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c#asp.net-mvclocalizationinternationalizationresx
Zoka
Zoka

Reputation: 2352

C# Resources: display resource string names instead of localized values

Having rather large project using Resources for internationalization (following this guide: ASP.NET MVC 2 Localization complete guide, using things like data attributes, and so on) we run into the need of translating the resource files. In the beggining of project I selected approach to have lot of small resource files - for each view, viewmodel, controller, ... So I ended up having hundreds of resources. During the translations (which is done by our partners using ResXManager tool we run into trouble identifying the context of the string (where is it displayed, to find out the correct form of translation to make sense when displayed).

So I was asked to make the mutation of application which do not display the localized values, but the keys (or string names). E.g. having string in resources TBL_NAME used somewhere in the view like @ResX.TBL_NAME and translated into english as "Name", I would like to show it in this special mutation as "TBL_NAME", so the translator may see the context - where exactly this string is used. The best would be, if this is not special build of application, but rather the another "language" of the application available for translators, so he can switch between english and this "unlocalized" languages.

I'm looking some easy ideas of doing this. So far I was thinking of these approaches:

  1. Override ResourceManager.GetString - cannot use, because we use generated Designer classes to access strings massively and so far I haven't find a way to change created ResourceManager (see this answer). Did I miss something?
  2. Create resources for some unused language, which will contain pairs string name/translated value as TBL_NAME/TBL_NAME - viable, but very exhausting since we have hundreds of resources. Also the addition of new resource will require us to remeber that we need to add also this unused language resource will exact same strings name. You also have to do twice much work when adding single string to application.

At the moment, it seems for me, that using resources and current approach it is impossible to solve this task, so I decided to ask this as question (and I'm aware it is rather discussion than question) here, hoping, someone will give me some hint about other approach to solve this problem.

Upvotes: 2

Views: 1235

Answers (1)

Jenszcz
Jenszcz

Reputation: 547

My preferred option would be to give the translators an environment where they can see what they are translating. Rigi requires a bit of setup (basically you need to add an additional UI language), but once you have done that translators can work within the live website - or in a test instance, which is what we did.

They can also work in screenshots, which is convenient when translators would have to access admin or other role specific pages but you do not want to bother giving them all kinds of user rights. These screenshots can be generated as part of automated UI tests or during manual UI testing.

I am afraid I can't say anything about the cost of the solution, but our translators are really happy with it. I am not sure if this is what you are looking for since you asked for an easy solution, but it definitely solves the issue of giving translators the context they need to do their job - better than displaying resource IDs.

Upvotes: 1

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