.

End push, activated by the Ctrl+O (the letter "O") key sequence, ends the push mode.
 

In Windows mode, push is also activated by the Shift+NumLock key sequence and end push is also activated by the Shift+NumPad/ key sequence.

When you end the push mode, the cursor jumps to the end of the push segment, and its direction changes to the original direction. You can also perform end push by pressing any field exit keys (for example, Cursor Up or Cursor Down) or an aid key (for example, Enter).

The push function has two secondary modes:

Boundary mode

This mode is activated upon entering push mode. In this mode, the cursor remains in its position, and the typing of additional characters pushes the text in the direction opposite from the field direction. To indicate this boundary mode, the cursor has a block shape.

Edit mode

This mode is activated when the cursor is moved from its boundary position into the push segment area. In this mode, you can edit the text within the push segment, while typing in the field's natural direction.

AutoPush

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+A and helps the terminal operator type mixed left-to-right and right-to-left text. When enabled, reversed segments are automatically started and ended, according to the entered character or the selected language layer. This mode relieves the operator from manually pressing Push, as it is automatically invoked.

In right-to-left fields, typing a digit or a Latin letter causes the automatic initiation of push, without language change. Further Latin letters or digits will continue the push mode; any other character automatically terminates push mode. This feature allows you to type Arabic text with embedded numbers or Latin words without using push or end push. In left-to-right fields, typing an Arabic character or special character causes the automatic initiation of push, without language change. Typing any digit or Latin character causes the automatic termination of the mode. This allows you to type Latin text with embedded Arabic words using language layer selection rather than push and end push.

Setting the Arabic character shape selection functions

There are five shape selection keys: one for Contextual Shape Determination (CSD) and four for Specific Shaping modes (Base/Isolated, Initial, Middle, Final). The default Shaping Mode is CSD.

The keys unique to bidirectional 3270 are:

Contextual Shape Determination (CSD) key

Pressing this key sets the shaping mode to Contextual Shape Determination (CSD), which is the default. Note that contextual shape determination is performed only for right-to-left text entered or modified by the operator. This key toggles between CSD and Base mode.

Pressing any of the Specific shape selection keys disables CSD.

The character Alef-Madda in the operator information area indicates that CSD is selected. This function is initiated by the key combination Ctrl+D.

Specific Shape Selection keys:

• Base/Isolated: Initiated by the key combination Ctrl+I
• Initial: Initiated by the key combination Ctrl+T
• Final: Initiated by the key combination Ctrl+E
• Middle: Initiated by the key combination Ctrl+M

Pressing one of the above keys disables CSD and sets shaping mode to the selected value. Arabic letters subsequently typed will have the selected shape.

Some Arabic characters do not have middle, initial, or final shapes. In this case, if you enter one of those characters where the requested shape does not exist, the closest shape is selected according to the following rules:

• Instead of initial, isolated is selected.
• Instead of final, isolated is selected.
• Instead of middle, final (if it exists) or isolated is selected.

The selected Shaping Mode is shown in the operator information area:

• Isolated GHEIN  indicates Base/Isolated Shaping Mode
• Initial GHEIN  indicates Initial Shaping Mode
• Middle GHEIN  indicates Middle Shaping Mode
• Final GHEIN  indicates Final Shaping Mode

Field shape key

Pressing the key combination Ctrl= causes the shaping of the Arabic data present in the current field or line. The cursor position remains unchanged.

Field de-shape key

The key combination Ctrl- de-shapes the Arabic data present in the current field or line. All Arabic letters are converted to their Base/Isolated shapes.

Configuring Z and I Emulator for Web for iSeries

Language selection

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+N or Ctrl+L and allows the changing of the language layer. If the language layer is Latin, pressing the Ctrl+N key combination changes the language layer to Arabic. If the language layer is Arabic, pressing the Ctrl+L key combination changes the language layer to Latin.

Screen reverse

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+S and reverses the screen image. If the screen orientation is left-to-right, pressing this key combination changes the screen image to right-to-left. If the screen orientation is right-to-left, pressing this key combination reverses the screen image to left-to-right.

Note that the operator information area is not reversed by this operation.

When the screen orientation is changed, the language layer changes to the default language of the new screen orientation. If the screen is reversed to right-to-left, the language changes to Arabic. If the screen is reversed to left-to-right, the language changes to Latin.

The inversion of the screen causes directional characters to be replaced by their counterparts.

