Develop Reference

Multi language from external Class Libraries (dll)

I'm looking for the best way to create a multi language application. I want to have the language files in a external Class Library so it's reusable for multiple applications so I only have to add it to the References (and probably some code in the .xaml itself).
EDIT 1: With multi language I mean like Dutch, English, German, ...
The goal is to have the computer system to say, if it's in Dutch, the application has to be Dutch, but if it's in French, it takes English as default. This should be done in a dll, so it's not "hard coded" in each application I make.
EDIT 2:
I managed to solve this problem on my own. Thanx to the people who replied to my problem.
I solved it this way:
I made a Class Library and named it "Languages". I added 2 Resources named "Language.nl-BE.resx" and Language.en-US.resx" with both a String in the file named "exDefault". After that I compiled it and added the dll as a Reference to my application.
In the application I used the following code to get the String into my application:
ResourceManager rm = new ResourceManager("Languages.Language", System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom("Languages.dll"));
MessageBox.Show(rm.GetString("exDefault", new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US")));
This will get the content of the "exDefault" String in the en-US source and show it in a MessageBox. To show the other language, just change en-US to nl-BE.
You will notice there is a dll named Languages.dll and 2 folders named en-US and nl-BE with each their own Languages.resources.dll file inside them.
The only thing I'm wondering now is, is there a way to get rid of those 2 folders and embed them inside the Languages.dll?

You might want to read the sections on globalization / localization in the WPF and .Net documentation. Also, you might want to check out this blog, where there are examples of how to use localized resource dlls in WPF:
http://wpfglue.wordpress.com/category/localization/

I managed to solve this problem on my own. Thanx to the people who replied to my problem.
I solved it this way:
I made a Class Library and named it "Languages". I added 2 Resources named "Language.nl-BE.resx" and Language.en-US.resx" with both a String in the file named "exDefault". After that I compiled it and added the dll as a Reference to my application.
In the application I used the following code to get the String into my application:
ResourceManager rm = new ResourceManager("Languages.Language", System.Reflection.Assembly.LoadFrom("Languages.dll"));
MessageBox.Show(rm.GetString("exDefault", new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("en-US")));
This will get the content of the "exDefault" String in the en-US source and show it in a MessageBox. To show the other language, just change en-US to nl-BE.
You will notice there is a dll named Languages.dll and 2 folders named en-US and nl-BE with each their own Languages.resources.dll file inside them.
The only thing I'm wondering now is, is there a way to get rid of those 2 folders and embed them inside the Languages.dll?

How can I have my C# Form resources in one DLL, whilst the implementing code is in another DLL?

I have a project that contains a number of DLL files that contain Form resources which all go through translation/localisation (l10n).
For example, a DLL includes SomeForm.cs, which includes plenty of code functionality. The DLL also contains tranlsated versions of SormForm: SomeForm.resx, SomeForm.fr.resx and SomeForm.ja.resx (Default Language, French and Japanese translations).
The localisation group has asked for all of the resources to be placed into one library to reduce their overhead.
How can I move the form resources to a single DLL whilst keeping the code that implements the form in it's current DLL?
I don't want to move the functionality/code to a single DLL, which I think is what's being suggested here: Moving form resource files to a resource dll

Satellite Assemblies
Satellite assemblies are dll's which only contain resource files.
MSDN Article is very confusing. This article should give you a good understanding about the concept.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/59193/Localizing-a-Windows-Application-with-Satellite-As
Edit: Dynamic Layout for windows forms.
How to: Support Localization on Windows Forms Using AutoSize and the TableLayoutPanel Control
Walkthrough: Creating a Layout That Adjusts Proportion for Localization
Code Listing
How to: Design a Windows Forms Layout that Responds Well to Localization

.net Satellite assembly?

How can i create satellite assemblies in .net 3.5?
I have a nativetext.resx file in english and want to create assemblies for french and italian in different folders like
it --> nativetext.resources.dll
fr --> nativetext.resources.dll
is there any too like AutoLocalize.exe(am not sure)

If you are editing a windows forms form, select the choosen form in the designer, set the Localizable property to True, and set the Language property to your choice. Then rewrite the text attributes for the controls. They will be placed in the appropriate resource file and dll-s for each language will be generated.
The forms' language will reflect the OS' MUI setting, or you can change it programatically.
See: MSDN Sample, MSDN Walkthrough, and more (mostly under the "localization" link). This is a complex topic, but simple things can be achieved simply.

