I am starting a new application in WPF and I am curious how to handle Localization? In WinForms you can use resx strings for the UI text, how is this done in WPF? Is there a special binding syntax for binding to resx resources or is there a different way of doing this?
Thanks!
A simple way is to use a MarkupExtension.
https://www.wpftutorial.net/LocalizeMarkupExtension.html
With this tutorial you can implement it yourself.
Or you can use a nuget package.
Related
I'm trying to use the oxyplot library in my WPF application. also, I'm using the MVVM pattern. one of the main parts of this pattern never uses "UI" specific in the "ViewModel" project. but when I look at the examples for this library, I see people are referencing oxyplot in their "ViewModels" by this: using oxyplot;. now I have this question. how should I use this library with the MVVM pattern? now I have installed the package in my "view" project by the NuGet package manager, should I do the same for my "ViewModel" project? I think this is not good because by installing it in "ViewModel" I'm breaking the MVVM pattern. but how can I access oxyplot classes from my "ViewModel"?
Thanks in advance.
I was expecting to use the oxyplot by the MVVM pattern but now I'm mixed up :(
your approach might work but I think you also need a value converter to convert between classes in "View" and "ViewModel" because they belong to different assemblies and also you may end up with namespace conflicts between "oxyplot" in "ViewModel" and "oxyplot" in "View" so you also have to do extra thing, for example, renaming the "oxyplot" namespace in "ViewModel" I think.
The Best solution is to add "Oxyplot.Core" to your "ViewModel" and everything works fine and there is no need for extra work.
In our WPF plugin project we use LocBaml tool to localize UI. But now it is needed to localize a string inside a cs file:
ToolInfo.MenuCaption = "&Toggle console";
I've found some localization topics:
WPF Localization - On-the-fly Language Selection
WPF Application Framework (WAF)
WPF Localization Extension
It seems that for using these 3rd party tools it is needed to remove LocBalm implementation and write a new one.
Is it possible to stay with LocBaml tool and add a translation just for this string in cs file?
If the custom localization is taking place only in codebehind (cs file(s)), there's no reason that I can see for it to not work with LocBaml.
You could always use a hack to use LocBaml for this localized string as well, something like this :
<TextBlock x:Uid="HiddenText" Name="HiddenText" Text="&Toggle console" Visibility="Collapsed" />
And in codebehind :
ToolInfo.MenuCaption = HiddenText.Text;
This is kind of mildly awful, but you should be able to still localize the string with LocBaml this way.
Otherwise, you'll have to string together a separate system yourself - something with resource strings and a resource manager, most likely - or try to get one of the localization platforms to play nice with LocBaml.
I came through this What is the best way to localize a WPF application, sans LocBAML? . But, this didn't answer what I'm looking for.
I'm creating a CustomControl in WPF. I would like to provide localization support. The control contains, images, strings etc.,
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I think the document linked in this post contains a lot of information about localization in WPF. In the end, it is up to you to decide which mechanism to use.
Since you are talking about a custom control, I would consider to give it a Culture dependency property which the consumer of your control can use to specify the desired culture. This way, the consumer can use your localized control, relatively independent of the localization strategy he/she chose.
I'd suggest using Resx, try integrating into a WPF application with the TranslationByMarkupExtension example. http://www.wpftutorial.net/LocalizeMarkupExtension.html
LocBaml was a very odd thing for Microsoft to put out there and isn't better, or even complete.
What would be a good aproach to localize a MVVM based WPF allication that can change its language at runtime? Of course I could create a string property in the ViewModel for each and every string that is displayed somewhere in the View but that seems rather tedious to me. Is there a common approach/best practice for this?
Here's an excellent article about WPF localization. It deals with the Microsoft-supported localization technique, and a few alternative ones
I wouldn't recommend the "official" solution for localization... it's really a pain to use, it modifies you XAML (adds x:Uid attributes to every element that can be localized), and there are no good tools from MS to make it an easy solution. Good old resx localization is much easier to use, and integrates quite well with WPF with just a few tricks (namely, markup extensions and/or attached properties). Also, you can easily change the interface language at runtime thanks to the binding system.
WPF has a lot of support for localization. Perhaps you can leverage that? Unfortunately I think that changing the user interface language at run-time is somewhat difficult and you probably need to come up with your own scheme.
Also, as the view-model is UI agnostic I don't think storing user interface strings in the view-model is a good solution. These belong to the view.
Instead of having user interface strings in your view model, you can store them in the assembly's resources and access them directly from XAML, using x:Static:
<TextBlock Text="{x:Static props:Resources.MyLabel}"/>
The props namespace should refer to your assembly's Properties namespace:
xmlns:props="clr-namespace:My.Assembly.Properties"
You can use a Custom Markup Extension to lookup localized values and update them when the UI Culture changes.
Here's an example of how this might work:
<Label x:Name="lblResxHelloWorldMarkupExtension1Value"
Content="{res:Res Id=HelloWorld,Default=Hello#}"
Margin="{res:Res Id=HelloWorldMargin,Default=10}"
Width="{res:Res Id=HelloWorldWidth,
ResourceSet=WpfClickOnce.MyFormRes, Default=50}" />
This example is taken from the excellent WPF Localization Guidance authored by Rick Strahl and Michele Leroux Bustamante here: http://wpflocalization.codeplex.com/. Download the guide from this site where this technique is described in detail in document form and with a sample application.
Another nice advantage of this approach is that it works in the designer.
If you are almost interested on this topic you can have a look at my library that I'm developing on codeplex.
LocalizationLibrary: http://localizationlibrary.codeplex.com/
Here's a couple of articles that could be of interest:
Localizing WPF Applications using Locbaml
WPF Runtime Localization
Simple WPF Localization
Where to find Generic.xaml (or other code with the default look) for native WPF controls such as Button, CheckBox, TextBox, etc?
In Silverlight (and I know that your question is about WPF) this information is more accessible than in WPF. You can get this information from any of these sources:
Control Styles and Templates on MSDN.
You can look at the resources of the relevant Silverlight assembly and extract the themes/generic.xaml embedded in a resource. I use Reflector to do this.
You can extract the control template of a specific control using a tool. I use Expression Blend to do this. This also works for WPF.
Unfortunately the XAML for native controls is not directly available as a file. You need to use a program for peeking into the WPF assemblies and extracting that info. I personally have used the Mole for Visual Studio tool, which has done the job very well. It integrates as a debugger-visualiser, which is quite handy.