Field reverse

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+F and toggles the field orientation to either left-to-right or right-to-left. The text in the field is not inverted. The cursor orientation is set equal to the new field orientation and the language layer is selected accordingly.

If the cursor is in the first logical position of a field or line and you select the field reverse function, the cursor skips to the other side of that field or line, which now becomes the first logical position. If the cursor is not in the first position of the field or line and you select the field reverse function, the cursor remains in its position and allows natural and correct editing of existing text.

Close

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+C and is provided so that the data entered in one keying direction can be concatenated with the data that was previously entered in the opposite direction. It operates as follows:

• All embedded nulls are removed from the current line.
• Concatenated text is moved to the right boundary of the field (if the field direction is right-to-left) or to the left boundary (if the field direction is left-to-right).
• The cursor direction is set to the field direction.
• The language layer is set to the default for the field direction.
• If the screen orientation is now left-to-right, the cursor is positioned at the first null to the right of the concatenated text.
• If the screen orientation is now right-to-left, the cursor is positioned at the first null to the left of the concatenated text.

Base

This function is activated by the key combination Ctrl+B and is a toggle that activates or deactivates the Automatic Shape determination function for Arabic right-to-left text. It is valid only when processing right-to-left Arabic text. If it is pressed in a left-to-right field, an operator error 0027 results.

Understanding Operator Information Area (OIA) indicators

• Language indicator:
• Isolated EIN  Current language, Arabic
• E: Current language, English
• Screen direction:
• S> : Left-to-right screen direction
• <S : Right-to-left screen direction
• Typing direction:
• => : Left-to-right direction
• <= : Right-to-left direction
• : Left-to-right push direction (3270 Only)
• : Right-to-left push direction (3270 Only)
• Auto field reverse function active (3270 only):
• 
• Auto field reverse for numbers (3270 only):
• N
• Auto push active indicator (3270 only):
• P
• Arabic character shape mode:
• The character Alef-Madda  indicates CSD mode
• Isolated GHEIN  indicates Base/Isolated Shaping Mode
• Initial GHEIN  indicates Initial Shaping Mode (3270 Only)
• Middle GHEIN  indicates Middle Shaping Mode (3270 Only)
• Final GHEIN  indicates Final Shaping Mode (3270 Only)

Allocate space for LamAlef

5250 session

When the <Lam-Alef> is converted to implicit format and the blank spaces at the beginning of the field are not sufficient to expand into <Lam> and <Alef> it is lost and replaced by the <SUB> control character.

Solution

This new behavior is supported only by Z and I Emulator for Web emulation and not by the terminal.

The following example illustrates the intended behavior.

Example

• Assume an input/output field length of four.
• Arabic text writing, typing, and reading starts from the right and progress towards the left. The user starts typing Lam-Alef in any arbitrary position. The emulator protects position one to allow the Bidi layout engine to use this space in the <Lam-Alef> expansion. The crossed locations (X) are protected so the user can not type in these locations.

 

 



• If the user types <Lam-Alef> in position four, then position three. The emulator protects position one and two to allow the Bidi layout engine to use this space in the Lam-Alef expansion.

 

 



• If the user attempts to type an additional character, the Keyboard locks. The user must press the <RESET> key to continue. An error message that says Cursor in protected area of display appears.

To enable Allocate space for LamAlef, click Language in the 5250 Display session tree view. On the Language window, click On for Allocate space for LamAlef.

Limitations

• If the leftmost character in the field is not blank before entering the Lam-Alef, the layout engine cannot properly expand it. Z and I Emulator for Web prevents the user from typing LamAlef and an error message appears that says Key not valid at this time. This limitation occurs with the paste and delete functions.




• In RTL Continued field, the allocate space for LamAlef allocates space from the start position of the first line of the field. If you fill the first line in the RTL Continued Field, you cannot type LamAlef anywhere in the remaining lines of the field.

With code page 1388 (Simplified Chinese Extended) Arabic characters are displayed from left to right.

If you use code page 1388 (Simplified Chinese) to view Arabic text, then the Arabic characters are displayed in the wrong order (from left to right instead of from right to left).

The reason is that Z and I Emulator for Web's DBCS code does not support bidirectional input and display.

The solution is to configure the session to use an Arabic code page instead of code page 1388 (Simplified Chinese Extended).

