ActiveReports 13
Localize ActiveReports Resources
ActiveReports 13 > ActiveReports User Guide > How To > Localize and Deploy > Localize ActiveReports Resources

You can localize all of the UI strings, error messages, and images that appear in ActiveReports in included resource files, and alter and run a batch file to localize each resource.

To localize the designer control

All of the localization files are located in C:\Program Files (x86)\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 13\Localization. The topic illustrates localization taking End User Report Designer as an example.

Specify the culture you want to use in the batch files.

  1. Start Notepad or another text editor.
  2. Open *.bat file for each resource you want to localize and change the Culture value to the culture you want to use.
  3. Save and close each file.

Localize strings (and images) in the resource files.

  1. Copy all the files for the resources you want to localize from the Localization folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 13\Localization.
  2. Paste these files to a local folder. For example, if you want to localize the designer, copy the following files to a local folder, say D:\Localize\.
    • ARDesigner.zip
    • ARDesigner.bat
    • NameComplete.exe
    • NameComplete.exe.config
    • Localize.bat
    • publickey.snk
  3. Extract the zip file of the resource (ARDesigner.zip).
  4. In the folder extracted, open each subfolder and change the strings in each of the *.resx files.
    For example, D:\Localize\ARDesigner\ARDesigner\Res\ARDesigner\Dialogs\DatasourceDialog.resx               
    Tip: Strings are located between <value> and </value> tags in the resource files.
  5. If you want to change the images, rename your localized images to the names of the ones in the Res\Resources subfolder and replace them with your localized images.

Run the batch file.

  1. From the Start menu, type cmd in the text box.
  2. Navigate to the local directory by typing cd D:\Localize\ and press Enter.
  3. Type the name of the *.bat file and press Enter to run the file. The NameCompleter.exe application runs, and creates the following.
    • A SatelliteAssembly folder inside the resource subfolder.
    • A language subfolder with the name of the culture (say ja) you set inside the SatelliteAssemby folder.
    • A localized GrapeCity.ActiveReports.AssemblyName.resources.dll file inside the language subfolder.
  4. Add verification entry for the assembly by running following command:
    sn.exe -Vr "ja\GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Design.Win.resources.dll".
  5. Copy the language subfolder and paste it into the Debug folder of your application.
    Note: Before you can distribute or put your localization in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC), you must first send the localized GrapeCity.ActiveReports.AssemblyName.resources.dll file to GrapeCity and get it signed with a strong name. Then you can drag the language subfolder with the signed dll file into C:\WINDOWS\ASSEMBLY, or distribute it with your solution.

Test your localized application on a machine that does not share the culture of the localized DLLs.

  1. Add the following code in the form's constructor just before the InitializeComponent method is called.
  2. Replace the "ja-JP" in the example code with the culture you specified in the *.bat file.

To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the form's constructor just before the InitializeComponent method.
Copy Code
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = New System.Globalization.CultureInfo("ja-JP")

To write the code in C#

C# code. Paste INSIDE the form's constructor just before the InitializeComponent method.
Copy Code
System.Threading.Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new System.Globalization.CultureInfo("ja-JP");
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