Proper localization of a WinForms application

I have a WinForms application which I want to translate into multiple languages. However, I do not have any experience with localizing a WinForms app, and I find very contradictory information about this subject.
Basically, what I want is:
In the source code, I want only one file per language
This file gets compiled into the main application on compilation - no satellite assemblies or external data files after building the application
The user can select the language, I do not need/want auto-detection based on the operating system
This should mainly contain strings and ints, but also a CultureInfo
Most solutions I've seen either have one .resx file per Form and/or external satellite assemblies.
Do I have to roll my own?
Or is there something in the framework already?
.net Framework 3.5 SP1 if that matters.
Edit:
For the most part, Visual Studio already offers support for what I want, but there are two issues. When I set Form.Localizable to true I have this nice Designer support, but this generates one resx per Form. The idea of manually overriding it in InitializeComponent fails because it's designer-written code that will regularly be overwritten.
Theoretically, I only want to :
a) override the creation of the ComponentResourceManager to point it to my global resx and
b) change the call to ApplyResources to the overload that takes a CultureInfo as third parameter.
It seems as if I have to add a function call to my constructor that gets called after InitializeComponent() and overrides its behaviour. That seems terribly inefficient, but Visual Studio is right when it warns about touching InitializeComponent().
At the moment, I am indeed rolling my own WinForms localization Framework...

I've just completed a C# .Net 3.5 project with a similar problem. We were writing WinForms plugin for an existing multi-lingual application with 8 languages (including English).
This is how we did it:
Create all our forms and UI in the default language, English.
Put all our internal strings in a resource file (stuff not tied directly to a form like custom error messages and dialog box titles etc)
Once we had completed most of the work and testing we localised it.
Each form already had a .resx file but this was empty. We set the property 'Localizable' to true, the .resx file was filled with things like button sizes & strings.
For each of the other languages, we changed the 'Language' property on the form. We chose the basic version of each language eg: 'Spanish' instead of 'Spanish (Chile)' etc. so that it would work for every 'Spanish' dialect, I think.
Then we went through each control, translated its text and resized, if needed. This created a .resx per language and form combination.
We were then left with, for 8 languages, 8 .resx for each form and 8 .resx for the general strings. When compiled the output folder had the .dll we were creating and then a sub folder for each language with a .resources.dll in it.
We were able to test the versions of the UI in the designer by just changing the language property to check that we had the correct strings & layout.
All in all once we got our heads around it, it was quite easy and painless.
We didn't need to write any custom tweaks to the form loading

I was asking a similar question about ASP.NET and got a first answer - this tool and its workflow might also be something for you - have a look: Lingobit Localizer
It seems to be able to load your Winforms app and allows you to start translating your labels etc. and see the forms while you do it. Lots of other features, too, like incremental translation and translation memory (if you use the same terms over and over again).
Looks quite promising (for Winforms) - haven't used it myself, though.
Here's an extensive list of potential .NET localization tools - not sure, how well they work and what they cover - have a look, maybe you'll find what you're looking for.
Marc

I dont have a solution for your first and second requirement but keep in mind that localizing a form is not as simple as translating each word. You need to check that each translated text fits in their respective control. Also, maybe you have an icon or an image which need to be change in another culture.
For your point three, you can change the language manually with the following lines:
CultureInfo ci = new CultureInfo("fr");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = ci;

This is a huge subject and there are many ways to accomplish what you want. The framework does provide the basis but a complete solution requires that you implement certain elements yourself.
For example the default framework implementation is to create a .resx file for every resource. In ASP.Net this means each user/server control or page. This doesn't lend itself to easy maintenance and if you want to move resources to a database you need to implement your own provider.
My familiarity with Winforms is limited but if you are using Silverlight or WPF then have a read of Guy Smith-Ferrier's work on the subject at: http://www.guysmithferrier.com/category/Internationalization.aspx. He also has some toolsets that can make your life easier at: http://www.dotneti18n.com/Downloads.aspx.
I've worked with him before and have never come across anyone else with a better depth of understanding of the subject.