Understanding bidirectional Hebrew support

Setting a font control file
Configuring a workstation
Transferring files
Understanding Hebrew and bidirectional functions
Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for 3270
Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for 5250 sessions
Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode
Understanding the keyboard layout

Setting a font control file

• ..\netscape\communicator\program\java\classes for Netscape 4.x
• ..\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.0_01\lib for Netscape 6.0
• For Java 2 browsers, please refer to \lib subdirectory of the used plug-in

Configuring a workstation

Setting the code page

1. Click Preload Options on the Additional Options window of the Deployment Wizard.
2. Select Codepages2 in the Preload tree.
3. Click Hebrew.

Configuring a Hebrew session

1. Right-click a 3270 or 5250 configured session icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Select 424 Hebrew (New Code) or 803 Hebrew (Old Code) for the Host Code Page. On Windows with Hebrew system locale, the code page 424 will be set by default.
4. Click Font in the session properties tree view and either select the bitmap font HEB3270 to be the active font for display or leave the default font, Courier, which is the system font.

Transferring files

• 862: Hebrew PC code pages for OS/2
• 1255: Hebrew PC code page for Windows NT
• ISO 8859-8: Hebrew ISO code page for AIX
• 856: Hebrew code page for AIX
• Unicode (UTF-8): UTF-8 encoding
• Unicode (UCS2): PC File Data is in Unicode range

In the Receive Text File or Send Text File Options on the i5/OS and OS/400 tree view in the File Transfer Defaults window, replace the keyword ASCII with either Unicode (UTF8) or Unicode (UCS2), depending on the user requirement.

Unicode Transfer options are available only in 5250 sessions.

To set the Bidi properties:

1. Click Actions > File Transfer Defaults.
2. Select the appropriate PC code page.
3. Select the Bidi settings:
• For right-to-left host file orientation, check the Right-To-Left Host File Orientation checkbox.
• For left-to-right host file orientation, check the Left-To-Right Host File Orientation checkbox.
• For right-to-left PC file orientation, check the Right-To-Left Local File Orientation checkbox.
• For left-to-right PC file orientation, check the Left-To-Right Local File Orientation checkbox.
• For visual PC file type, check the Visual Local File Type checkbox.

Visual Local  File Type is only highlighted for PC code page 862, AIX 856, and Unicode. Select the PC code page first, then select the PC file type.
• For Symmetric Swapping Option Enabled, check the On checkbox.
• For Round Trip Option Enabled, check the On checkbox.
  The Round Trip option disables the reversal of numerals if preceded by Hebrew characters.

1. Click OK. Changes are saved for each session.

• PC Default CodePage is 1255
• Logical Local File Type
• Left-To-Right Local File orientation
• Left-To-Right Host File orientation
• Symmetric Swapping On
• Round Trip On

Understanding Hebrew and bidirectional functions

The functions and key sequences for Hebrew are:

Language selection

The key combination Ctrl+N or Ctrl+L allows you to change the language layer. If the language layer is Latin, pressing Ctrl+N changes the language layer to Hebrew. If the language layer is Hebrew, pressing Ctrl+L changes the language layer to Latin.

Screen reverse

The key combination Ctrl+S reverses the screen image. If the screen direction is left-to-right, the screen image is inverted and displayed from right-to-left. Pressing this hot-key again returns the screen to its original direction, left-to-right. When the screen orientation is changed, the language layer changes to the default language of the new screen orientation. If the screen is changed to right-to-left, the language changes to Hebrew. If the screen is changed to left-to-right, the language changes to Latin.

Screen reverse does not reverse the operator information area.

Field reverse

The key combination Ctrl+F toggles the field orientation to either opposite to or the same as the screen orientation. In most cases, the field direction is the same as the general screen direction. However, sometimes it is necessary to have a field whose direction is the opposite of the screen direction. The Field Reverse function allows such transitions. When this function is activated, the typing direction reverses, but the existing text in the field and the screen image do not change. When activated, this function creates a temporary change which stays in effect as long as the cursor remains within the field, or until Field Reverse is activated again.

If the function is activated while the cursor is at the beginning of a line or field, the cursor jumps to the end of the line or field, so that the reversed field begins logically from that position. Otherwise, the cursor remains in its position and allows natural and correct editing of existing texts whose direction is the opposite of the screen direction.

