NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute Class
Informs the ResourceManager of the default culture of an application. This class cannot be inherited.
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
The NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute type exposes the following members.
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute(String) | Initializes a new instance of the NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute class. |
![]() | NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute(String, UltimateResourceFallbackLocation) | Initializes a new instance of the NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute class with the specified ultimate resource fallback location. |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | CultureName | Gets the culture name. |
![]() | Location | Gets the location for the ResourceManager class to use to retrieve neutral resources by using the resource fallback process. |
![]() | TypeId | When implemented in a derived class, gets a unique identifier for this Attribute. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() ![]() | Equals | Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | Finalize | Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before it is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetHashCode | Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | GetType | Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() | IsDefaultAttribute | When overridden in a derived class, indicates whether the value of this instance is the default value for the derived class. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | Match | When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | MemberwiseClone | Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.) |
![]() ![]() ![]() | ToString | Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.) |
| Name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetIDsOfNames | Maps a set of names to a corresponding set of dispatch identifiers. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetTypeInfo | Retrieves the type information for an object, which can be used to get the type information for an interface. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::GetTypeInfoCount | Retrieves the number of type information interfaces that an object provides (either 0 or 1). (Inherited from Attribute.) |
![]() ![]() | _Attribute::Invoke | Provides access to properties and methods exposed by an object. (Inherited from Attribute.) |
The NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute attribute informs the ResourceManager of the application's default culture, and also informs the ResourceManager that the default culture's resources are found in the main application assembly. When looking up resources in the same culture as the default culture, the ResourceManager automatically uses the resources located in the main assembly instead of searching for a satellite assembly. This improves lookup performance for the first resource you load, and can reduce your working set.
Note |
|---|
Apply this attribute to your main assembly, passing it the name of the default culture whose resources are embedded in the main assembly. Optionally, you can pass a member of the UltimateResourceFallbackLocation enumeration to indicate the location from which to retrieve fallback resources. Using this attribute is strongly recommended. |
The following example uses a simple "Hello World" application to illustrate the use of NeutralResourcesLanguageAttribute to define a default or fallback culture. It requires the creation of separate resource files for the English (en), English (United States) (en-US), and French (France) (fr-FR) cultures. The following shows the contents of a text file named ExampleResources.txt for the English culture.
# Resources for the default (en) culture. Greeting=Hello
In order to use the resource file in an application, you must use Resource File Generator (Resgen.exe) to convert it from its text (.txt) format to a binary (.resources) format. The following command performs the conversion.
resgen ExampleResources.txt
When the application is compiled, the binary resource file will be embedded in the main application assembly.
The following shows the contents of a text file named ExampleResources.en-US.txt that provides resources for the English (United States) culture.
# Resources for the en-US culture. Greeting=Hi
The text file can be converted to a binary resources file by using the Resource File Generator (ResGen.exe) at the command line as follows:
resgen ExampleResources.en-US.txt ExampleResources.en-US.resources
The binary resource file should then be compiled into an assembly by using Assembly Linker (Al.exe) and placed in the en-US subdirectory of the application directory by issuing the following command:
al /t:lib /embed:ExampleResources.en-US.resources /culture:en-US /out:en-us\Example.resources.dll
The following shows the contents of a text file named ExampleResources.fr-FR.txt that provides resources for the French (France) culture.
# Resources for the fr-FR culture. Greeting=Bonjour
The text file can be converted to a binary resource file by using ResGen.exe at the command line as follows:
resgen ExampleResources.fr-FR.txt ExampleResources.fr-FR.resources
The binary resources file should then be compiled into an assembly by using Assembly Linker and placed in the fr-FR subdirectory of the application directory by issuing the following command:
al /t:lib /embed:ExampleResources.fr-FR.resources /culture:fr-FR /out:fr-FR\Example.resources.dll
The following example provides the executable code that sets the current culture, prompts for the user's name, and displays a localized string.
It can be compiled by using the following command in Visual Basic:
vbc Example.vb /resource:ExampleResources.resources
or by using the following command in C#:
csc Example.cs /resource:ExampleResources.resources
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

