fribidi_get_par_direction(3)

💖 fribidi_get_par_direction — get base paragraph direction 💖

okay so this is a page from the Programmer's Manual for fribidi_get_par_direction(3), and honestly? it's a little cutie that just wants to tell you which way your paragraph goes. let's get into it ✨

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <../fribidi/lib/fribidi.h>

FriBidiParType fribidi_get_par_direction
(
     const FriBidiCharType *bidi_types,
     const FriBidiStrIndex len
);

like, that's the whole vibe. two args, one direction. slay 🎀

---

🌸 PARAMETERS 🌸

• const FriBidiCharType *bidi_types — bestie, this is your input list of bidi types, exactly as they come back from fribidi_get_bidi_types(). 🫶 and real talk: there are 23 possible values for a const FriBidiCharType, so they are not all listed here. we're not doing a 23-item list, iykyk.
• const FriBidiStrIndex len — the input string length. that's it. that's the whole thing. 💅

---

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so what does this actually do? it finds the base direction of a single paragraph, as defined by rule P2 of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm, which lives over at http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr9/#P2. iconic algorithm, no cap.

now — plot twist — you typically do not need this function, because fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels() already knows how to compute the base direction itself. 😭 but! you might need this one if you're implementing a more sophisticated paragraph direction handling. main character energy.

and here's the juicy bit: you can pass more than a paragraph to this function, and it'll return the direction of the first non-neutral paragraph. that is, fr fr, a very good heuristic for setting the direction of the neutral paragraphs at the beginning of text. 🌈

for other neutral paragraphs, you're better off using the direction of the previous paragraph. don't fight it, just do it 💜

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👑 RETURNS 👑

base pargraph direction. 💀 no weak paragraph direction is ever returned — only LTR, RTL, or ON. periodt.

the possible values for a FriBidiParType are as follows:

• FRIBIDI_PAR_LTR — Left-To-Right paragraph 🎀
• FRIBIDI_PAR_RTL — Right-to-Left paragraph ✨
• FRIBIDI_PAR_ON — DirectiOn-Neutral paragraph 🦋
• FRIBIDI_PAR_WLTR — Weak Left To Right paragraph
• FRIBIDI_PAR_WRTL — Weak Right To Left paragraph

(yes the weak ones are listed here even though the function doesn't return them — that's the full set of possible FriBidiParType values, so now you know the whole family 🌸)

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

the whole friend group, respectfully:

fribidi_shape_arabic(3), fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels_ex(3), fribidi_reorder_line(3), fribidi_get_bidi_type(3), fribidi_get_bidi_types(3), fribidi_get_bidi_type_name(3), fribidi_charset_to_unicode(3), fribidi_unicode_to_charset(3), fribidi_parse_charset(3), fribidi_debug_status(3), fribidi_set_debug(3), fribidi_mirroring_status(3), fribidi_set_mirroring(3), fribidi_reorder_nsm_status(3), fribidi_set_reorder_nsm(3), fribidi_log2vis_get_embedding_levels(3), fribidi_get_type(3), fribidi_get_type_internal(3), fribidi_get_par_embedding_levels(3), fribidi_join_arabic(3), fribidi_get_joining_type(3), fribidi_get_joining_types(3), fribidi_get_joining_type_name(3), fribidi_get_mirror_char(3), fribidi_shape_mirroring(3), fribidi_get_bracket(3), fribidi_get_bracket_types(3), fribidi_shape(3), fribidi_remove_bidi_marks(3), fribidi_log2vis(3)

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k bye bestie, go set some paragraph directions 💅✨

this page was brought to you by c2man on the file fribidi-bidi.h, dated 29 October 2026 — and it's the manual page for fribidi_get_par_direction(3), obviously 🎀