Auto field reverse

The key combination Ctrl+R sets the field orientation for you when you are entering data for mixed applications (Hebrew and English). This is done by automatically activating the Field Reverse function. The Auto Field Reverse mode is activated by the Ctrl+R key sequence, and can be applied independently for each screen orientation, left-to-right or right-to-left.

• If the auto field reverse option is activated on a right-to-left screen, the field reverse function automatically activates every time the cursor moves to a numeric field. The cursor then jumps to the leftmost position of the numeric field, to allow left-to-right typing of numbers.
• If the auto field reverse option is activated on a left-to-right screen, the Field Reverse function automatically activates only when the cursor moves to an alphanumeric field. The cursor then jumps to the rightmost position of the field, to allow right-to-left typing of Hebrew.

Initially, the auto field reverse option functions when the screen direction is right-to-left, and does not function when the screen direction is left-to-right. To terminate the auto field reverse mode, press Ctrl+R again.

Push and end push

The key combination Shift+NumLock enables you to type or edit text whose direction is the opposite of the field direction. When this function is activated the cursor orientation reverses, the language layer changes accordingly, and a push segment is created.

End push, activated by the Shift+NumPad/ key sequence, terminates the temporary mode. The cursor jumps to the end of the push segment, and its direction reverts to that of the field.

The push function has two secondary modes:

Boundary mode

This mode activates upon entering the push mode. In this mode, the cursor remains in its position, and the typing of additional characters pushes the text in the direction opposite to the field direction. To indicate this boundary mode, the cursor shape changes.

Edit mode

This mode activates when the cursor is moved from its boundary position into the push segment area. In this mode, you can change the text within the push segment, while typing in the text's natural direction.

Autopush

The key combination Ctrl+A makes work easier and more efficient when typing mixed text - Hebrew and English. When this mode is enabled, reverse segments initiate and terminate automatically, according to the entered character or the selected language layer. It relieves the operator from manually selecting push and end push. Autopush is especially useful for typing digits in Hebrew fields (right-to-left fields). The Autopush mode is activated by the Ctrl+A key sequence; it can be applied independently to fields whose direction is left-to-right or right-to-left. In this mode, the push and end push functions automatically activate according to the language of the text being typed. There is no need to worry about starting and stopping the push mode manually.

• In right-to-left fields, typing a digit or a Latin letter causes the automatic initiation of push, without language change. Further Latin letters or digits will continue the push mode; any other character automatically terminates push mode. This feature allows you to type Hebrew text with imbedded numbers or Latin words without using push and end push.
• In left-to-right fields, typing a Hebrew character causes the automatic initiation of push. Typing any digit or Latin character causes the automatic termination of the mode. This allows you to type Latin text with embedded Hebrew words by using language layer selection rather than push and end push.

Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for 3270

Summarizing bidirectional key combinations for 5250 sessions

Hebrew language

Same meaning as in 3270

English language

Same meaning as in 3270

Reverse

Pressing this key allows the operator to reverse the current cursor direction. It functions as follows:

• The cursor is repositioned according to the current cursor direction. When right-to-left, the cursor is placed at the current left boundary location. When left-to-right, the cursor is placed at the current right boundary location.
• The cursor direction is then reversed; the Keyboard Layer you get depends on the new cursor direction.
• Insert mode is reset.

Close

By pressing this key, data entered in one key direction is joined with data that was previously entered in the opposite direction:

• All embedded null characters are removed from the current line (or field, if the field is contained on one line).
• Joined text is moved to the right boundary of the field if the field direction is right-to-left, or to the left boundary if the field direction is left-to-right.
• The remainder of the line (or the field, if contained on one line) is padded with null characters.
• The cursor direction is set to the field direction.
• If the cursor direction is now left-to-right, the cursor is positioned at the first null character to the right of the joined text. If the cursor direction is now right-to-left, the cursor is positioned at the first null character to the left of the joined text.
• Insert mode is reset.

Screen reverse

Same meaning as in 3270

Understanding the Operator Information Area (OIA) in terminal emulation mode

• Language indicator:
• H : Current language is Hebrew
• E : Current language is English
• Screen direction:
• S> : Left-to-right screen direction
• <S : Right-to-left screen direction
• Typing direction:
• => : Left-to-right direction
• <= : Right-to-left direction
• : Left-to-right push direction (3270 only)
• : Right-to-Left push direction (3270 only)
• Auto field reverse function active - bidirectional arrow:
• 
• Auto field reverse for numbers:
• N
• Autopush active indicator:
• P

Understanding the keyboard layout

• Shift+6 (s-6) produces the Greek Delta symbol (ASCII 235, hex EB), representing the old Israeli Lira, instead of the regular Cent symbol.
• Shift+7 (s-7) does not produce anything (the Ampersand symbol is not available in Old Code).
• In English language mode, unshifted English letters produce uppercase letters (A-Z), rather than lower case letters (a-z), whether Caps Lock is Yes or No.

