CultureInfo Class
Definition
Important
Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Provides information about a specific culture (called a locale for unmanaged code development). The information includes the names for the culture, the writing system, the calendar used, the sort order of strings, and formatting for dates and numbers.
public ref class CultureInfo : IFormatProviderpublic ref class CultureInfo : ICloneable, IFormatProviderpublic class CultureInfo : IFormatProviderpublic class CultureInfo : ICloneable, IFormatProvider[System.Serializable]
public class CultureInfo : ICloneable, IFormatProvider[System.Serializable]
[System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)]
public class CultureInfo : ICloneable, IFormatProvidertype CultureInfo = class
interface IFormatProvidertype CultureInfo = class
interface ICloneable
interface IFormatProvider[<System.Serializable>]
type CultureInfo = class
interface ICloneable
interface IFormatProvider[<System.Serializable>]
[<System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComVisible(true)>]
type CultureInfo = class
interface ICloneable
interface IFormatProviderPublic Class CultureInfo
Implements IFormatProviderPublic Class CultureInfo
Implements ICloneable, IFormatProvider- Inheritance
-
CultureInfo
- Attributes
- Implements
Examples
The following example shows how to create a CultureInfo object for Spanish (Spain) with the international sort and another CultureInfo object with the traditional sort.
using namespace System;
using namespace System::Collections;
using namespace System::Globalization;
int main()
{
// Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the international sort.
CultureInfo^ myCIintl = gcnew CultureInfo( "es-ES",false );
// Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the traditional sort.
CultureInfo^ myCItrad = gcnew CultureInfo( 0x040A,false );
// Displays the properties of each culture.
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "PROPERTY", "INTERNATIONAL", "TRADITIONAL" );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "CompareInfo", myCIintl->CompareInfo, myCItrad->CompareInfo );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "DisplayName", myCIintl->DisplayName, myCItrad->DisplayName );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "EnglishName", myCIintl->EnglishName, myCItrad->EnglishName );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsNeutralCulture", myCIintl->IsNeutralCulture, myCItrad->IsNeutralCulture );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsReadOnly", myCIintl->IsReadOnly, myCItrad->IsReadOnly );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "LCID", myCIintl->LCID, myCItrad->LCID );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Name", myCIintl->Name, myCItrad->Name );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "NativeName", myCIintl->NativeName, myCItrad->NativeName );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Parent", myCIintl->Parent, myCItrad->Parent );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TextInfo", myCIintl->TextInfo, myCItrad->TextInfo );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl->ThreeLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad->ThreeLetterISOLanguageName );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName", myCIintl->ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName, myCItrad->ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName );
Console::WriteLine( "{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TwoLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl->TwoLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad->TwoLetterISOLanguageName );
Console::WriteLine();
// Compare two strings using myCIintl ->
Console::WriteLine( "Comparing \"llegar\" and \"lugar\"" );
Console::WriteLine( " With myCIintl -> CompareInfo -> Compare: {0}", myCIintl->CompareInfo->Compare( "llegar", "lugar" ) );
Console::WriteLine( " With myCItrad -> CompareInfo -> Compare: {0}", myCItrad->CompareInfo->Compare( "llegar", "lugar" ) );
}
/*
This code produces the following output.
PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL
CompareInfo CompareInfo - es-ES CompareInfo - es-ES_tradnl
DisplayName Spanish (Spain) Spanish (Spain)
EnglishName Spanish (Spain, International Sort) Spanish (Spain, Traditional Sort)
IsNeutralCulture False False
IsReadOnly False False
LCID 3082 1034
Name es-ES es-ES
NativeName Español (España, alfabetización internacional) Español (España, alfabetización tradicional)
Parent es es
TextInfo TextInfo - es-ES TextInfo - es-ES_tradnl
ThreeLetterISOLanguageName spa spa
ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName ESN ESP
TwoLetterISOLanguageName es es
Comparing "llegar" and "lugar"
With myCIintl -> CompareInfo -> Compare: -1
With myCItrad -> CompareInfo -> Compare: 1
*/
using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Globalization;
public class SamplesCultureInfo
{
public static void Main()
{
// Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the international sort.
