TestStringResource

A playground for demonstrating how to use resx & resw in dotnet 7, WinUI, .Net Standard 2.0 and UWP.

How to use resx like resw

Copy the resw xml text as resx file Use System.Resources.ResourceManager to GetString

Original Resw Created by Visual Studio

Build Action: PRIResource

Original Resx Created by Visual Studio

Build Action: Embedded resource
Custom Tool: ResXFileCodeGenerator

    <EmbeddedResource Update="Strings\Resource1.resx">
      <Generator>ResXFileCodeGenerator</Generator>
      <LastGenOutput>Resource1.Designer.cs</LastGenOutput>
    </EmbeddedResource>

Create a String Resource Class

TestStringResource/SR.cs

private readonly ResourceManager _rm = new(BaseName, Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());

var res = loader._rm.GetString(name, culture);

Solution Structure

Project	Type	Descriptions
TestStringResource	dotnet 7 Class Library	resx, System.Resources.ResoureManager, Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture
TestStringResourceApp	dotnet 7 Console App	...
TestStringResourceStandard	.Net Standard 2.0 Class Library	resx, System.Resources.ResoureManager, Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture
TestStringResourceStandardApp	.Net Standard 2.0 Console App	...
TestStringResourceUWPApp	.Net Universal Windows Platform	...
TestStringResourceWinUI	dotnet 7 WinUI Class Library	resw, Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.ResourceLoader, Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.ResourceManager, Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.ResourceContext.QualifierValues["Language"], Windows.Globalization.ApplicationLanguages.PrimaryLanguageOverrid
TestStringResourceWinUIApp	dotnet 7 WinUI App	...

Dotnet 7

Project Structure

TestStringResource
├── Strings
│   ├── Resource.en-US.resx
│   └── Resource.fr-FR.resx
├── SR.cs
└── TestClass.cs

TestStringResourceApp
└── Program.cs

TestStringResourceWinUI
├── Extensions
│   └── ResourceExtensions.cs
├── Services
│   └── LocalizationService.cs
└── Strings
    ├── en-US
    │   ├── Resources.resw
    └── fr-FR
        └── Resources.resw
 
TestStringResourceWinUIApp
├── Assets
│   └── ...
├── Strings
│   ├── en-US
│   │   ├── Resources.resw
│   └── fr-FR
│       └── Resources.resw
├── App.xaml
│   └── App.xaml.cs
├── MainPage.xaml
│   └── MainPage.xaml.cs
├── MainViewModel.cs
└── Package.appxmanifest

.Net Standard 2.0

Project Structure

TestStringResourceStandard
├── Strings
│   ├── Resource.en-US.resx
│   └── Resource.fr-FR.resx
├── SR.cs
└── TestClass.cs

TestStringResourceStandardApp
└── Program.cs

TestStringResourceUWPApp
├── Assets
│   └── ...
├── App.xaml
│   └── App.xaml.cs
├── MainPage.xaml
│   └── MainPage.xaml.cs
├── MainViewModel.cs
└── Package.appxmanifest

Useful Resources

How to create user-defined exceptions with localized exception messages

• ResourceManager
• Localization
• resx
• Exception

var resourceManager = new ResourceManager("FULLY_QUALIFIED_NAME_OF_RESOURCE_FILE", Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
throw new StudentNotFoundException(resourceManager.GetString("StudentNotFound"), "John");

---

ResourceManager Class

• dotnet 7
• Localization
• txt, restext, resw

ResourceManager rm = new ResourceManager("Strings", typeof(Example).Assembly);
string timeString = rm.GetString("TimeHeader");

CultureInfo newCulture = new CultureInfo(cultures[cultureNdx]);
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = newCulture;
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = newCulture;
string greeting = String.Format("The current culture is {0}.\n{1}",
                                Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name,
                                rm.GetString("HelloString"));

---

microsoft/referencesource/System.Workflow.Activities/SR.cs

• ResourceManager
• String Resource

public SRDescriptionAttribute(string description, string resourceSet)
{
    ResourceManager rm = new ResourceManager(resourceSet, Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
    DescriptionValue = rm.GetString(description);
    System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(DescriptionValue != null, string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "String resource {0} not found.", description));
}

...


internal sealed class SR
{
    static SR loader = null;
    ResourceManager resources;

    internal SR()
    {
        resources = new System.Resources.ResourceManager("System.Workflow.Activities.StringResources", Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
    }

    private static SR GetLoader()
    {
        if (loader == null)
            loader = new SR();
        return loader;
    }

    ...

    internal static string GetString(CultureInfo culture, string name, params object[] args)
    {
        SR sys = GetLoader();
        if (sys == null)
            return null;
        string res = sys.resources.GetString(name, culture);
        System.Diagnostics.Debug.Assert(res != null, string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "String resource {0} not found.", name));
        if (args != null && args.Length > 0)
        {
            return String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, res, args);
        }
        else
        {
            return res;
        }
    }

    internal const string Activity = "Activity";

    ...

    private const string Error_InvalidStateActivityParent = "Error_InvalidStateActivityParent";
    internal static string GetError_InvalidStateActivityParent()
    {
        return GetString(Error_InvalidStateActivityParent,
            typeof(StateActivity).Name);
    }

microsoft/referencesource/Microsoft.Activities.Build/SR.resx

  <data name="InspectingClass" xml:space="preserve">
    <value>XAML build extension '{0}' is inspecting class '{1}'.</value>
  </data>

Include a localized string message in every exception

Use exception builder methods

FileReaderException NewFileIOException()
{
    string description = "My NewFileIOException Description";

    return new FileReaderException(description);
}

...

    throw NewFileIOException();

---

microsoft/WindowsAppSDK-Samples/Samples/ResourceManagement/cs-winui/ClassLibrary/Class.cs

• WinUI

using Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources;

...

public string GetClassLibrarySampleString()
{
    var resourceManager = new ResourceManager();
    return resourceManager.MainResourceMap.GetValue("ClassLibrary/ClassLibraryResources/ClassLibrarySampleString").ValueAsString;
}

ResourceLoader Class

ResourceManager Class

ResourceLoader Class

• A ResourceLoader object encapsulates a particular ResourceMap and a ResourceContext, combined in a simple API.

var resourceLoader = Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.ResourceLoader.GetForCurrentView();
var text = resourceLoader.GetString("Farewell");

Application resources and localization sample Windows-universal-samples/Samples/ApplicationResources/cs/scenario10.xaml.cs

var context = ResourceContext.GetForCurrentView().Clone();

var dimensionMap = ResourceManager.Current.MainResourceMap.GetSubtree("dimensions");

void Scenario10_ShowCandidates(string resourceId, IReadOnlyList<ResourceCandidate> resourceCandidates) {

    foreach (var candidate in resourceCandidates)
    {
        var value = candidate.ValueAsString;
        foreach (var qualifier in candidate.Qualifiers)
                {
                    var qualifierName = qualifier.QualifierName;
                    var qualifierValue = qualifier.QualifierValue;

---