Understanding bidirectional editing functions

1. Right-click a configured session icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Select the bidirectional Host Code Page.
4. Click Language.
5. Select the appropriate values for:
• Numeral Shape
• Text Type
• Text Orientation
• Round Trip
6. Click OK.

1. Click Edit > Text Type > Text Orientation, Numeral Shape, or Round Trip
2. Select the appropriate values for bidirectional cut, copy, and paste:
• Text Type - Visual or Logical
• Text Orientation - Left to Right or Right to Left
• Numeral Shape - National, Nominal, or Contextual
• Round Trip - On or Off

Pasting on 5250 RTL fields and 3270 reversed fields.

The Numeral Shape menu option is available for Arabic sessions only.

Bidirectional support for Copy As Table

MS Excel Arabic and Hebrew Edition has an option named Default Orientation. If Default Orientation is right-to-left, the order of pasted columns is reversed relatively to how they are pasted with left-to-right Default Orientation. To make the Copy As Table operation compatible with MS Excel Arabic and Hebrew Edition, you can reverse the table columns.

To reverse the table columns, select Reverse Table Columns in the Edit window.

Understanding bidirectional support for Database On-Demand

With a Database On-Demand client, the remote database server must be running on an iSeries or AS/400, and an appropriate Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver must be present on the client workstation. The Database On-Demand client already includes a JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java, which allows the Database On-Demand client to access DB2/400 data on a properly configured iSeries or AS/400.

Database servers running on other host platforms are supported only if the appropriate JDBC driver is installed on the Database On-Demand client workstation.

In Database On-Demand, the bidirectional support provides two functions:

File upload

This option enables the user to send bidirectional data to the Host. This data is converted from the Local code page to the Host code page, according to the Local file attributes, Host file attributes, and the JDBC driver used for connection as the following:

File upload to iSeries using the AS/400 Toolbox JDBC driver

• Local-File Type, Local-File Orientation, and Round Trip are local-file attributes. The user should set these attributes.
• Database On-Demand detects the CCSID (field coded character set ID) of the iSeries field automatically, and accordingly it detects the Host File attributes.

File upload to Host using other JDBC drivers

• Local-File Type, Local-File Orientation, Symmetric Swapping, Round Trip are source attributes.
• Host-File Type, Host-File Orientation, Numeral Shape are target attributes.

SQL wizard (to get the results of an SQL query as displayed records or as an output file)

This option enables the user to retrieve bidirectional data from the Host. This data is converted from the Host code page to the Local code page, according to the Local file attributes and Host file attributes as the following:

SQL Wizard from iSeries using the AS/400 Toolbox JDBC driver

• Local-File Type, Local-File Orientation, Lam-Alef Expansion, and Round Trip are local-file attributes. The user should set these attributes.
• Database On-Demand detects the CCSID (field coded character set ID) of the iSeries field automatically, and accordingly it detects the Host File attributes.

SQL Wizard from Host using other JDBC drivers

• Local-File Type, Local-File Orientation, Symmetric Swapping, Round Trip are target attributes.
• Host-File Type, Host-File Orientation, Numeral Shape are source attributes.

The BiDi Option tab appears on the Database On-Demand User Options window if your system is configured for Arabic or Hebrew. This tab includes the following bidirectional options:

This option specifies whether a transferred PC file is saved in logical or visual format. The default is Logical.

This option specifies whether the transferred PC file is saved in left-to-right or right-to-left format. The default is Left-to-Right.

This option specifies whether the Host file should be saved in logical or visual format. The default is Visual. (This option is not enabled for the JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java.)

This option specifies whether the Host file should be saved in left-to-right or right-to-left format. The default is Left-to-Right. (This option is not enabled for the JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java.)

This option specifies the behavior of the Lam-Alef characters. When receiving Arabic data from the host through the SQL Wizard statement, the character Lam-Alef is expanded into two characters, Lam followed by Alef if there is space after Lam-Alef character. This option is enabled only for a session configured to use an Arabic host code page. The default is on.

