How to Create the Multilanguage Application in ASP.Net

Chandradev
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Article

Look at the following image:

this is your home page

change language

We can create the Multilanguage application in ASP.NET like the following.

Step 1

Add the Master Page Site1.Master and design the menu and language selection dropdown list like this:

<%@ Master Language="C#" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeBehind="Site1.master.cs" Inherits="MultilanguageSample.Site1" %>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head runat="server">
<title></title>
<style type="text/css">
html {
font-family: Tahoma;
font-size: 14px;
font-style: normal;
background-color: Silver;
}
.Content {
margin: auto;
width: 700px;
background-color: white;
border: Solid 1px black;
}
.auto-style1 {
width: 100%;
}
</style>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="head" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<div class="Content">
<br />
<table class="auto-style1">
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #339966"> <a href="Default.aspx">
<asp:Label ID="Label1" meta:resourcekey="menuItemDefault" runat="server" Text="Home"></asp:Label>
</a></td>
<td style="background-color: #339966; " ><a href="Contact.aspx">
<asp:Label ID="Label2" meta:resourcekey="menuItemContact" runat="server" Text="ContactUs"></asp:Label>
</a></td>
<td style="background-color: #339966;"><asp:DropDownList ID="DropDownList_Language" runat="server" Height="20px" Width="170px"
OnSelectedIndexChanged="DropDownList_Language_SelectedIndexChanged" AutoPostBack="true">
<asp:ListItem Value="en-US">English</asp:ListItem>
<asp:ListItem Value="sv-SE">Swedish</asp:ListItem>
</asp:DropDownList></td>
</tr>
</table>
<br />
<br />
<div>
<asp:ContentPlaceHolder ID="ContentPlaceHolder1" runat="server">
</asp:ContentPlaceHolder>
</div>
</div>
</form>
</body>
</html>

Step 2

Write the code in the code behind file like this:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
namespace MultilanguageSample
{
public partial class Site1 : System.Web.UI.MasterPage
{
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (Session["language"] != null && !IsPostBack)
{
DropDownList_Language.ClearSelection();
DropDownList_Language.Items.FindByValue(Session["language"].ToString()).Selected = true;
}
}
protected void DropDownList_Language_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
switch (DropDownList_Language.SelectedValue)
{
case "en-US": this.SetMyNewCulture("en-US");
break;
case "sv-SE": this.SetMyNewCulture("sv-SE");
break;
default:
break;
}
Response.Redirect(Request.Path);
}
private void SetMyNewCulture(string culture)
{
Session["language"] = culture;
}
}
}

Note: Here you can also store the user language selection in cookies or Local Storage of HTML 5 using JavaScript. This can be used to maintain the user preference language at page Load.

Step 3

Create a “App_LocalResources” folder and add the resources as page wise.

Like Site.master.resx for English and Site1.Master.sv. resx for Swedish.

Note: Keep the separate resource file for each page for better maintainability.

master page

Step 4

Add this method in the global.asax file:

void Application_AcquireRequestState(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;
if (context.Session["language"] != null)
{
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo(context.Session["language"].ToString().Trim());
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo(context.Session["language"].ToString().Trim());
}
}

This is used for getting the current state of the session.

Step 5

Call the resource key on the label like this as page wise.

<asp:Label ID="Label1" meta:resourcekey="menuItemDefault" runat="server" Text="Home"></asp:Label>

You call also call the resource file in C# like this:

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
lblMsg.Text = GetLocalResourceObject("lblMsgHome.Text").ToString();
}

Note: Please let me know if you have any good approach to do this.