Creating Multi-lingual Applications and Websites with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005Achim Ruopp
International Program Manager
Microsoft Corporation
Agenda Resource Improvements
Strongly Typed Resources Fallback to Satellite Assembly Editing Resources
ASP.NET Localization Detecting the Browser Language Declarative Localization Model with designer support Extensibility Deployment Bidirectional Web Pages
Smart Client Applications Windows Forms
Table Layout/Grid Layout Controls Bidirectional Languages Performance Improvements
ClickOnce Deployment
Visual Studio and .NET Framework Versions
Visual Studio .NET .NET Framework v1.0
Visual Studio .NET 2003 .NET Framework v1.1
Visual Studio 2005(code name: Whidbey)
.NET Framework v2.0 (code name: Whidbey)
Strongly Typed Resources Resources have types
Strings Boolean Images Audio Files …
Strongly Typed Resources What are they?
Provide ability to creates classes containing read-only properties for resources
Benefits: Eliminates mismatches between code and resource identifiers Provides Intellisense on resource identifiers ResourceManager is created for you No need to cast objects to other types
Resources Then and Now
private ResourceManager rm; rm = new ResourceManager("MyImages", this.GetType().Assembly); PictureBox.Image = (System.Drawing.Image)rm.GetObject("MyImage");
PictureBox.Image = ResourceFilename.MyImage;
.NET Framework v1.0/v1.1
.NET Framework v2.0
Fallback To Satellite Assembly Fallback
Best fit UI language for user (CurrentUICulture) Example: fr-CA → fr → fallback (e.g. de)
Additional fallback resource location v 1.0/1.1 – ResourceManager only loaded fallback
resources from the main assembly v 2.0 – Adds ability to build fallback resources in a
satellite assembly [assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("de" , UltimateResourceFallbackLocation.Satellite)]
Clean separation of code and user interface Useful for servicing Can potentially reduce download size for updates
Editing Resources
New Resource Editor Integrated in Visual Studio 2005 For .resx format Uses link syntax for complex type resources
(images, sounds, …)
XML editors and localization tools can still be used
More on Windows Forms and ASP.NET resource editing later
Creating and Using Creating and Using ResourcesResources
ASP.NET Localization v. 1.0/1.1
.NET resource model can be used No design time assistance
v. 2.0 Uses .NET resource model Provides a simple declarative model for
localization Automatic generation of resources in designer Editing of resources using the resource editor Server side compilation of .resx files Auto-detection of browser culture
Detecting the Browser Language HTTP Accept-Language header v 1.0/1.1
Write code to detect browser language Specify preferred culture in web.config, page or code
2.0 Use “auto” for automatically detecting browser
language Can override in InitializeCulture() It is still possible to specify preferred culture in
web.config, page or code
<%@ Page Culture=“auto:fr” UICulture=“auto:fr-FR” .. %>
ASP.NET Resources Local Resources
Use for page resources Stored in \App_LocalResources folder Generated through the designer
Tools/Generate Local Resources command used in design view of the page
Global Application Resources Use for global strings or binary types Stored in \App_GlobalResources folder Strongly-typed, available to all pages through
Resources member Default Resource format
Author .resx in the resource or XML editor Other formats possible through extensibility
Retrieving Resources Declaratively
Explicit or implicit expressions
Programmatic GetLocalResourceObject()/GetGlobalResourceObject()
System.Web.UI.TemplateControl Class System.Web.HttpContext Class
foo.aspx\App_LocalResources foo.aspx.resx foo.aspx.fr.resxDeclaratively: <asp:label runat="server" text="<%$ Resources:foo %>" /> <asp:label runat="server"
meta:ResourceKey="LabelResource1" %>Programmatically: foo.Text = (string)GetLocalResourceObject(“foo");
Expressions Declarative syntax
Access local or global resources Interpreted at parse time Explicit and implicit forms
Can be mixed, but should not collide Designer creates implicit expression syntax Explicit expressions can be edited in Expressions
property of controls
Explicit form: <%$ Resources:[classKey,]resourceKey %><asp:label runat=“server” text=“<%$ Resources:MainTitle %>” /><asp:button runat=“server” text=“<%$ Resources:MyStrings,OK_Key %>”/>
Implicit form: meta:ResourceKey=“keyprefix”<asp:label runat=“server” meta:resourcekey=“LabelResource1” />
Extensibility Other resource formats
Databases Existing XML formats …
Option 1: Localization expressions can be extended Subclass ResourceProviderFactory Allows design-time support for custom resource formats
Option 2: Create expression builder for new resource format Subclass System.Web.Compilation.ExpressionBuilder Design-time support only through ExpressionEditor
