CanvasRenderingContext2D.direction

The CanvasRenderingContext2D.direction property of the Canvas 2D API specifies the current text direction used when drawing text.

Syntax

ctx.direction = "ltr" || "rtl" || "inherit";

Options

Possible values:

ltr

The text direction is left-to-right.

rtl

The text direction is right-to-left.

inherit

The text direction is inherited from the <canvas> element or the Document as appropriate.

The default value is inherit.

Examples

Using the direction property

This is just a simple code snippet using the direction property to set a different text baseline setting.

HTML

<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>

JavaScript

var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
ctx.font = '48px serif';
ctx.direction = 'ltr';
ctx.strokeText('Hello world', 0, 100);

Edit the code below and see your changes update live in the canvas:

<canvas id="canvas" width="400" height="200" class="playable-canvas"></canvas>
<div class="playable-buttons">
  <input id="edit" type="button" value="Edit" />
  <input id="reset" type="button" value="Reset" />
</div>
<textarea id="code" class="playable-code">
ctx.font = '48px serif';
ctx.direction = 'ltr';
ctx.strokeText('Hello world', 0, 100);</textarea>

var canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
var textarea = document.getElementById('code');
var reset = document.getElementById('reset');
var edit = document.getElementById('edit');
var code = textarea.value;
function drawCanvas() {
  ctx.clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  eval(textarea.value);
}
reset.addEventListener('click', function() {
  textarea.value = code;
  drawCanvas();
});
edit.addEventListener('click', function() {
  textarea.focus();
})
textarea.addEventListener('input', drawCanvas);
window.addEventListener('load', drawCanvas);

Specifications

Browser compatibility

[1] This feature is deactivated by default. Use the ExperimentalCanvasFeatures feature flag to enable it.

See also

• The interface defining it, CanvasRenderingContext2D.