C# how to change multi language in all windows form?

Question

C# how to change multi language in all windows form?

I use this method to change other language, but it only change current windows form.

I want to be choosing one language for all windows form. Thanks for answering.

Here is my code:

        private void ChineseTToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        ChangeLanguage("zh-tw"); ;
    }

    private void englishToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        ChangeLanguage("en");
    }

    private void ChineseSToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        ChangeLanguage("zh-cn");
    }

    private void ChangeLanguage(string lang)
    {
        foreach (Control c in this.Controls)
        {
            ComponentResourceManager resources = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(FormMain));
            resources.ApplyResources(c, c.Name, new CultureInfo(lang));
        }
    }

Answer 1

First you should make the ChangeLanguage method to allow calling it on any control or form. Here is a version which is recursive and which takes a Control as a parameter.

Note: Forms are Controls , too.

So you can call this method to change all forms you have a handle of..

public ComponentResourceManager resources;

private void ChangeLanguage(Control ctl, string lang)
{
    resources.ApplyResources(ctl, ctl.Name, new CultureInfo(lang));
    foreach (Control c in ctl.Controls) ChangeLanguage(c, lang);
}

Next you need to keep a list of your open forms in some way. A List<Form> is a good way.

Instead of calling the ChangeLanguage function on only the current window you call a ChangeLanguageOnAllforms function. So if you have maybe a List<Form> called myFormsList you can do:

void ChangeLanguageOnAllforms(  string lang )
{
  foreach (Form f in myFormsList) 
  {
     if (f != null)
     { 
        resources = new ComponentResourceManager(typeof(f));
        ChangeLanguage(f, languageString);
     }
  }
}

You should also keep a public variable to hold the current language!

public string language = "en"; 

And you should also upon opening any new Form say form7

• add it to the list and
• call the ChangeLanguage( form7, language )

You should think about keeping the list of forms uptodate by removing closed forms from it. If you make it a public property the closing form can remove itself from it, if it has a reference to your main form..

Answer 2

If possible, you should set the language of your application in your start-up code.

CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("zh-cn");

In .Net 4.5, there is also a new property called DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture . You can use it to set the default culture for all new threads.

If neither is applicable to your usage scenario, create a BaseLangForm class, which derives from Form , and call your ChangeLanguage method from the OnLoad event. All your forms must derive from BaseLangForm from the point forward.