Multi-Language and Resource Files

Question

I have a question about creating a multi-language application and the use of resource files. I will explain what I have done and what I would like the final product to be like.

I am doing this in VB.Net and using Visual Studio 2008

After creating a new project, I added a resource file to the project (Add -> New Item, Selected Resource File, named it Resource1.resx).

I then double clicked the resource file and was able to add some names and values. For example,

Name – lblFirstName, value – John Name – lblLastName, value – Smith

On my form, I have 2 labels: FirstName, and LastName

In Code, I added

FirstName.Text = My.Resources.Resource1.lblFirstName
LastName.Text = My.Resources.Resource1.lblLastName

If I run this code, it works fine. John and Smith are displayed on the labels.

Now for my question. Say instead of first and last name the labels (buttons, menu items, etc.) were actually words that would be different in different languages. What I would like is to have something like

EnglishText.resx SpanishText.resx GermanText.resx

Each resource file would contain the same names, just different values. Depending on what language was selected, decided by the user (from a menu), how can I get the matching resource file to be used.

Basically what I want would be

FirstName.Text = My.Resources.<Language Specific Resource File>.lblFirstName

Is something like this possible? Is this an acceptable approach? Is there a better way of doing this?

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated. I try to check often to see if there are follow up questions or if more information needs to be provided.

Answer 1

The .NET platform is built with localization in mind. There is already an inborn mechanism for localizing assemblies and resources based on the current culture. Here are some starter links you should read before trying to roll your own:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb398937.aspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb688096.aspx