Localization at runtime

Question

I have created Windows Form Program in C#. I have some problems with localization. I have resource files in 3 languages. I want to click each language button and change language at runtime. When i am changing language before InitializeComponent() it works. But when i am clicking on button, it doesn't work. i am using this code.

private void RussianFlag_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("ru-RU");
}

Answer 1

I wrote a RuntimeLocalizer class with following features:

• Changes and updates localization for all Controls and SubControls in a Form
• Also changes localization for all SubItems of all MenuStrips

Usage Example: RuntimeLocalizer.ChangeCulture(MainForm, "en-US");

---

using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
using System.ComponentModel;

---

public static class RuntimeLocalizer
{
    public static void ChangeCulture(Form frm, string cultureCode)
    {
        CultureInfo culture = CultureInfo.GetCultureInfo(cultureCode);

        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture;

        ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(frm.GetType());

        ApplyResourceToControl(resources, frm, culture);
        resources.ApplyResources(frm, "$this", culture);
    }

    private static void ApplyResourceToControl(ComponentResourceManager res, Control control, CultureInfo lang)
    {
        if (control.GetType() == typeof(MenuStrip))  // See if this is a menuStrip
        {
            MenuStrip strip = (MenuStrip)control;

            ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(strip.Items, res, lang);
        }

        foreach (Control c in control.Controls) // Apply to all sub-controls
        {
            ApplyResourceToControl(res, c, lang);
            res.ApplyResources(c, c.Name, lang);
        }

        // Apply to self
        res.ApplyResources(control, control.Name, lang);
    }

    private static void ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(ToolStripItemCollection col, ComponentResourceManager res, CultureInfo lang)
    {
        for (int i = 0; i < col.Count; i++)     // Apply to all sub items
        {
            ToolStripItem item = (ToolStripMenuItem)col[i];

            if (item.GetType() == typeof(ToolStripMenuItem))
            {
                ToolStripMenuItem menuitem = (ToolStripMenuItem)item;
                ApplyResourceToToolStripItemCollection(menuitem.DropDownItems, res, lang);
            }

            res.ApplyResources(item, item.Name, lang);
        }
    }
}

Answer 2

You will need to reload the controls for it to reflect the New culture values

ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(Form1));

and then you would have to apply for each control using resources.ApplyResources

Please have a look here