The document discusses how to internationalize ASP.NET websites to support multiple languages and cultures. It describes using resource files to externalize text that requires translation. Resource files allow non-technical translators to translate text without modifying code. The document outlines creating local and global resource files, and programming techniques for accessing localized resources through code and markup.

2.  Many websites are accessed by a wide variety of
people who often live in different countries and speak
a variety of languages.
 To effectively reach these people, your site should
adapt to their language and culture.
 Supporting many different display types and input
devices that can be used to access a website.
 Making websites usable by people of all abilities and
disabilities.

3.  To display an ASP.NET page in one of several
different languages would require the person
translating the Web site to know how to write code.
 Instead, you can externalize the items requiring
translation and look these items up at run time.
 This allows a nontechnical translator to work
independent of the code.
 It also saves you from compiling your application
when adding another language.

4.  ASP.NET uses Resource files to support multiple
languages.
 A Resource file contains a language-specific set of text
for a page or the entire site.
 Your code accesses a resource file based on the user’s
requested language.
 If no resource file exists for the given request, ASP.NET
uses the default language setting for the site.
 There are two types of resources in ASP.NET:
Local Resources and Global Resources.

5.  Local resources must be stored in the special folder
App_LocalResources.
 Each local resource file is page-specific. Therefore, it
is named using the page name as in
<PageName>.aspx.resx.
 For example, to create a resource file for the
Default.aspx page, you would create a file called
Default.aspx.resx.
 This becomes the default base resource file for the
page. ASP.NET uses this file if it cannot find a match
for the user’s requested language-culture setting.

6.  You create language-specific versions by copying the
resource file and renaming it to include the given language
information as in <PageName>.aspx.<languageId>.resx.
 For example, a Spanish version of a page would be named
Default.aspx.es.resx. A German file would be named
Default.aspx.de.resx.
 You add a culture designation to your resource by copying
the language-specific version and renaming it to include the
given culture information as in
<PageName>.aspx.<languageId>-<cultureId>.resx
 For example, a Spanish (es) resource file designated for
Mexico (mx) would be named as Default.aspx.es-mx.resx

7.  Visual Studio can automatically generate the default version
of your local resource file by extracting the key string-based
properties of page and control elements into a resource
(.resx) file.
1. Open your page in Visual Studio in Design mode.
2. From the Tools menu, select Generate Local Resource.
This causes Visual Studio to perform the following tasks:
 Create the App_LocalResources folder (if necessary).
 Generate an Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based
local resource file for the Web page in the
App_LocalResources folder.
 This file will contain resource settings for page and control
properties like Text, ToolTip, Title, Caption, and other string-
based properties.

8.  The .resx file can be opened and edited using Visual
Studio’s resource file editor.
 Notice many of the string values were set already based
on the values that were defined in the markup.

9.  You can also open the .resx file in an XML editor.
 Here you will notice that the file consists mostly of name–value
pairs. Each pair is an XML <data> element with a name that
matches the named element on the page.
 The following shows an example of the elements defined for
the Button control inside the XML:
<data name="ButtonSubmitResource1.Text"
xml:space="preserve">
<value>Save</value>
</data>
<data name="ButtonSubmitResource1.ToolTip"
xml:space="preserve">
<value />
</data>

10.  You typically create culture- and language-specific
resource files by first creating a default resource file.
 You can use this default file as a base.
 You copy and paste it to create a new resource file for the
target language or culture and name the file accordingly.
 You then need to modify the resource values for the
new language or culture.

11. 1. Open Microsoft Internet Explorer. From the Tools
menu, select Internet Options to launch the Internet
Options dialog box.
2. On the General tab, click Languages in the Appearance
group. This opens the Language Preference dialog box.
3. In the Language Preference dialog box, click Add.
4. In the Add Language dialog box, under Language, select
the language and culture you want to test, and then click
OK.
 When you are done testing, remember to reset your
browser to your actual preferred language and culture.

12.  Global resource are not page-specific resources like a local
resource.
 Rather, global resources are designed for when you need
to access a single resource from multiple Web pages in
your site.
 Global resources are still .resx files. You still create a
default version and one for each language and culture
you intend to support. The file naming scheme remains
the same as for local resource files.
 However, global resource files are stored in the
App_GlobalResources folder at the root of an application.

13.  In Solution Explorer, right-click the root of your Web site.
Select Add ASP.NET Folder, and then select the
App_GlobalResources suboption. This will add a folder of the
same name to the root of your site.
 Next, right-click the App_GlobalResources folder and select
Add New Item.
 In the Add New Item dialog box, select Resource File. In the
Name text box, type any file name with a .resx extension.
 Open the new resource file in Visual Studio. Visual Studio
displays a table-like format for adding and editing resources.
From here you can add strings, images, icons, audio, files,
and other resources.
 Once you have defined your default resource file, you copy
and paste it to create resource files for different languages.