CultureInfo myCIintl = new CultureInfo("es-ES", false);
// Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the traditional sort.
CultureInfo myCItrad = new CultureInfo(0x040A, false);
// Displays the properties of each culture.
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "PROPERTY", "INTERNATIONAL", "TRADITIONAL");
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "CompareInfo", myCIintl.CompareInfo, myCItrad.CompareInfo);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "DisplayName", myCIintl.DisplayName, myCItrad.DisplayName);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "EnglishName", myCIintl.EnglishName, myCItrad.EnglishName);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsNeutralCulture", myCIintl.IsNeutralCulture, myCItrad.IsNeutralCulture);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsReadOnly", myCIintl.IsReadOnly, myCItrad.IsReadOnly);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "LCID", myCIintl.LCID, myCItrad.LCID);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Name", myCIintl.Name, myCItrad.Name);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "NativeName", myCIintl.NativeName, myCItrad.NativeName);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Parent", myCIintl.Parent, myCItrad.Parent);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TextInfo", myCIintl.TextInfo, myCItrad.TextInfo);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName", myCIintl.ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName, myCItrad.ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName);
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TwoLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad.TwoLetterISOLanguageName);
Console.WriteLine();
// Compare two strings using myCIintl.
Console.WriteLine("Comparing \"llegar\" and \"lugar\"");
Console.WriteLine(" With myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare: {0}", myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare("llegar", "lugar"));
Console.WriteLine(" With myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare: {0}", myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare("llegar", "lugar"));
}
}
/*
This code produces the following output.
PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL
CompareInfo CompareInfo - es-ES CompareInfo - es-ES_tradnl
DisplayName Spanish (Spain) Spanish (Spain)
EnglishName Spanish (Spain, International Sort) Spanish (Spain, Traditional Sort)
IsNeutralCulture False False
IsReadOnly False False
LCID 3082 1034
Name es-ES es-ES
NativeName Español (España, alfabetización internacional) Español (España, alfabetización tradicional)
Parent es es
TextInfo TextInfo - es-ES TextInfo - es-ES_tradnl
ThreeLetterISOLanguageName spa spa
ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName ESN ESP
TwoLetterISOLanguageName es es
Comparing "llegar" and "lugar"
With myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare: -1
With myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare: 1
*/
Imports System.Collections
Imports System.Globalization
Module Module1
Public Sub Main()
' Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the international sort.
Dim myCIintl As New CultureInfo("es-ES", False)
' Creates and initializes the CultureInfo which uses the traditional sort.
Dim myCItrad As New CultureInfo(&H40A, False)
' Displays the properties of each culture.
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "PROPERTY", "INTERNATIONAL", "TRADITIONAL")
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "CompareInfo", myCIintl.CompareInfo, myCItrad.CompareInfo)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "DisplayName", myCIintl.DisplayName, myCItrad.DisplayName)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "EnglishName", myCIintl.EnglishName, myCItrad.EnglishName)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsNeutralCulture", myCIintl.IsNeutralCulture, myCItrad.IsNeutralCulture)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "IsReadOnly", myCIintl.IsReadOnly, myCItrad.IsReadOnly)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "LCID", myCIintl.LCID, myCItrad.LCID)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Name", myCIintl.Name, myCItrad.Name)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "NativeName", myCIintl.NativeName, myCItrad.NativeName)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "Parent", myCIintl.Parent, myCItrad.Parent)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TextInfo", myCIintl.TextInfo, myCItrad.TextInfo)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad.ThreeLetterISOLanguageName)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName", myCIintl.ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName, myCItrad.ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName)
Console.WriteLine("{0,-31}{1,-47}{2,-25}", "TwoLetterISOLanguageName", myCIintl.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, myCItrad.TwoLetterISOLanguageName)
Console.WriteLine()
' Compare two strings using myCIintl.
