Localization at runtime

Question

I have created Windows Form Program in C#. I have some problems with localization. I have resource files in 3 languages. I want to click each language button and change lang

Answer 1

I wrote a RuntimeLocalizer class with following features:

• Changes and updates localization for all Controls and SubControls in a Form
• Also changes localization for all SubItems of all MenuStrips

Usage Example: RuntimeLocalizer.ChangeCulture(MainForm, "en-US");

---

using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
using System.ComponentModel;

---

public static class RuntimeLocalizer
{
    public static void ChangeCulture(Form frm, string cultureCode)
    {
        CultureInfo culture = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(cultureCode);

        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture;

        ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(frm.GetType());

        ApplyResourceToControl(resources, frm, culture);
        resources.ApplyResources(frm, "$this", culture);
    }

    private static void ApplyResourceToControl(ComponentResourceManager res, Control control, CultureInfo lang)
    {
        if (control.GetType() == typeof(MenuStrip))  // See if this is a menuStrip
        {
            MenuStrip strip = (MenuStrip)control;

            ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(strip.Items, res, lang);
        }

        foreach (Control c in control.Controls) // Apply to all sub-controls
        {
            ApplyResourceToControl(res, c, lang);
            res.ApplyResources(c, c.Name, lang);
        }

        // Apply to self
        res.ApplyResources(control, control.Name, lang);
    }

    private static void ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(ToolStripItemCollection col, ComponentResourceManager res, CultureInfo lang)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < col.Count; i++)     // Apply to all sub items
        {
            ToolStripItem item = (ToolStripMenuItem)col[i];

            if (item.GetType() == typeof(ToolStripMenuItem))
            {
                ToolStripMenuItem menuitem = (ToolStripMenuItem)item;
                ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(menuitem.DropDownItems, res, lang);
            }

            res.ApplyResources(item, item.Name, lang);
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

You will need to reload the controls for it to reflect the New culture values

ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));

and then you would have to apply for each control using resources.ApplyResources

Please have a look here

Answer 3

Changing the CurrentUICulture will not automatically reload the resources. You need to perform it manually (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163609.aspx#S8)

You can copy the code related to the localization from InitializeComponent() into another function:

void LoadResources(){

    this.Title = MyApp.Resources.MainFormCaption;
    this.lblWelcomeMessage.Text = MyApp.Resources.UserWelcome;

}

Answer 4

Thanks V4Vendetta and others.. Solution is...

private void RussianFlag_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            if (currentLanguage != "RUS")
            {
                Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("ru-RU");
                ChangeLanguage("ru-RU");
            }
        }

.... .... ...

private void ChangeLanguage(string lang)
        {
            foreach (Control c in this.Controls)
            {
                ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));
                resources.ApplyResources(c, c.Name, new CultureInfo(lang));
                if (c.ToString().StartsWith("System.Windows.Forms.GroupBox"))
                {
                    foreach (Control child in c.Controls)
                    {
                        ComponentResourceManager resources_child = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));
                        resources_child.ApplyResources(child, child.Name, new CultureInfo(lang));
                    }
                }
            }
        }