Localization Like the Pros—Outsourcing Translations

Visual C# Tutorials

C# Tutorials

Localize Like the Pros Globalization Namespace § Resources § Localization Example § Outsourcing Translations Change the Culture Use Binary Resources Use XML Resources Automatic Fallback Globalization § Summary

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Outsourcing Translations

It is an easy task to outsource translations using resource files. When translating resource files it is not necessary to install Visual Studio .NET; a simple XML editor will suffice. The disadvantage of using an XML editor is that there is no real chance to rearrange Windows Forms elements and change the sizes if the translated text does not fit into the original borders of a label or button. Using a Windows Forms designer to do translations is a natural choice.

Microsoft provides a tool as part of the .NET Framework SDK that fulfills all these requirements: the Windows Resource Localization Editor winres.exe (see Figure 17-15). Users working with this tool do not need access to the C# source files; only binary or XML-based resource files are needed for translations. After these translations are completed, we can import the resource files to the Visual Studio .NET project to build satellite assemblies.

Figure 17-15