Localization and internationalization for data model annotations in ASP.NET 5 MVC6

Question

I am trying to use localization with the data model annotations.

Update: added example code and changed the example to reflect the code

I have prepared a small non-working example which can be cloned from here https://bitbucket.org/feradz/dataannotationlocalization.git

To load the page browse to http://localhost:6092/PersonalInfo/Edit

I have the following class:

public class PersonalInfo 
{
    [Display(Name = "NameDisplay", ResourceType = typeof(PersonalInfo))]
    [Required(ErrorMessageResourceName = "NameRequired", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(PersonalInfo))]
    public string Name { get; set; }
}

I have created DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member.PersonalInfo.resx and DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member.PersonalInfo.es.resx resource files in directory Resources.

In DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member.PersonalInfo.resx and DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member.PersonalInfo.es.resx I have defined NameDisplay=Name EN and NameDisplay=Name ES respectively.

When I try to load the page I get the following error.

An unhandled exception occurred while processing the request.

InvalidOperationException: Cannot retrieve property 'Name' because localization failed. Type 'DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member.PersonalInfo' is not public or does not contain a public static string property with the name 'resourceNameKey'.
System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.LocalizableString.<>c__DisplayClass12_0.<GetLocalizableValue>b__1()

Is there any out-of-the-box support for this in ASP.NET 5 MVC6?

SynerCoder · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-22 13:11:14Z

2

The resource is it looking in is your class, and not your resource, because the resource and the class have the same name:

public class PersonalInfo
{
    [Display(Name = "resourceNameKey", ResourceType = type(PersonalInfo))]
    public Title { get; set; }
}

You can fix this by explicitly saying the namespace:

public class PersonalInfo
{
    [Display(Name = "resourceNameKey", ResourceType = type(Namespace1.Namespace2.PersonalInfo))]
    public Title { get; set; }
}

UPDATE

To make your example work:

namespace DataAnnotationLocalization.ViewModels.Member
{
    public class PersonalInfo
    {
        [Display(Name = "NameDisplay", ResourceType = typeof(DataAnnotationLocalization.Resources.DataAnnotationLocalization_ViewModels_Member_PersonalInfo))]
        [Required(ErrorMessageResourceName = "NameRequired", ErrorMessageResourceType = typeof(DataAnnotationLocalization.Resources.DataAnnotationLocalization_ViewModels_Member_PersonalInfo))]
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }
}

Best would be if you rename your resource files so the names won't be confused with the class name you are using it in.

edited Feb 22, 2016 at 13:11

answered Feb 22, 2016 at 8:30

SynerCoder

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3 Comments

feradz Over a year ago

Hi, unfortunately this still does not work for me. I have prepared a git repo with a small not-working example. It would be great if you can have a look. https://bitbucket.org/feradz/dataannotationlocalization.git

SynerCoder Over a year ago

Resource files generate designtime classes. You need to reference those classes, if you select the class you said and do "rightclick => Go to definition" you would end up in the same file as you started. With my change, you end up in the resource file

feradz Over a year ago

Ok, now this works. I was confused from this example http://damienbod.com/2015/10/21/asp-net-5-mvc-6-localization/ that the resource file name should be same as the class name. With this the framework is able to transparently and automatically locate it.

Igor · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-22 12:54:23Z

1

Problem is in Resource class.

If you use Visual studio for adding resources, it will generate Resource class with internal class modifier and internal properties' modifier for each resource key.

Quick fix: You should open resource class (has same name as the resource file with appended 'Designer.cs') and change 'internal' to 'public'. And you must do it every time when you add new key into resource file. This is bug in Visual Studio 2015.

answered Feb 22, 2016 at 12:54

Igor

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1 Comment

feradz Over a year ago

Thanks, this was also part of the problem!

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