Deployment of e.g. a database is more difficult
Deployment ASP.NET v2.0 has 3 compilation models
Uncompiled Source files including .resx files are copied to server Resources are compiled on server Compiled resources are cached on first use
Precompiled excluding markup Deploy .resx/.aspx files like in uncompiled case Page design changeable Global resource satellite assemblies precompiled
Precompiled including markup Page design cannot be changed Everything precompiled into assemblies
Additional languages can be added in all 3 models Application domain needs to be restarted
Bidirectional Web Pages Direction property on <asp:panel>
Can be explicitly defined Can be loaded using a resource expression Useful for mixed left-to-right/right-to-left pages
Full right-to-left pages Set DIR attribute on HTML tag using an explicit resource expression
<asp:panel runat=“server” meta:resourcekey=“MainTitle” />
<data name=“MainTitle.Direction”> <value>RightToLeft</value></data>
ASP .NET LocalizationASP .NET Localization
Windows Forms Localization v1.0/v1.1 Each form has a Localizable property
Creates single .resx file for default resources Each form has Language property
Creates one additional .resx file per selected language Edit source/localized .resx files in
Visual Studio Windows Forms designer XML editor WinRes tool (.NET Framework SDK tool)
Images serialized into .resx file Pulled each localizable property from the .resx file Built satellite assemblies directly in VS Setup projects available in 9 languages
Windows Forms Localization v2.0 Localizable/Language properties remain the same
One .resx file per form per language Edit source/localized .resx files in
Visual Studio Windows Forms designer WinRes tool (.NET Framework SDK tool) Visual Studio Resource Editor XML editor
Images Linked into .resx files rather than serialized Default to application-wide .resx file
New code generation using the ComponentResourceManager improves performance
New layout functionality reduces resizing during localization Deploy Click Once projects in any language
Localize Without Resizing
v1.0/v1.1 Use docking and anchoring properties
new layout controls in v2.0 Use TableLayoutPanel for
Resizing a group of controls proportionallyDynamically generating UI with customizable fieldsCreating a fixed size UI while still allowing
localization Use FlowLayoutPanel for
Creating a series of horizontal controls which may wrap vertically but aren’t proportional to each other
Mechanism for “bumping” controls relative to other controls
RightToLeft Languages RightToLeft property (v 1.0/v 1.1/v 2.0)
Determines reading order for text Affects layout for some controls
RightToLeftLayout (v 2.0) Determines layout of controls Form, TabControl, TreeView, ListView, TrackBar,
ProgressBar, MonthCalendar and DateTimePicker Does not inherit down control hierarchy
Controls support full “mirroring” Set both RightToLeft and RightToLeftLayout
Determining text direction for culture CultureInfo.TextInfo.IsRightToLeft
Click Once New deployment mechanism
versioning update service installation over the web …
Deploy multiple languages from a single project Language property determines
language satellite assemblies language external dependencies ClickOnce language resources (.xml files)
Can extend ClickOnce resource languages by localizing setup.xml
Layout Controls and Layout Controls and ClickOnceClickOnce
References Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework v2.0
http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/
Microsoft Globaldev website http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/
Newsgroup news:microsoft.public.dotnet.internationalization
Blogs http://blogs.msdn.com/michkap http://blogs.msdn.com/AchimR http://www.dasblonde.net/ http://blogs.msdn.com/BCLTeam
AppendixASP.NET Localization Expressions
Implicit Expressions
Used to partially or fully localize an ‘object’ with minimal syntax Controls, sub-objects, page directive
Only used to access local resources Generated by the designer
Implicit Expressions Runtime
Default .resx interrogated for keyprefix and properties set
Key: filter, keyprefix, control property, sub-property Design-time
Control properties marked [Localizable(true)] are ‘pushed’ to .resx
<asp:label runat=“server” meta:resourcekey=“MainTitle” />
<data name=“MainTitle.Text”> <value xml:space=“preserve”>Welcome to the site</value></data><data name=“MainTitle.Font.Bold”> <value>true</value></data>
Explicit Expressions Used on any control or object property Fine-grained handling for properties which are not
localizable by default Can be used for HTML attributes Access global or local resources Runtime
Used to obtain resource value and perform property assignment
Design-time Developer can create expressions against control
properties in “Expressions…” dialog