Ever needed to localize/internationalize an MVC web application but didn’t know how to? Well it’s actually pretty simple with ASP .Net. The first step is to set the page’s UICulture to the language requested by the browser which can be accomplished by adding the following code to the controller.
After the thread’s UICulture has been set you need to define resource files (.resx) which will contain the translated words. In the folder containing your view create an Asp.Net folder named App_LocalResources. In this folder create a resource file for languages you’ll be supporting in the following format.
Assuming the view is named index.aspx the resource files should be named:
index.aspx.resx This will be the language neutral resource file
index.aspx.en.resx The English resource file
index.aspx.es.resx The Spanish resource file
In these resource files define name/value pairs for each word which needs to be localized. Each file should contain the same names but the value should be translated for the language the resource file represents.
Then in the view use the following syntax to bind the resources to where they’re needed.
That’s it! When the browser sends a request to the server the following will happen:
- ASP .Net will pickup the ‘Accept-Language’ HTTP header and set the Page’s thread to that language (the first snippet accomplishes this)
- When the view is rendered it will run in the context of the appropriate resource file automatically
- Any references to <%$ Resources:[blah] %>
will be set to that value in the resource file!
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