---
title: baseWritingDirection
framework: appkit
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: appkit/nstext/basewritingdirection
---

# baseWritingDirection

The initial writing direction used to determine the actual writing direction for text.

## Declaration

```swift
var baseWritingDirection: NSWritingDirection { get set }
```

## Discussion

Discussion The Text system uses this value as a hint for calculating the actual direction for displaying Unicode characters.  If no writing direction is set, returns NSWritingDirectionNatural.