Console.WriteLine("Comparing ""llegar"" and ""lugar""")
Console.WriteLine(" With myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare: {0}", myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare("llegar", "lugar"))
Console.WriteLine(" With myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare: {0}", myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare("llegar", "lugar"))
End Sub
'This code produces the following output.
'
'PROPERTY INTERNATIONAL TRADITIONAL
'CompareInfo CompareInfo - es-ES CompareInfo - es-ES_tradnl
'DisplayName Spanish (Spain) Spanish (Spain)
'EnglishName Spanish (Spain, International Sort) Spanish (Spain, Traditional Sort)
'IsNeutralCulture False False
'IsReadOnly False False
'LCID 3082 1034
'Name es-ES es-ES
'NativeName Español (España, alfabetización internacional) Español (España, alfabetización tradicional)
'Parent es es
'TextInfo TextInfo - es-ES TextInfo - es-ES_tradnl
'ThreeLetterISOLanguageName spa spa
'ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName ESN ESP
'TwoLetterISOLanguageName es es
'
'Comparing "llegar" and "lugar"
' With myCIintl.CompareInfo.Compare: -1
' With myCItrad.CompareInfo.Compare: 1
End Module
Remarks
The CultureInfo class provides culture-specific information, such as the language, sublanguage, country/region, calendar, and conventions associated with a particular culture. This class also provides access to culture-specific instances of the DateTimeFormatInfo, NumberFormatInfo, CompareInfo, and TextInfo objects. These objects contain the information required for culture-specific operations, such as casing, formatting dates and numbers, and comparing strings. The CultureInfo class is used either directly or indirectly by classes that format, parse, or manipulate culture-specific data, such as String, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, and the numeric types.
In this section:
Culture names and identifiers
Invariant, neutral, and specific cultures
Custom cultures
Dynamic culture data
CultureInfo and cultural data
The current culture and current UI culture
Get all cultures
Culture and threads
Culture and application domains
Culture and task-based asynchronous operations
CultureInfo object serialization
Control Panel overrides
Alternate sort orders
Culture and Windows apps
Culture names and identifiers
The CultureInfo class specifies a unique name for each culture, based on RFC 4646. The name is a combination of an ISO 639 two-letter or three-letter lowercase culture code associated with a language and an ISO 3166 two-letter uppercase subculture code associated with a country or region. In addition, for apps that target .NET Framework 4 or later and are running under Windows 10 or later, culture names that correspond to valid BCP-47 language tags are supported.
Note
When a culture name is passed to a class constructor or a method such as CreateSpecificCulture or CultureInfo, its case is not significant.
The format for the culture name based on RFC 4646 is languagecode2-country/regioncode2, where languagecode2 is the two-letter language code and country/regioncode2 is the two-letter subculture code. Examples include ja-JP for Japanese (Japan) and en-US for English (United States). In cases where a two-letter language code is not available, a three-letter code as defined in ISO 639-3 is used.
Some culture names also specify an ISO 15924 script. For example, Cyrl specifies the Cyrillic script and Latn specifies the Latin script. A culture name that includes a script uses the pattern languagecode2-scripttag-country/regioncode2. An example of this type of culture name is uz-Cyrl-UZ for Uzbek (Cyrillic, Uzbekistan). On Windows operating systems before Windows Vista, a culture name that includes a script uses the pattern languagecode2-country/regioncode2-scripttag, for example, uz-UZ-Cyrl for Uzbek (Cyrillic, Uzbekistan).
A neutral culture is specified by only the two-letter, lowercase language code. For example, fr specifies the neutral culture for French, and de specifies the neutral culture for German.
Note
There are two culture names that contradict this rule. The cultures Chinese (Simplified), named zh-Hans, and Chinese (Traditional), named zh-Hant, are neutral cultures. The culture names represent the current standard and should be used unless you have a reason for using the older names zh-CHS and zh-CHT.
