$BIDIw. Format

Converts between a logically ordered string and a visually ordered string, by reversing the order of Hebrew and Arabic characters while preserving the order of Latin words and numbers.

Category:	BIDI text handling
Alignment:	left

Syntax

Details

Comparisons

Example

Syntax

$BIDIw.

Syntax Description

w: specifies the width of the output field.

Default:1 if w is not specified

Range:1–32767

Details

In the Windows operating environment, Hebrew and Arabic text is stored in logical order. The text is stored in the order that it is written and not necessarily as it is displayed. However, in other operating environments, Hebrew text is stored in the same order it is displayed. SAS users can encounter Hebrew and Arabic text that is reversed. Such situations can occur when you use SAS/CONNECT or other software to transfer SAS data sets or reports with Hebrew and Arabic text from a visual operating environment to a logical one. The $BIDI format is a format that reverses Hebrew and Arabic text while maintaining the order of numbers and Latin-1 words.

Operating Environment Information: In mainframe operating environments, this format is designed to work with NewCode Hebrew and Arabic. Some mainframe operating environments might experience unsatisfactory results, because they use the OldCode Hebrew or Arabic encoding. There is a hotfix for this encoding on : SAS Institute's Web site.

Comparisons

The $BIDIw. format performs a reversing function similar to the $REVERJw. format, which writes character data in reverse order and preserves blanks. $BIDIw. behaves in the following way:

$BIDIw. reverses the order of words and numbers in a specified string, preserving blanks. Latin-1 words and numbers themselves are not reversed, only their order in the string.
When $BIDI encounters a word consisting of Hebrew or Arabic characters in the text string, the characters in the Hebrew or Arabic word are reversed and the position of the Hebrew or Arabic word is reversed in the string.

Example

This example demonstrates how $BIDIw. reverses Hebrew characters. The Hebrew is reversed in the string. The Hebrew characters in the words are also reversed.

The following lines are written to the SAS log:

$BIDI example showing lines written to SAS log with Hebrew characters reversed