by Fenton Webb
When you submit your apps to Autodesk Exchange you get back an MSI which installs you app, super cool!
But how does the installer deal with localization…
There are a three parts to Exchange App localization:
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The Autoloader PackageContents.xml localization
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The Exchange App installer localization
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Your App localization
The Autoloader PackageContents.xml Localization
<p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">The installer that you get from us here at Autodesk is automatically localized by an internal tool. This tool uses the localized settings found in the PackageContents.xml to understand the localization requirements needed for the installer. </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">Each localizable attribute in the PackageContents.xml can have a localized value simply by suffixing the locale id onto the end of the attribute name. e.g. </font><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"><ApplicationPackage SchemaVersion="1.0" AutodeskProduct="AutoCAD" ProductType="Application" Name="DWG MgdDBG" AppVersion="1.0.0" Author="Fenton Webb" Icon="./Contents/Resources/resource/Inspector.jpg" AppNameSpace="adn.exchange.autodesk.com" OnlineDocumentation=" </font><a href="http://www.autodesk.com/"><font color="#0000ff">www.autodesk.com</font></a><font color="#000000">" HelpFile="./Contents/Resources/helpfile.html" ProductCode="{DB35F952-289A-4453-A46D-B424A6FCFDFB}" UpgradeCode="{E5B78003-2D7B-490F-B947-65D804392151}" SupportedLocales="Enu|Ptb|Deu|Esp|Fra|Ita" FriendlyVersion="1.0.0" <span style="background: yellow">Description="Debugging tools for AutoCAD - MgdDBG" DescriptionDeu="Das Desription" DescriptionEsp="El Descriptiano" DescriptionFra="La Description"></span> </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> </p> <p><font color="#000000">This mechanism is described in the Autoloader White paper found here </font><a href="http://adndevblog.typepad.com/autocad/2013/01/autodesk-autoloader-white-paper.html"><font color="#0000ff">http://adndevblog.typepad.com/autocad/2013/01/autodesk-autoloader-white-paper.html</font></a> </p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"></p> <p><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><b><font color="#000000">The Exchange App Installer Localization </font></b><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">As mentioned before, the installer that you get from us here at Autodesk is automatically localized by an internal tool. Currently, the Exchange App installer MSI’s supports 15 languages automatically. When the internal tool reads the PackageContents.xml, it recognises each and every localized attribute name and processes the localization automatically into the installer. When the locale of the machine is, say, German, when the App installer runs, it automatically transforms itself swapping out the default English words to the German localized words so that the German version is displayed.</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">Obviously, this will save you many hours or time and money, and also provide your non-English users a much better user experience if you spend the time setting up your PackageContents.xml to suit.</font><font color="#000000"> </font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><b><font color="#000000">Your App localization Support </font></b><b><font color="#000000"> </font></b></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">Apps should utilize standard localization features of Microsoft technology, the use of localized string resources with locale specific resource switching depending on the host product (AutoCAD, Revit, etc) locale setting is recommended.</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000">Here are the Exchange Store currently supported locales:</font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <p class="MsoPlainText" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"><font color="#000000"></font></p> <pre class="line-numbers"><code class="language-csharp">Enu 1033 Deu 1031 Esp 1034 Fra 1036 Ita 1040
Plk 1045 Ptb 1046 Chs 2052 Cht 1028 Csy 1029 Hun 1038 Jpn 1041 Kor 1042 Rus 1049
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