This option specifies the behavior of the Lam-Alef characters. When sending Arabic data to the host through the File Upload statement, the characters Lam followed by Alef are compressed into one character and space is added after Lam-Alef character. This option is enabled only for a session configured to use an Arabic host code page. The default is on. (This option is not enabled for the JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java.)

This option specifies the behavior of the symmetric characters such as brackets; the inversion of the screen causes directional characters to be replaced by their counterparts. The default is on. (This option is not enabled for the JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java.)

This option specifies the behavior of the numerals; where it disables the reversal of the numerals if preceded by Arabic/Hebrew characters.
The default is on.

This option specifies the shape of the numeral on Host file at file upload statement; the numeral shape could be (NOMINAL, NATIONL and CONTEXTUAL). The default is NOMINAL. This option is enabled only for a session configured to use an Arabic host code page. (This option is not enabled for the JDBC driver from the AS/400 Toolbox for Java.)

Using SQL Wizard, the user has the option to save results of SQL query in XML format. While selecting the file to be XML the user has the option to select the encoding of the XML file. The available encodings are: UTF-8, Shift-JIS, GB2312, BIG5 and EUC-KR. For BIDI text to be displayed properly, the encoding must be UTF-8.

Notes:

Related tasks

Remapping bidirectional keys

1. Right-click a configured session icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Select the bidirectional Host Code Page.
4. Click Keyboard Remap.
5. Press the key you want to remap.
6. Select the bidirectional function that you want to remap.

• For 3270, 5250 and CICS:
• Screen reverse
• National keyboard layer
• Latin keyboard layer
• For 3270 and CICS only:
• Auto reverse
• 3270 field reverse
• Push
• End push
• Autopush
• Final
• CSD
• Initial
• Middle
• Isolated
• Field shape
• Field base
• For 5250 only:
• Field reverse
• Close
• Base

Summarizing shortcut keys

Setting the ScrRev key function

Configuring a CICS Gateway session

1. Right-click a configured session icon.
2. Click Properties.
3. Select a bidirectional CICS Gateway Code Page:
• 856 - Hebrew
• 864 - Arabic
• 916 - ISO Hebrew (8859_8)
• 1089 - ISO Arabic (8859_6)
4. Click OK.

Related tasks

Macro Support with BIDI Sessions

To correctly output BIDI data or variables to the Presentation Space using different MacroActions, complete one of the following:

1. Disable Translation of Host Action Keys with the MacroAction

In this case Transformation from Implicit Format to Visual Format (Presentation Space format) takes place, so the data will be displayed correctly on the Presentation Space.
2. Enable Translation of Host Action Keys with the MacroAction

The user must add appropriate BIDI Key Mnemonics within the Macro String, for example, Screen Reverse, Field Reverse, Push. In this case No Transformation from Implicit Format to Visual Format is done, as the data is sent by SendKeys() HACL method and data is processed Key-By-Key through Z and I Emulator for Web, that's why the user should insert the appropriate BIDI Key Mnemonics.

Bidirectional support for the FTP client in UTF-8 mode

The Z and I Emulator for Web FTP client attempts to set the display mode according to client and server platform types, but sometimes the server platform information is not available. In those cases, you can manually set bidirectional reordering.

If you want the FTP client to perform bidirectional reordering, complete the following:

1. Right-click on the FTP session and select Properties.
2. Click Connection > Internationalization in the FTP session properties tree view.
3. Click Yes for Force BIDI reordering.

Printing in Arabic Sessions

Configuring a 5250 printer session

To configure a 5250 printer session, do the following:

1. Right-click a 5250 Printer Session icon and click Properties.
2. Select 420 Arabic Speaking Host Code Page.

In the session window, complete the following:

1. Specify that Host-Print Transform (HPT) will be used in the device description of a printer: Host print transform . . . . . . TRANSFORM        (*YES)
2. Specify your printer type and model in the parameter: Manufacturer type and model  . . MFRTYPMDL (*_____________)
3. Make sure the character identifier parameter is capable of handling Arabic language:

   Character identifier

   CHRID

   Graphic character set

   235

   Code page

   420

Arabic support on 5250 Printer Session (HPT Mode) requires 864 font on printers.

