How to: Publish a Project That Has a Specific Locale

It is not uncommon for an application to contain components that have different locales. In this scenario, you would create a solution that has several projects, and then publish separate projects for each locale. This procedure shows how to use a macro to publish the first project in a solution by using the 'en' locale. If you want to try this procedure with a locale other than 'en', make sure to set localeString in the macro to match the locale that you are using (for example, 'de' or 'de-DE').

To create the publishing macro

1. To open the Macro Explorer, on the Tools menu, point to Macros, and then click Macro Explorer.

2. Create a new macro module. In the Macro Explorer, select MyMacros. On the Tools menu, point to Macros, and then click New Macro Module. Name the module PublishSpecificCulture.

3. In the Macro Explorer, expand the MyMacros node, and then open the PublishAllProjects module by double-clicking it (or, from the Tools menu, point to Macros, and then click Macros IDE).

4. In the Macros IDE, add the following code to the module, after the Import statements:

   Module PublishSpecificCulture  
       Sub PublishProjectFirstProjectWithEnLocale()  
           ' Note: You should publish projects by using the IDE at least once  
           ' before you use this macro. Items such as the certificate and the   
           ' security zone must be set.  
           Dim localeString As String = "en"  
   
           ' Get first project.  
           Dim proj As Project = DTE.Solution.Projects.Item(1)  
           Dim publishProperties As Object = proj.Properties.Item("Publish").Value  
   
           ' GenerateManifests and SignManifests must always be set to  
           ' True for publishing to work.   
           proj.Properties.Item("GenerateManifests").Value = True  
           proj.Properties.Item("SignManifests").Value = True  
   
           'Set the publish language.  
           'This will set the deployment language and pick up all   
           ' en resource dlls:  
           Dim originalTargetCulture As String = _  
               publishProperties.Item("TargetCulture").Value  
           publishProperties.Item("TargetCulture").Value = localeString  
   
           'Append 'en' to end of publish, install, and update URLs if needed:  
           Dim originalPublishUrl As String = _  
               publishProperties.Item("PublishUrl").Value  
           Dim originalInstallUrl As String = _  
               publishProperties.Item("InstallUrl").Value  
           Dim originalUpdateUrl As String = _  
               publishProperties.Item("UpdateUrl").Value  
           publishProperties.Item("PublishUrl").Value = _  
               AppendStringToUrl(localeString, New Uri(originalPublishUrl))  
           If originalInstallUrl <> String.Empty Then  
               publishProperties.Item("InstallUrl").Value = _  
                   AppendStringToUrl(localeString, New Uri(originalInstallUrl))  
           End If  
           If originalUpdateUrl <> String.Empty Then  
               publishProperties.Item("UpdateUrl").Value = _  
                   AppendStringToUrl(localeString, New Uri(originalUpdateUrl))  
           End If  
           proj.Save()  
   
           Dim slnbld2 As SolutionBuild2 = _  
               CType(DTE.Solution.SolutionBuild, SolutionBuild2)  
           slnbld2.Clean(True)  
   
           slnbld2.BuildProject( _  
           proj.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.ConfigurationName, _  
           proj.UniqueName, True)  
   
           ' Only publish if build is successful.  
           If slnbld2.LastBuildInfo <> 0 Then  
               MsgBox("Build failed for " & proj.UniqueName)  
           Else  
               slnbld2.PublishProject( _  
               proj.ConfigurationManager.ActiveConfiguration.ConfigurationName, _  
               proj.UniqueName, True)  
               If slnbld2.LastPublishInfo = 0 Then  
                   MsgBox("Publish succeeded for " & proj.UniqueName _  
                   & vbCrLf & "." _  
                   & " Publish Language was '" & localeString & "'.")  
               Else  
                   MsgBox("Publish failed for " & proj.UniqueName)  
               End If  
           End If  
   
           ' Return URLs and target culture to their previous state.  
           publishProperties.Item("PublishUrl").Value = originalPublishUrl  
           publishProperties.Item("InstallUrl").Value = originalInstallUrl  
           publishProperties.Item("UpdateUrl").Value = originalUpdateUrl  
           publishProperties.Item("TargetCulture").Value = originalTargetCulture  
           proj.Save()  
       End Sub  
   
       Private Function AppendStringToUrl(ByVal str As String, _  
       ByVal baseUri As Uri) As String  
           Dim returnValue As String = baseUri.OriginalString  
           If baseUri.IsFile OrElse baseUri.IsUnc Then  
               returnValue = IO.Path.Combine(baseUri.OriginalString, str)  
           Else  
               If Not baseUri.ToString.EndsWith("/") Then  
                   returnValue = baseUri.OriginalString & "/" & str  
               Else  
                   returnValue = baseUri.OriginalString & str  
               End If  
           End If  
           Return returnValue  
       End Function  
   End Module  
   

5. Close the Macros IDE. The focus will return to Visual Studio.

To publish a project for a specific locale

1. To create a Visual Basic Windows Application project, on the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.

2. In the New Project dialog box, select Windows Application from the Visual Basic node. Name the project PublishLocales.

3. Click Form1. In the Properties window, under Design, change the Language property from (Default) to English. Change the Text property of the form to MyForm.

   Note that the localized resource DLLs are not created until they are needed. For example, they are created when you change the text of the form or one of its controls after you have specified the new locale.

4. Publish PublishLocales by using the Visual Studio IDE.

   In Solution Explorer, select PublishLocales. On the Project menu, select Properties. In the Project Designer, on the Publish page, specify a publishing location of https://localhost/PublishLocales, and then click Publish Now.

   When the publish Web page appears, close it. (For this step, you only have to publish the project; you do not have to install it.)

5. Publish PublishLocales again by invoking the macro in the Visual Studio Command Prompt window. To view the Command Prompt window, on the View menu, point to Other Windows and then click Command Window, or press CTRL+ALT+A. In the Command Prompt window, type macros; auto-complete will provide a list of available macros. Select the following macro and press ENTER:

   Macros.MyMacros.PublishSpecificCulture.PublishProjectFirstProjectWithEnLocale

6. When the publish process succeeds, it will generate a message that says "Publish succeeded for PublishLocales\PublishLocales.vbproj. Publish language was 'en'." Click OK in the message box. When the publish Web page appears, click Install.

7. Look in C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\PublishLocales\en. You should see the installed files such as the manifests, setup.exe, and the publish Web page file, in addition to the localized resource DLL. (By default ClickOnce appends a .deploy extension on EXEs and DLLs; you can remove this extension after deployment.)

See Also

Publishing ClickOnce Applications
Macros Development Environment
Macro Explorer Window
How to: Edit and Programmatically Create Macros