What you are asking for:
no satellite resource files
only one size and control placement per form.
lots of languages embedded in the executable.
Is not do-able in vanilla Visual Studio's IDE.
What it would require is some custom work, basically fulfilling all these steps:
Acquire a custom resource manager that handles TMX resource files.
Put all your localizable strings in a TMX file.
Make this TMX file an embedded resource in your project.
In your Form constructor, create your TMX ResourceManager, loading the TMX file from your embedded resources.
In your code, use your tmx ResourceManager instead of the default ResourceManager for getting localized strings.
Let the Form use the default ResourceManager for getting all the designer things except the strings.
Get your TMX file fleshed out with the new language translations.
More can be added in the next release of your project, just by adding them to this TMX file before you compile.
RESOURCES: (not an exhaustive list, by any means)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation_Memory_eXchange
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tmx-editor/

The right way to do this is, suppose you want to add Arabic support witch is RightToLeft language:
Double click the form
Set localizable prop. to true
Change Language prop. to Arabic //This will automatically open a new version of the form so you can customize.
Set RightToLeft prop. to Yes
Set RightToLeftLayout prop. to True
Start renaming controls, and save the form.
Handle Messages/Errors in code // Sorry I don't have a quick solution for now, try duplicate them and If/Else the current local.

C#: How to bind the text of a winforms button to a resource

We have a resource file with lots of translated strings used various places in our application. Is there a better way for binding for example the text of a button to a certain string?
Currently we are usually just doing something like this in the constructor, in a Load event handler or in a method called by one of those:
someButton.Text = CommonTexts.SomeString;
someMenuItem.Text = CommonTexts.SomeOtherString;
Is there a better way to do it? Maybe in the designer? Or is this the recommended way of doing it?
Just to let you know how we do the actual translation: We have one Class Library project which only contains resx files. The main resx files are written in english (of course). We then open up those base resx files in an application called ResEx where we (or someone else) does the translation to other languages. When compiled Visual Studio automatically creates assemblies for each language which are used automatically depending on the current culture set. This works pretty well, so I don't really need info on how to do the translation and such (although I am always curious to improvements of course). What I am asking is if there is a better way for getting those translated strings from the resource assembly and into all the various Text properties.

I understand, it's an old question, but still, I had the same issue (VS 2010), and one of the first links in google is this topic.
In order to move all the texts to forms resource file - you need to set the winform Localizable property to True. And that's it. :)
(c) Cap. O.

You can do:
using System.Resources;
using System.Reflection;
Assembly assembly = this.GetType().Assembly;
resman = new ResourceManager("StringResources.Strings", assembly);
btnButton.Text = resman.GetString("ButtonName");

There is a good tool called LingoBit Localizer that does the job for the fraction of the time it would take to build all the reasources files.
You don't have to care about other languages while in development process, you simply code and set properties as you would if you were programming for a unilingual software. After you're done, or whenever you wish, you run LingoBit Localizer over your DLL or Windows Form application. This will get user-displayable strings out to a grid for you within its GUI. Now, perhaps a professional translator could use to translate the words if your programmers don't know the language for which the applicaiton have to be translated. Then, you simply save the project when you're done. This will create a DLL file which you simply add to your binary deployment directory, then your application will automatically set itself to the right language depending on the current culture information on which the app. is installed or so. This saves a lot of programming time and headaches.
Hope this helps even though it is not resource-based solution.

This will extract the the value of Home keyword and populate into the Text1 Box.
Text1.Text= Resource.Home.ToString();

Try this:
someButton.DataBindings.Add("Text", CommonTexts, "SomeString");

Your way is the best way to do this if you have developers who are not personally fluent in the languages you're translating your application into. I've done this before with an English application that had to be translated into Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese (I only speak one of these semi-fluently). The original forms were all created in English, and in the form's Load event the code iterated through every control and searched for each control's Text property in a translations spreadsheet, and replaced it with the appropriate translation.
The built-in way of internationalizing a form (which is basically a variant of form inheritance) assumes that the programmer is fluent in the language you need to translate to, which is pretty much of a stretch, and it requires you to manually enter all the translated text values for each form and each language. It also makes your binary larger (potentially much larger), since it adds a .resx file for each form for each language that you support.