I need to make a ClassLibrary, to contain different Resource Files (resx). This needs to be done, so I can reuse these resources on multiple projects.
After reading for quite a while on how to achieve this, I'm still nowhere near close to an answer.
Note that i need to achieve this in a way that I don't have to recompile the proyect if I want to change a value
Is there a simple way to achieve this that I'm missing?
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid you're trying to use RESX files for something other than what they're designed to do. RESX files are compiled into .resources files, which are then embedded into the assembly during the build. In other words, if you don't recompile, you won't see any changes that are made to the resx file reflected in the module.
The benefits of RESX files extends far beyond providing compiled cultural/language text tightly coupled to a deployed solution. They have the potential to provide a simple and flexible set of content managed outside the software development process. Some views here:
What are the benefits of resource(.resx) files?
Yes you can work with your RESX files without having to compile them. See here:
Edit ASP.NET MVC 3 resx files in deployment server without recompiling
Yes you can share RESX files between different projects and even roll your own resource manager. You can maintain alternate sets of resources, serving up alternate content depending on for example the user context. I have been involved in a project where we implemented something along these lines to great affect, in my case the solution was used to provide white labeling. Some detail to get you started here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905797.aspx
Related
My app has been designed to be able to run on two different languages, english and czech. In order to accomplish this, I've created 2 resource files:
If an end-user would like to add another language, for example GlobalStrings.fr-FR.resx, is it possible to allow for this functionality without rebuilding the application?
If we look at the properties of these resource files:
I'm not understanding what embedded resource means. Does this mean that in order for the app to consume this file, the application must be rebuilt?
How do we create a resource file, that is open to be extended/changed by the end user, without having to rebuild the entire application
?
Regular .Net resources are compiled into assembly with particular name and loaded by matching that name. So if "end-user" is ok to translate strings in resx file and compile resources into assembly with particular name (like "MyResources.cs-cz.dll") you can do that with default .Net behavior without recompiling main code. See MSDN:Packing and Deploying resources and related links for more information.
Note that you don't need Visual Studio for it and can use csc command line compiler to embed resources on user's machine - so if your really want you can provide simple script that compiles corresponding resx locally. Note that editing XML (resx) as text is generally not possible by regular person due to required encoding of some characters - consider technical level of your "end-users" before going that route. Plain text version of source for resource may work in more cases.
Usually this is not the case - if end-user localization is requirement you would create some sort of custom resource string management by loading strings from plain text files or database that users can update locally.
I have big WinForms project,and now i need to create module,where client can create/update/delete its own localization to a project (dataGrid Name-Value,like resx files).Also we need a default localization.But in WinForms every form has own resx file=( What the best way to realize this feature?Xml file or it could be done by resx files.
In previous version of the project (unfortunately no source code) it was jsut text Key-Value file.
There are diffrent way to approch that topic. On top of my head i have 2 solutions for that problem.
First solution
Since *.resx files are compiled into executable you cannot really modify them, but since you are using them already easiest approach would be to change reference from original build in *.resx file to one you have made and put in your folder hierarchy. That way you could use your build in files as default and search for other languages if they exists replace them.
This might help you Modifying .resx file in c#
Downside of this approach is that resx files are c# classes and could be realy hard to edit outside of Visual Studio editor.
Second solution
If you have time to move all of your default texts to *.xml files you could do that and use similar approach like in *.resx file. Since i found it easier to create and edit xml files this could save your day. Downside of that approach is time required to connect every string to your windows forms app.
I am working on a windows application that will need to be branded. The client will be selling this to other businesses, and needs a customized logo and name for each sale.
The client does not know how to use visual studio!
I think I need to write a packager app to inject custom logo and string resources into the executable. I am planning on using WPF. But since this is a critical requirement, I'd be willing to do it in winforms if that is easier.
What is the best way to do this? Any and all suggestions welcome.
It sounds like what you are after is application skinning. This doesn't mean you have to unpack the exe and inject resources. You just need to consider skinning from the start of the project and build the application to support your skinning requirements.
WPF will make skinning your app much easier. There will be several different ways to accomplish what you want.
Simplest is to leave the logo image loose and reference it with a relative path from the XAML file(s) that need to show this image.
You should look into Resource Dictionaries in WPF and how they help you group resources and support skinning. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms750613.aspx
The text will be a little different but I am not sure what you need as far as a text goes. Do you mean you need to localize the strings or do you simply need different text (all the same locale) to show for different clients?
One possible solution (perhaps not the simplest one) is to use a parent application which compiles source code for generating child application. You can do it with CSharpCodeProvider and CompilerParameters classes. Add the image as an embedded resource and retrieve it in the child application. A working demo with a source code is available at Slide Show Builder.
My best suggestion for the exact question you asked (although I suspect there is another way by reconsidering the exact requirements) would be to write a utility which uses ildasm to disassemble the assembly, then use ilasm to reassemble it and include your new resource file.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/496e4ekx%28VS.71%29.aspx
The trivial solution is to provide the bitmap along with the EXE as a separate file. Actually replacing an embedded resource in the EXE requires decompiling it with ildasm.exe and putting it back together with ilasm.exe. Ildasm.exe is only available in the Windows SDK, it can be downloaded separately. Error prone and small odds that your customer can get that right, you'll need to provide them with, say, a .bat file that does this.