A culture identifier is a standard international numeric abbreviation and has the components necessary to uniquely identify one of the installed cultures. Your application can use predefined culture identifiers or define custom identifiers.
Certain predefined culture names and identifiers are used by this and other classes in the System.Globalization namespace. For detailed culture information for Windows systems, see the Language tag column in the list of language/region names supported by Windows. Culture names follow the standard defined by BCP 47.
The culture names and identifiers represent only a subset of cultures that can be found on a particular computer. Windows versions or service packs can change the available cultures. Applications can add custom cultures using the CultureAndRegionInfoBuilder class. Users can add their own custom cultures using the Microsoft Locale Builder tool. Microsoft Locale Builder is written in managed code using the CultureAndRegionInfoBuilder class.
Several distinct names are closely associated with a culture, notably the names associated with the following class members:
Invariant, neutral, and specific cultures
The cultures are generally grouped into three sets: invariant cultures, neutral cultures, and specific cultures.
An invariant culture is culture-insensitive. Your application specifies the invariant culture by name using an empty string ("") or by its identifier. InvariantCulture defines an instance of the invariant culture. It is associated with the English language but not with any country/region. It is used in almost any method in the Globalization namespace that requires a culture.
A neutral culture is a culture that is associated with a language but not with a country/region. A specific culture is a culture that is associated with a language and a country/region. For example, fr is the neutral name for the French culture, and fr-FR is the name of the specific French (France) culture. Note that Chinese (Simplified) and Chinese (Traditional) are also considered neutral cultures.
Creating an instance of a CompareInfo class for a neutral culture is not recommended because the data it contains is arbitrary. To display and sort data, specify both the language and region. Additionally, the Name property of a CompareInfo object created for a neutral culture returns only the country and does not include the region.
The defined cultures have a hierarchy in which the parent of a specific culture is a neutral culture and the parent of a neutral culture is the invariant culture. The Parent property contains the neutral culture associated with a specific culture. Custom cultures should define the Parent property in conformance with this pattern.
If the resources for a specific culture are not available in the operating system, the resources for the associated neutral culture are used. If the resources for the neutral culture are not available, the resources embedded in the main assembly are used. For more information on the resource fallback process, see Packaging and Deploying Resources.
The list of locales in the Windows API is slightly different from the list of cultures supported by .NET. If interoperability with Windows is required, for example, through the p/invoke mechanism, the application should use a specific culture that's defined for the operating system. Use of the specific culture ensures consistency with the equivalent Windows locale, which is identified with a locale identifier that is the same as LCID.
A DateTimeFormatInfo or a NumberFormatInfo can be created only for the invariant culture or for specific cultures, not for neutral cultures.
If DateTimeFormatInfo.Calendar is the TaiwanCalendar but the Thread.CurrentCulture is not set to zh-TW, then DateTimeFormatInfo.NativeCalendarName, DateTimeFormatInfo.GetEraName, and DateTimeFormatInfo.GetAbbreviatedEraName return an empty string ("").
Custom cultures
On Windows, you can create custom locales. For more information, see Custom locales.
CultureInfo and cultural data
.NET derives its cultural data from a one of a variety of sources, depending on implementation, platform, and version:
In .NET Framework 3.5 and earlier versions, cultural data is provided by both the Windows operating system and .NET Framework.
In .NET Framework 4 and later versions, cultural data is provided by the Windows operating system.
In all versions of .NET Core running on Windows, cultural data is provided by the Windows operating system.
In all versions of .NET Core running on Unix platforms, cultural data is provided by the International Components for Unicode (ICU) Library. The specific version of the ICU Library depends on the individual operating system.
Because of this, a culture available on a particular .NET implementation, platform, or version may not be available on a different .NET implementation, platform, or version.
