Edit

CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture Property

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System.Globalization
Assembly:
System.Globalization.dll
Assembly:
System.Runtime.dll
Assembly:
mscorlib.dll
Assembly:
netstandard.dll
Source:
CultureInfo.cs
Source:
CultureInfo.cs
Source:
CultureInfo.cs

Gets or sets the default culture for threads in the current application domain.

public:
 static property System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ DefaultThreadCurrentCulture { System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ get(); void set(System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ value); };
public static System.Globalization.CultureInfo DefaultThreadCurrentCulture { get; set; }
public static System.Globalization.CultureInfo? DefaultThreadCurrentCulture { get; set; }
static member DefaultThreadCurrentCulture : System.Globalization.CultureInfo with get, set
Public Shared Property DefaultThreadCurrentCulture As CultureInfo

Property Value

CultureInfo

The default culture for threads in the current application domain, or null if the current system culture is the default thread culture in the application domain.

Examples

The following example illustrates the default behavior of the .NET Framework in defining the current culture of a new thread. At startup, the example sets the current culture and the current UI culture to French (France) on all systems except those on which the default system culture is already French (France). If the default system culture is already French (France), the code sets the current culture and the current UI culture to English (United States). It then calls the DisplayRandomNumbers routine, which generates three random numbers and displays them as currency values. Next, it creates a new thread, which also executes the DisplayRandomNumbers routine.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
      // Change current culture
      CultureInfo culture;
      if (Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
      else
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");

      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture;
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture;

      // Generate and display three random numbers on the current thread.
      DisplayRandomNumbers();
      Thread.Sleep(1000);

      Thread workerThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(Example.DisplayRandomNumbers));
      workerThread.Start();
   }

   private static void DisplayRandomNumbers()
   {
      Console.WriteLine();
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture:    {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture);
      Console.WriteLine("Current UI Culture: {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture);

      Console.Write("Random Values: ");
      Random rand = new Random();
      for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 2; ctr++)
         Console.Write("     {0:C2}     ", rand.NextDouble());

      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}
// The example displays output similar to the following:
//    Current Culture:    fr-FR
//    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
//    Random Values:      0,77 €          0,35 €          0,52 €
//
//    Current Culture:    en-US
//    Current UI Culture: en-US
//    Random Values:      $0.30          $0.79          $0.65

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Threading

Module Example

   Public Sub Main()
      Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8 
      ' Change current culture
      Dim culture As CultureInfo
      If Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
      Else
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
      End If   
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture
      
      ' Generate and display three random numbers on the current thread.
      DisplayRandomNumbers()
      Thread.Sleep(1000)
      
      Dim workerThread As New Thread(AddressOf Example.DisplayRandomNumbers)
      workerThread.Start()
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub DisplayRandomNumbers()
      Console.WriteLine()
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture:    {0}", 
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture)
      Console.WriteLine("Current UI Culture: {0}", 
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture)

      Console.Write("Random Values: ")
      Dim rand As New Random()
      For ctr As Integer = 0 To 2
         Console.Write("     {0:C2}     ", rand.NextDouble())
      Next      
      Console.WriteLine()
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output similar to the following:
'    Current Culture:    fr-FR
'    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
'    Random Values:      0,77 €          0,35 €          0,52 €     
'    
'    Current Culture:    en-US
'    Current UI Culture: en-US
'    Random Values:      $0.30          $0.79          $0.65

As the output from the example shows, when the example is run on a computer whose system culture is English (United States), the main thread displays its currency values using the formatting conventions of the French (France) culture. However, because the worker thread's culture is derived from the current Windows system culture rather than the application's current culture, the work thread displays its currency values using the formatting conventions of the English (United States) culture.

The following example uses the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties to define the current culture and current UI culture of a new application thread. At startup, the example sets the current culture and the current UI culture to French (France) on all systems except those on which the default system culture is already French (France). If the default system culture is already French (France), it sets the current culture and the current UI culture to English (United States). It then calls the DisplayRandomNumbers routine, which generates three random numbers and displays them as currency values. Next, it creates a new thread, which also executes the DisplayRandomNumbers routine.

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8;
      // Change current culture
      CultureInfo culture;
      if (Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
      else
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");

      CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = culture;
      CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = culture;

      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture;
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture;

      // Generate and display three random numbers on the current thread.
      DisplayRandomNumbers();
      Thread.Sleep(1000);

      Thread workerThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(Example.DisplayRandomNumbers));
      workerThread.Start();
   }

   private static void DisplayRandomNumbers()
   {
      Console.WriteLine();
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture:    {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture);
      Console.WriteLine("Current UI Culture: {0}",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture);

      Console.Write("Random Values: ");
      Random rand = new Random();
      for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 2; ctr++)
         Console.Write("     {0:C2}     ", rand.NextDouble());

      Console.WriteLine();
   }
}
// The example displays output similar to the following:
//    Current Culture:    fr-FR
//    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
//    Random Values:      0,78 €          0,80 €          0,37 €
//
//    Current Culture:    fr-FR
//    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
//    Random Values:      0,52 €          0,32 €          0,15 €

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Text
Imports System.Threading

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Console.OutputEncoding = Encoding.UTF8 
      ' Change current culture
      Dim culture As CultureInfo
      
      If Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
      Else
         culture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
      End If   
      CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = culture
      CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = culture
      
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = culture
      Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = culture
      
      ' Generate and display three random numbers on the current thread.
      DisplayRandomNumbers()
      Thread.Sleep(1000)
      
      Dim workerThread As New Thread(AddressOf Example.DisplayRandomNumbers)
      workerThread.Start()
   End Sub
   
   Private Sub DisplayRandomNumbers()
      Console.WriteLine()
      Console.WriteLine("Current Culture:    {0}", 
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture)
      Console.WriteLine("Current UI Culture: {0}", 
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture)
      Console.Write("Random Values: ")
      Dim rand As New Random()
      For ctr As Integer = 0 To 2
         Console.Write("     {0:C2}     ", rand.NextDouble())
      Next      
      Console.WriteLine()
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output similar to the following:
'    Current Culture:    fr-FR
'    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
'    Random Values:      0,78 €          0,80 €          0,37 €
'    
'    Current Culture:    fr-FR
'    Current UI Culture: fr-FR
'    Random Values:      0,52 €          0,32 €          0,15 €

As the output from the example shows, when the example is run on a computer whose system culture is English (United States), both the main thread and the worker thread display their currency values using the formatting conventions of the French (France) culture.

Remarks

In the .NET Framework 4 and previous versions, by default, the culture of all threads is set to the Windows system culture. For applications whose current culture differs from the default system culture, this behavior is often undesirable. In the .NET Framework 4.5, the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property enables an application to define the default culture of all threads in an application domain.

Important

If you have not explicitly set the culture of any existing threads executing in an application domain, setting the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property also changes the culture of these threads. However, if these threads execute in another application domain, their culture is defined by the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property in that application domain or, if no default value is defined, by the default system culture. Because of this, we recommend that you always explicitly set the culture of your main application thread, and not rely on the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property to define the culture of the main application thread.

Unless it is set explicitly, the value of the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property is null, and the culture of threads in an application domain that have not been assigned an explicit culture is defined by the default Windows system culture.

For more information about cultures, threads, and application domains, see the "Culture and threads" and "Culture and application domains" sections in the CultureInfo reference page.

Applies to

See also