How to Type in Arabic in Visual Basic

Change your Windows language settings to be able to type in Arabic in Visual Basic.

Today, more and more computer programs are offering support for more than one language. You should be doing the same when creating your own Windows-based programs with Visual Basic to increase your user base. This is easy in languages that use the same alphabet as English. However, for a symbol-based language like Arabic, you will need to change some of your system settings so that the computer and Visual Basic understand and interpret the language.

Instructions

1. Close Visual Basic if you currently have it open.

2. Click on "Start" followed by "Control Panel" in Windows.

3. Click on the "Clock, Language, and Region" link in the "Control Panel."

4. Click on "Region and Language" and wait for the dialog box to appear. It only takes a few seconds for the dialog box to appear, depending on the other processes currently running on your computer and your computer's speed.

5. Click on the drop-down menu next to "Format:" on the "Formats" tab. Scroll up and browse the various Arabic languages that are available. There are several listed based upon different regions that use a version of the language, such as Morocco, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan and South African. Click on the version of the Arabic language you want, and then click on "Apply."

6. Click on the "Keyboards and Languages" tab, and then click on the "Change Keyboards" button. The "Text Services and Input Languages" dialog box appears.

7. Click on the drop-down menu under the "Default input language" section on the "General" tab. Select the same Arabic language that you did in Step 5. Click "OK" to save the changes and close the dialog box. Click "OK" again to close the "Region and Language" dialog box.

8. Restart the computer. Open Visual Basic once the computer has rebooted after the restart. The menu items are now in Arabic, and you can type in Arabic in Visual Basic.

Tips & Warnings

• You may be required to insert your Windows installation disk when changing languages. Have it available just in case you need it.

References

• Into Windows: How to Change Keyboard Input Language in Windows 7