CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++winapiwindows-shellwindows-property-system
davecupper
davecupper

Reputation: 63

How can I get column property names in different languages?

Suppose the PC has English and Spanish languages installed.

How do I get the text strings for a property column heading in both English and Spanish?

For example, how could I get the heading text for either the canonical name "System.ItemNameDisplay" or the PKEY_FileName column in both English and Spanish?

Currently, I use PSGetPropertyDescriptionByName() and IPropertyDescription::GetDisplayName() to get the column name from the canonical name. It returns the name in the current language. I can't see how to select the language using a LANGID.

IColumnManager::GetColumnInfo() could give me the column name, but appears to depend on an IShellView object which the program doesn't have. Even if I could use it, I can't see how it would support a LANGID.

I saw a ten year old StackOverflow post, Temporarily change locale settings, implying that temporary changes to the current locale is not the way to go. I suspect this is still true.

I have investigated IPropertStore, and IPropertyStorage, and spent hours searching.

Ideally, I'd implement a function that takes a LANGID and a property, and returns the text value of the property in the given language.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 89

Answers (1)

Simon Mourier
Simon Mourier

Reputation: 139187

You can just change the thread UI language to the language you need, for example with SetThreadUILanguage function, and use IPropertyDescription::GetDisplayName.

For example this console app sample code:

int main()
{
  CoInitialize(nullptr);

  IPropertyDescription* desc;
  PSGetPropertyDescription(PKEY_FileName, IID_PPV_ARGS(&desc));

  LPWSTR name;
  SetThreadUILanguage(1033);
  desc->GetDisplayName(&name);
  wprintf(L"english: %s\n", name);
  CoTaskMemFree(name);

  SetThreadUILanguage(1036);
  desc->GetDisplayName(&name);
  wprintf(L"french: %s\n", name);
  CoTaskMemFree(name);
  
  desc->Release();
  CoUninitialize();
  return 0;
}

Will output:

english: Filename
french: Nom de fichier

Upvotes: 2

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