Why is it better to call the ResourceManager class as opposed to loading resources directly by name?

c# resourcemanager
terrafv picture terrafv · Jan 24, 2013 · Viewed 8.2k times · Source

I was working on localizing a large project, and I was doing that by creating a large resource file manually, and calling each string by name in the code. Instead of calling the ResourceManager and using GetString (for dialog boxes, etc), I was simply replacing each string by Resources.ClassName_MethodName_StringName.

I have a feeling I'm supposed to be using the ResourceManager, but I want to understand why it's better before I change all of my code to use it.

Answer

TGlatzer picture TGlatzer · Jan 24, 2013

Well, there's no reason to use the ResourceManager directly (some exceptions to that will apply), because if you use generated code from the resx-Files all it does is the following:

public static string MyResourceName {
    get {
        return ResourceManager.GetString("MyResourceName", resourceCulture);
    }
}

This is great, since you get Compile-Time validation of your resource-names for free!

Related questions

Using ResourceManager

I'm trying to use the ResourceManager in a C# class, but don't know what to substitute for the basename when creating a new instance of the ResourceManager class. I have a separate project that contains the resource files which is …

Read More
C# - Get number of references to object

I'm trying to write a simple Resource Manager for the little hobby game I'm writing. One of the tasks that this resource manager needs to do is unloading unused resources. I can think of doing this in two ways: When …

Read More
ResourceManager.GetString() method returns wrong string from different assemblies

I have 2 resource files, one with english and another foreign. When I call ResourceManager.GetString("Hello") from the .Designer.cs file it is always returning the english translation. I have checked my locale and language etc. and everything is correct. …

Read More