Of course, whomever is interested in replacing the logo, for whatever reason, would not be slowed down by replacing either the separate image file or using the Ildasm.exe trick. There is therefore very little point in making it any more complicated then it needs to be.
Does anyone know of a good tool for refactoring resources in a visual studio 2008 solution?
We have a number of resource files with translated text in an assembly used for localizing our application. But they have gotten a bit messy... I would like to rename some of the keys, and move some of them into other resource files. And I would like those changes be done in my code, and the translated versions of the resource files as well. Maybe a some analysis on what strings are missing in the translated versions, and what strings have been removed from the original as well...
Does anyone know of a good visual studio extension or ReSharper plugin that can help me with this? Right now it is kind of a pain, because I have to first rename the key in the base resource file, then in the localized versions. And then compile to get all the compile errors resulting from the key which now have a different name, and then go through and fix them all... very annoying =/
I just stumbled across this question which prompted me to blog about what I use for this problem here Moving and renaming resource keys in a .resx file.
I have two PowerShell scripts, one which renames a resource key and one which moves a resource key from one resource file to another.
Using these scripts I am able to rename a resource key:
.\RenameResource.ps1 oldKey newKey
And I can move a resource with key “keyName” from a file named “ResourceFile1.resx” to “ResourceFile2.resx”:
.\MoveResource.ps1 ResourceFile1 ResourceFile2 keyName
RGreatEx is suitable when you need to move a lot of strings in code to resources. But in this case it can't help.
There are no such plugin (*this means that I have never seen such and didn't found in google, but there are some localizators which can help to translate to new language - http://www.peoplewords.com/download/ResxEditor.aspx and http://sourceforge.net/projects/resx/ and http://www.resx-localization-studio.net/ and http://madskristensen.net/post/A-NET-resource-editor-application-for-resx-files.aspx). But you easily (may be) can do this without it.
All you need is to write some small tool which will generate common dictionary of strings for a selected language for several selected resx files and store it somewhere. Another tool you need to create is a tool which will generate new resx files (after your changes) using changed resxs as templates and using the dictionary generated by previous tool.
Of course all new and changed strings will be missing but this can be fixed manually. This will take not so much time (especially when you'll add functionality to write a log of missing strings during generation new resx) .
Were looking into Sisulizer to localize our software, and I think it accomplishes what you're asking for (a bit overkill perhaps?)
Seems to be some new features in ReSharper 5 that helps with this
Localizing your Applications with ReSharper 5
This demo shows how ReSharper 5 helps you make strings in your code localizable quickly, without breaking your regular workflow. Working with resource files is no more a developer's nightmare with ReSharper 5.
Alright, so I'm working on programming my own installer in C#, and what I'd like to do is something along the lines of put the files in the .exe, so I can do
File.Copy(file, filedir);
Or, if this isn't possible, is there another way of doing what I am attempting to do?
I wouldn't code my own installer, but if you truely want to embed files into your assembly you could use strongly typed resources. In the properties dialog of your project open up the "Resources" tab and then add your file. You'll then be able to get the file using:
ProjectNamespace.Properties.Resources.MyFile
Then you'll be able to write the embedded resource to disk using:
System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes(#"C:\MyFile.bin", ProjectNamespace.Properties.Resources.MyFile);
Honestly, I would suggest you NOT create your own installer. There are many many issues with creating installers. Even the big installer makers don't make their own actual installers anymore, they just create custom MSI packages.
Use Mirosoft Installer (MSI). It's the right thing to do. Make your own custom front-end for it, but don't recreate the already very complex wheel that exists.
UPDATE: If you're just doing this for learning, then I would shy away from thinking of it as "an installer". You might be tempted to take your "research" and use it someday, and frankly, that's how we end up with so many problems when new versions of Windows come out. People create their own wheels with assumptions that aren't valid.
What you're really trying to do is called "packaging", and you really have to become intimately familiar with the Executable PE format, because you're talking about changing the structure of the PE image on disk.
You can simulate it, to a point, with putting files in resources, but that's not really what installers, or self-extractors do.
Here's a link to Self-Extractor tutorial, but it's not in C#.
I don't know enough about the .NET PE requirements to know if you can do this in with a managed code executable or not.
UPDATE2: This is probably more of what you're looking for, it embeds files in the resource, but as I said, it's not really the way professional installers or self-extractors do it. I think there are various limitations on what you can embed as resources. But here's the like to a Self-Extractor Demo written in C#.
I'm guessing here, but if you are trying to store resources in your application before compilation, you can in the Project Explorer, right click a file you would like to add, chose properties and change the type to Embedded Resource.
You can then access the embedded resources later by using the instructions from this KB:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319292
in case you simply want to store multiple files in a single file storage (and extract files from there, interact etc.) you might also want to check out NFileStorage, a .net file storage. written in 100% .NET C# with all sources included. It also comes with a command line interpreter that allows interaction from the command line.