Configuring a 3270 printer session (PDT mode)

To configure a 3270 printer session in PDT mode, do the following:

1. Right-click a 3270 Printer Session icon and click Properties.
2. Select 420 Arabic Speaking Host Code Page.
3. Select Printer in the tree view.
4. On the Printer window, click Other for Choose Windows Printer.
5. Select the Printer Definition Table (PDT).

   If your printer is not included in the predefined Arabic PDT list, create an Arabic PDT file for an Arabic printer.

6. Click OK.

Arabic support on 3270 Printer Session (PDT mode) requires 864 font on printers. If your printers do not have 864 font, use GDI mode.

Creating an Arabic PDT file for an Arabic printer

If none of the predefined PDTs are acceptable, you can create a new one. To create a PDT, first create a printer definition file (PDF) and then compile it to create a PDT. To customize an existing PDF file for Arabic, you must first understand a PDF's structure and the types of statements.

1. In Macro Definition, define a macro to a printer command that selects Arabic printer font.

   You can get the font escape sequences by printing out the font names from the printer menus. For example:

   /* Naseem ( 1 0 V&lt;br&gt;<br> (&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> s&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> 0 p 1 5 h 9 v 0 s 0 b 3 T&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> */&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> NSM EQU 1B 28 31 30 56 1B 28 73 30 70 31 35 68 39 76 30 73 30 62 33 54

2. Add this macro to START_JOB in the Control Code section.

   For example:

   START_JOB=CUL CBP NSM /*Switch to&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> Arabic&amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&lt;br&gt;<br> Font */

3. Save your new PDF file and copy it to the \pdfpdt\usrpdf directory.
4. Run the PDT compiler to create a user-defined PDT file.

Configuring a 3270 printer session (GDI mode)

To configure a 3270 printer session in GDI mode, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click a 3270 Printer Session icon and click Properties
2. Select 420 Arabic speaking Host Code Page.
3. Click Printer in the tree view.
4. Set the Print To option to Windows Printer.
5. Set the Use Printer Definition Table option to No.
6. Click Page Setup in the tree view.
7. Make sure the Font is Typing Arabic. If not, click Select Font and choose Typing Arabic from the font list.
8. Click OK.

Configuring a 3270 printer session (Adobe PDF mode)

To configure a 3270 printer session in Adobe PDF mode, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click a 3270 Printer Session icon and click Properties.
2. Select 420 Arabic Speaking Host Code Page.
3. Click Printer in the tree view and select File in the Print to list.
4. Click Yes for Use Adobe PDF.
5. Type output directory in the File Path and Name field.
6. Click Page Setup in the tree view and on the Page Setup window, click Advanced Options.
7. Select TypingArabic as the Font.
8. Click OK.

Related topics

• Printing from a host to a workstation printer (5250)
• Printing from a host to a workstation printer (3270)

Printing Right-to-left files

This option is only for 3270 Display and 3270 Printer sessions.

A file created by an application on a RTL screen is displayed with reversed lines on a LTR screen. If you attempt to print the file, the lines print in reverse. To print the file as it appears on the RTL screen, click Language in the 3270 Printer session properties tree view and click Yes for Print RTL file. The default is No. In runtime, select File > Language and click Yes for Print RTL file.

To print the file as it appears on the RTL screen for ZipPrint in a 3270 Display session, select File > ZipPrint > Language and click Yes for Print RTL file.

Screen orientation for ZipPrint print screen does not depend on the current display screen orientation. To reverse screen with ZipPrint's Print Screen, click Yes for Print RTL file on the Language window.

For Arabic sessions only, you can also specify Symmetric Swapping and Numeric Swapping in the same window. The functionality of Symmetric Swapping and Numeric Swapping is similar to display session. These functions are available only when you click Yes for Print RTL file.

Printing Limitations

Using special fonts for 3270 native Windows printing

Arabic code pages

Install the font Typing Arabic on your workstation. The font file, Typearb.ttf, is located in the lib\samples\fonts\BIDI subdirectory.

Hebrew code pages

For Hebrew code pages running on Windows without Hebrew support, install the font Cumberland Hebrew on the client and server. The font file, Cumrheb.ttf, is located in the lib\samples\fonts\BIDI subdirectory.

Possible truncation in RTL print

If the Characters per Inch and the Maximum Characters per Line parameters result in a greater number of characters per line than can appear in your printed area, then the rightmost characters will be truncated.

Unicode Support for i5/OS and OS/400 using Coded Character Set Identifiers

For general infomation and host and client requirements, refer to Unicode support for i5/OS and OS/400 using Coded Character Set Identifiers.