14. 1. Open your page in Design view in Visual Studio. View
the given control’s Property tab. Select the (Expressions)
property (in the Data category). Click the ellipsis (…)
button next to the property to launch the control’s
Expressions dialog box.
2. From the Bindable Properties list, select a property that
you want to bind to a resource.
3. From the Expression type list, select Resources.
4. In the Expression Properties list, set ClassKey to the
name of your global resource file (without the extension).
Under that, set ResourceKey to the name of the resource
within the resource file.
5. Click OK to close the dialog box.

15.  Once set, Visual Studio displays the default resource
value for the given control in Design view. Of course,
this will be changed to display the language-specific
resource when a user visits the Web page.
 Within the page markup, Visual Studio updates the
control’s Text property to call the resource.
 For example, if binding a Label control’s Text property
to a message named Greeting in the LocalizedText.resx
global resource, the markup looks as follows:
<asp:Label id="LabelWelcome" runat="server"
Text="<%$ Resources:LocalizedText, Greeting
%>"></asp:Label>

16.  You can also access resource values programmatically
using the syntax Resources.Resource-File.Resource.
 Label1.Text = Resources.LocalizedText.Greeting;
 After saving global resources, Visual Studio creates a
strongly typed class of the Resources.Resource object for
each resource file. You access the class through the file
name of the global resource file. Each resource in the file
is a member of the class.

17.  If, however, your resource files are not available at design
time, Visual Studio cannot generate these classes. In this
case, you must use the GetLocalResourceObject and
GetGlobalResourceObject methods.
 To use the GetLocalResourceObject method, simply provide
the name of the resource.
 To use GetGlobalResourceObject, provide both the file name
(without the extension) and the resource name.
 Button1.Text = GetLocalResourceObject("Button1.Text").ToString();
 Image1.ImageUrl =
(String)GetGlobalResourceObject("WebResourcesGlobal", "LogoUrl");

18.  Avoid using absolute positioning and sizes for
controls
 Use the entire width and height of forms (<table
width=100%>)
 Size elements relative to the overall size of the
form
 Use a separate table cell for each control
 Avoid enabling the NoWrap property in tables
 Avoid specifying the Align property in tables

19.  In an ASP.NET Web page, you use two different Page
properties to set language and culture:
 Culture This object determines the results of culture-
dependent functions, such as the date, number, and
currency formatting.
 UICulture This property determines which global or local
resources are loaded for the page. You can define
UICulture with either neutral or specific cultures.
 You define the Culture and UICulture properties by
overriding the page’s InitializeCulture method.
 From this method, define the Culture and UICulture
properties, and then call the page’s base InitializeCulture
method.

20.  You can also retrieve an array of all available
cultures by calling the
System.Globalization.CultureInfo.GetCultures
method.
 Pass this method a CultureTypes enumeration that
specifies which subset of available cultures you
want to list.
 The most useful CultureTypes values are the
following:
• AllCultures
• NeutralCultures
• Specifi cCultures

21.  To define the culture for an entire Web site, add a
<globalization> section to the Web.confi gfile, and
then set the UICulture and Culture attributes, as
the following sample demonstrates:
 <globalization uiculture="es" culture="es-MX" />
 To declare a culture for a Web page, define the
UICulture and Culture attributes of the @Page
directive, as shown here:
 <%@ Page uiculture="es" culture="es-MX" %>

22.  You should recognize the need to make your
website usable for those that need large text and
nontraditional input devices.
 For example, many users do not use a
conventional mouse.
 Others use screen readers to read the text on Web
sites rather than displaying it on a monitor.

23.  Through the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), the
W3C has created the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines (WCAG).
 The U.S. government has also created accessibility
standards in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act.
 Depending on the organization for which you are
developing a Web application, you might be required
to conform your application to these standards.
 The Section 508 guidelines are conceptually similar to
the WCAG guidelines.

24.  ASP.NET controls are designed to be accessible by
default. For example, login controls such as Login,
ChangePassword, PasswordRecovery, and
CreateUserWizard use text boxes with associated
labels to help a user who uses a screen reader or
who does not use a mouse.
 These controls also use input controls with tab
index settings to make data entry without a mouse
easier.

25.  Describe every image by providing alt text using
the AlternateText property
 Use solid colors for background and use
contrasting colors for text
 Create a flexible page layout that scales correctly
when text size is increased
 Set the Table.Caption property to a description of
the table
 Provide a way to identify column headers
 Avoid defining specific font sizes
 Avoid requiring client scripts

26.  Set the DefaultFocus property for a form to place
the cursor in a logical location where data entry
normally begins.
 Define the tab order in a logical way so that a
user can complete forms without using a mouse
 Specify default buttons for forms and Panel
controls by setting the DefaultButton property
 Provide useful link text

27.  Define access keys for button controls by setting
the AccessKey property
 Use Label controls to define access keys for text
boxes
 Use the Panel control to create subdivisions in a
form and define the Panel.GroupingText property
with a description of the controls in that panel
 Specify meaningful error messages in the Text
and ErrorMessage properties of validator controls