Do not pass literals as localized parameters

Do not pass literals as localized p...

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

Other versions are also available for the following:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010/.NET Framework 4.0

Visual Studio Team System

Do not pass literals as localized parameters

TypeName	DoNotPassLiteralsAsLocalizedParameters
CheckId	CA1303
Category	Microsoft.Globalization
Breaking Change	NonBreaking

Cause

An externally visible method passes a string literal as a parameter to a constructor or method in the .NET Framework class library and that string should be localizable.

Rule Description

String literals that are embedded in source code are difficult to localize.

How to Fix Violations

To fix a violation of this rule, replace the string literal with a string retrieved through an instance of the System.Resources.ResourceManager class.

When to Exclude Warnings

It is safe to exclude a warning from this rule if the code library will not be localized, or if the string is not exposed to the end user or a developer using the code library.

All string parameters or properties named 'text' or 'message' are flagged. Users can eliminate noise against methods which shouldn't be passed localized strings by either renaming the parameter or property named, or by marking these items as conditional.

Example

The following example shows a method that throws an exception when either of its two arguments are out of range. For the first argument, the exception constructor is passed a literal string, which violates this rule. For the second argument, the constructor is correctly passed a string retrieved through a ResourceManager.

Visual Basic

Imports System

<assembly: System.Resources.NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-US")>
Namespace GlobalizationLibrary

    Public Class DoNotPassLiterals

        Dim stringManager As System.Resources.ResourceManager

        Sub New()
            stringManager = New System.Resources.ResourceManager( _
                "en-US", System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly())
        End Sub

        Sub TimeMethod(hour As Integer, minute As Integer)
        
            If(hour < 0 Or hour > 23) Then
                Throw New ArgumentOutOfRangeException( _
                    "hour", hour, _
                    "The valid range is 0 - 23.")
            End If

            If(minute < 0 Or minute > 59) Then
                Throw New ArgumentOutOfRangeException( _
                    "minute", minute, _
                    stringManager.GetString("minuteOutOfRangeMessage", _
                        System.Globalization.CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture))
            End If

        End Sub

    End Class

End Namespace

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Resources;

[assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-US")]
namespace GlobalizationLibrary
{
    public class DoNotPassLiterals
    {
        ResourceManager stringManager;

        public DoNotPassLiterals()
        {
            stringManager = 
                new ResourceManager("en-US", Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());
        }

        public void TimeMethod(int hour, int minute)
        {
            if(hour < 0 || hour > 23)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(
                    "hour", hour, 
                    "The valid range is 0 - 23.");
            }

            if(minute < 0 || minute > 59)
            {
                throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException(
                    "minute", minute,
                    stringManager.GetString(
                        "minuteOutOfRangeMessage", CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture));
            }
        }
    }
}

C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Globalization;
using namespace System::Reflection;
using namespace System::Resources;

[assembly: NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute("en-US")];
namespace GlobalizationLibrary
{
    public ref class DoNotPassLiterals
    {
        ResourceManager^ stringManager;

    public:
        DoNotPassLiterals()
        {
            stringManager = 
                gcnew ResourceManager("en-US", Assembly::GetExecutingAssembly());
        }

        void TimeMethod(int hour, int minute)
        {
            if(hour < 0 || hour > 23)
            {
                throw gcnew ArgumentOutOfRangeException(
                    "hour", hour, 
                    "The valid range is 0 - 23.");
            }

            if(minute < 0 || minute > 59)
            {
                throw gcnew ArgumentOutOfRangeException(
                    "minute", minute,
                    stringManager->GetString(
                        "minuteOutOfRangeMessage", CultureInfo::CurrentUICulture));
            }
        }
    };
}

Concepts

Resources in Applications

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Annotations

Firing on code within InitializeComponent?

David M. Kean | Edit | Show History

To prevent this rule from firing on the autogenerated InitializeComponent method, simply set Localizable to true in the properties of the Component, Control or Form. This will force the Windows Forms designer to store string and other localizable resources in the associated resource file (resx).

If you are not targeting multiple languages or locales, you can turn this rule off by doing the following:

In Solution Explorer, right-click your project and choose Properties
In the Project Properties window, select the Code Analysis tab
Expand the Globalization Rules node and uncheck Do not pass literals as localized parameters
Choose File -> Save Selected Items to save changes

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Beware of performance when turning on Localizable=true for Component, Control or Form

kzu | Edit | Show History

The generated code will lookup *every* [Localizable] property from the resource manager, and set the retrieved value using reflection. So beware of the potential performance impact if you're not really going to localize your application. It may be better to evaluate and consciously ignore the places (like InitializeComponent) where it makes sense.

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Retrieve Resource String and format as a wrapped string.

John D Mills ... Wernerr | Edit | Show History

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