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Building International Applications with the .NET Framework

Christian NagelMicrosoft Regional DirectorGlobal Knowledge

Christian Nagel

Trainings, Consulting, Coaching

Software Architect, Developer

http://www.christiannagel.com

Global Knowledge – http://www.globalknowledge.at

Agenda

Globalization and Localization

Resource model

Localization using Windows Forms

Localization with ASP.NET Web Applications

Demos

Key Terms

Globalization (Internationalization)Create applications that support multiple cultures

Character encodings

Date, time, numeric, currency formats

Localization (Translation)Customize applicatons for a given culture

Resources

Unicode Issues

64K characters is not enoughChinese has over 80,000 charactersRepresented by supplemental characters (surrogate pairs)Supporting these is a requirement for EA markets

Problems:SearchingComposition | Decomposition

Combining Characters

Some characters can be expressed:As pre-composed characters

As base character + combining character(s)

ǭǭǭǭU+01EDU+01EDU+01EDU+01ED

0̄̄0 ̄0̄0 ǫǫǫǫU+01EBU+01EBU+01EBU+01EB U+0304U+0304U+0304U+0304

====

==== 0̄̄0 ̄0̄0 4 4 4 4 U+0328U+0328U+0328U+0328 U+0304U+0304U+0304U+0304

ooooU+006FU+006FU+006FU+006F

String Handling

Use strings whenever possible (no individual characters)

Rely on the StringInfo methods to handle surrogates and combining characters

StringInfo::ParseCombiningCharacters

StringInfo::GetTextEnumerator

System.Globalization Namespace

Culture-aware string comparisons

Date & Time formatting

Numeric formatting

Calendars

CultureInfo

Invariant cultureCulture-invariant default

Neutral cultureBased on language

Resource only

UI Culture only

Specific cultureBased on language and region

Resource and Formatting specifics

invariantinvariant

dede

de-ATde-AT

de-CHde-CH

de-DEde-DE

de-LIde-LI

de-LUde-LU

enen

Culture and UICulture

CurrentUICultureDependent on the operating system

Can be set on Windows XP and Windows 2000 MUI

CurrentCulturePicked up from GetUserDefaultLCID

Control Panel | Regional Options

Only specific cultures can be assigned

Invariant Culture

CultureInfo.InvariantCultureNeither a neutral nor a specific culture

Loosely associated with the English language

Uses of the Invariant CultureStoring data

Transferring data across the network

For UI, prefer culture-sensitive formatting

Regions

Class: RegionInfoIsMetric

CurrencySymbol

ISOCurrencySymbol

Culture-Aware Classes

Calendar classesGregorian, Hebrew, Hijiri, Japanese, Julian, Korean, Taiwin, Thai Buddhist

DateTime, DateTimeFormatInfo

NumberFormatInfo

CompareInfo

Cultures and Regions

Date/Time Formatting

Number Formatting

CultureInfo, RegionInfo

demodemo

Setting the Culture Explicitely

Culture of the ThreadThread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture =

new CultureInfo("fr-FR");

Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture =

new CultureInfo("es-ES");

Individual APIstring s = DateTime.Now.ToString("D",

new CultureInfo("de-AT"));

Culture Specific Formatting: Text Output

Any API wich takes a culture, or an IFormatProvider

Default culture setting of the threadtextBox1.Text = DateTime.Today.ToString("D");textBox2.Text = floatNumber.ToString("N");

Specific culture settingtextBox1.Text = DateTime.Today.ToString("D",

new CultureInfo("es-ES"));textBox2.Text = floatNumber.ToString("N",

new CultureInfo("de-AT"));

Culture Specific Formatting: Text Input

Default culture setting for the threadstring input = DateTime.Parse(textBox1.Text);

NumberStyles allows setting for decimal point, exponent, currency, whitespaces, hex numbers...

Double.TryParse(textBox2.Text, NumberStyles.AllowDecimalPoint | NumberStyles.AllowThousands, cultureInfo, out result);

Setting the Culture with ASP.NET Applications

Web Config File

Page Directive

Programmatically using IE Settings

demodemo

Resources

Localization of User Interfaces

XML or Binary Resource Files

Add texts, pictures, or any serializable object

Save resource information in Resource Files, Satellite Assemblies, or custom stores

Tools: resgen, Visual Studio .NET

Resource Fallback

Resources and Cultures

Main AssemblyMain Assembly•CodeCode•Default resources (fallback)Default resources (fallback)

Greeting=“Hello”Greeting=“Hello”Farewell=“Goodbye”Farewell=“Goodbye”Logo=<graphic data>Logo=<graphic data>

FrenchFrench•No codeNo code•““fr” resourcesfr” resources

Greeting = “Bonjour”Greeting = “Bonjour”Farewell = “Au revoir”Farewell = “Au revoir”

French (France) (fr-FR)French (France) (fr-FR)•No codeNo code•““fr-FR” resourcesfr-FR” resources

Greeting=“Salut”Greeting=“Salut”

Resource Manager

Provides access to culture-correct resources

SourcesFile-based Resources

Assemblies, Satellite Assemblies

Custom Resource Readers (e.g. Database-access)

Resource Sources

File-based ResourcesDon't use them with ASP.NET Applications (files are locked)

Additional languages can be added easily

Satellite AssembliesResource-only language-specific assembly

Custom ResourceReaderRead from custom data stores

Using Resources with Windows Forms Applications

Visual Studio .NET Designer Support

Windows Resource Localization Editor

demodemo

Localizing ASP.NET Applications

Different Pages for Every LanguageFast access

More maintenance needed

Satellite AssembliesDon't use resource files with ASP.NET!

Custom Resource ReaderStore localized resources in the database

Creating a Custom ResourceReader

Read Resources from a Database for ASP.NET

demodemo

Summary

The .NET Framework provides great support for localization and globalization

Use System.Globalization to globalize applications

Use System.Resources to localize applications

Similar .NET Framework support for Windows Forms and ASP.NET

Questions?Questions?

Ask The ExpertsGet Your Questions Answered

Thursday 11:00-14:00

Friday11:00-13:30

Community Resources

Community Resourceshttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/default.mspx

Most Valuable Professional (MVP)http://www.mvp.support.microsoft.com/

NewsgroupsConverse online with Microsoft Newsgroups, including Worldwidehttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/default.mspx

User GroupsMeet and learn with your peershttp://www.microsoft.com/communities/usergroups/default.mspxhttp://www.ineta.org

Suggested Reading And Resources

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© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.© 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.This presentation is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.This presentation is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.