BIDI support allows the user to display and type BIDI text in fields tagged with CCSID in BIDI sessions. CCSID-based entry field behave like normal BIDI Logical Text Fields. Therefore, 5250 BIDI-specific functions such as Field Reverse, Field Close, and Field Base are not supported.

To switch the keyboard between BIDI and Latin, use the following shortcut keys:

ShortCut Key	Function
Ctrl+N	Switch Keyboard Layer to BIDI
Ctrl+L	Switch Keyboard Layer to Latin

Contextual behavior

Tagged "CCSID " Unicode fields have a contextual behavior for typing. When the user types the first Strong character as  "BIDI" character, Field orientation is RTL and vice versa.

To disable this behavior in Right-to-Left fields, click Language in the 5250 Display session properties tree view. On the Language window, click On for RTL Unicode Override. This forces the field to have Right-To-Left Orientation and overrides the contextual behavior.

Client Workstation requirements

The client workstation must use one of the following:

• A Java 2-enabled browser with the Z and I Emulator for Web client on Windows
• Web Start Z and I Emulator for Web client
• For Proper display of Numerals Shape , the client workstation must use Java 1.8 or later.

The client workstation must be configured to use System Courier New font.

Bidirectional support for Macro actions

Xfer (File Transfer) action

Search String and Get String

Search String  and Get String work with strings independently from their current display on session screen.  Therefore, for example, to find some string as it looks on RTL screen, you should reverse it first.  To force Search String  and Get String work accordingly to current display (screen orientation, numeric swapping, symmetric swapping and display mode in case of VT Hebrew) use method noticeDisplayStatus() with parameter true.

If string to be searched by Search String was previosly extracted by Get String, the "round trip" problem may appear.  To prevent that, use method enableRoundTrip() with parameter true.  However, if the string is got  from other source, for example as parameter from applet which extracted it from some text field, this method should not be used or enableRoundTrip() should be called with parameter false

SQL Wizard and File upload actions

For the SQLWizard action, BIDI-specific options are available similar to BIDI options in Database On-Demand. To choose these options, press "Advanced Options" button on action dialog.

Understanding the limitations of bidirectional support

Database On-Demand

Using the Arabic Tatweel character

The Arabic character Tatweel cannot be used with Java 1.8 unless the current system keyboard is set to Arabic.

Corrupted national language characters in text entry fields

• If the National Language characters you are typing into a text entry field are corrupted when using a Z and I Emulator for Web client with a Netscape 4.x browser, copy the font.properties.xx file from the zieforweb/zieweb/samples/fonts/win32/ directory to the netscape/communicator/program/java/classes directory (where xx is your two letter language code). For Netscape 6.0 and later, copy them into /lib directory of the browser's Java 2 plug-in, for example: c:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_02\lib\.
• When you use Database On-Demand, host characters 0x5f and 0x4A are not displayed correctly with Internet Explorer 5.5 on the Windows 2000 platform.

URL Hotspots on RTL screen

Typing in BIDI sessions (5250, 3270, VT)

Unicode Support in 5250 BIDI session

Session limitation

• The BIDI Support is available only with BIDI sessions.
• No support for Right To Left screen.
• This feature is available only with green screens. There is no support in Enabled Session.

Copy/Cut/Paste limitation

Copy/Cut/Paste over different fields (EBCDIC 5250 and Tagged CCSID fields) is not supported, also Copy/Cut/Paste is always in Implicit LTR Format, therefore BIDI Edit options are not effective.

Printing limitation

Print Screen is not supported.

Linux Limitations

BIDI support is available on Linux with the following limitations:

• 5250 Printer session is not supported. Also, Print Screen is not supported in 5250 sessions.
• Copy and Paste of Hebrew and Arabic characters might not be compatible with some Linux applications.  If you know that your Linux application uses some 8-bit ASCII codepage, add CopyPaste_Codepage applet parameter in HTML to force conversion into Unicode.  For example, add the following line:

  <PARAM NAME=CopyPaste_Codepage VALUE=Cp1089>
  

• Since platform input method does not support typing of national characters on some configurations, some functionality based on use of platform text fields is not available for Arabic and Hebrew, for example, toolbar labels.
• Typing with National Platform Keyboard is not supported.  Use US Platform Keyboard and ZIEWeb language layers key combinations to switch between national and Latin keyboard layout.