Some CultureInfo objects differ depending on the underlying platform. In particular, zh-CN, or Chinese (Simplified, China) and zh-TW, or Chinese (Traditional, Taiwan), are available cultures on Windows systems, but they are aliased cultures on Unix systems. "zh-CN" is an alias for the "zh-Hans-CN" culture, and "zh-TW" is an alias for the "zh-Hant-TW" culture. Aliased cultures are not returned by calls to the GetCultures method and may have different property values, including different Parent cultures, than their Windows counterparts. For the zh-CN and zh-TW cultures, these differenes include the following:
On Windows systems, the parent culture of the "zh-CN" culture is "zh-Hans", and the parent culture of the "zh-TW" culture is "zh-Hant". The parent culture of both these cultures is "zh". On Unix systems, the parents of both cultures are "zh". This means that, if you don't provide culture-specific resources for the "zh-CN" or "zh-TW" cultures but do provide a resources for the neutral "zh-Hans" or "zh-Hant" culture, your application will load the resources for the neutral culture on Windows but not on Unix. On Unix systems, you must explicitly set the thread's CurrentUICulture to either "zh-Hans" or "zh-Hant".
On Windows systems, calling CultureInfo.Equals on an instance that represents the "zh-CN" culture and passing it a "zh-Hans-CN" instance returns
true. On Unix systems, the method call returnsfalse. This behavior also applies to calling Equals on a "zh-TW" CultureInfo instance and passing it a "zh-Hant-Tw" instance.
Dynamic culture data
Except for the invariant culture, culture data is dynamic. This is true even for the predefined cultures. For example, countries or regions adopt new currencies, change their spellings of words, or change their preferred calendar, and culture definitions change to track this. Custom cultures are subject to change without notice, and any specific culture might be overridden by a custom replacement culture. Also, as discussed below, an individual user can override cultural preferences. Applications should always obtain culture data at run time.
Caution
When saving data, your application should use the invariant culture, a binary format, or a specific culture-independent format. Data saved according to the current values associated with a particular culture, other than the invariant culture, might become unreadable or might change in meaning if that culture changes.
The current culture and current UI culture
Every thread in a .NET application has a current culture and a current UI culture. The current culture determines the formatting conventions for dates, times, numbers, and currency values, the sort order of text, casing conventions, and the ways in which strings are compared. The current UI culture is used to retrieve culture-specific resources at run time.
Note
For information on how the current and current UI culture is determined on a per-thread basis, see the Culture and threads section. For information on how the current and current UI culture is determined on threads executing in a new application domain, and on threads that cross application domain boundaries, see the Culture and application domains section. For information on how the current and current is determined on threads performing task-based asynchronous operations, see the Culture and task-based asynchronous operations section.
For more detailed information on the current culture, see the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property topic. For more detailed information on the current UI culture, see the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture property topic.
Retrieving the current and current UI cultures
You can get a CultureInfo object that represents the current culture in either of two ways:
By retrieving the value of the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture property.
By retrieving the value of the Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture property.
The following example retrieves both property values, compares them to show that they are equal, and displays the name of the current culture.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
CultureInfo culture1 = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
CultureInfo culture2 = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}", culture1.Name);
Console.WriteLine("The two CultureInfo objects are equal: {0}",
culture1 == culture2);
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// The current culture is en-US
// The two CultureInfo objects are equal: True
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim culture1 As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture
Dim culture2 As CultureInfo = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}", culture1.Name)
Console.WriteLine("The two CultureInfo objects are equal: {0}",
culture1.Equals(culture2))
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
' The current culture is en-US
' The two CultureInfo objects are equal: True
You can get a CultureInfo object that represents the current UI culture in either of two ways:
By retrieving the value of the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture property.
By retrieving the value of the Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture property.
The following example retrieves both property values, compares them to show that they are equal, and displays the name of the current UI culture.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
CultureInfo uiCulture1 = CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture;
CultureInfo uiCulture2 = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0}", uiCulture1.Name);
Console.WriteLine("The two CultureInfo objects are equal: {0}",
uiCulture1 == uiCulture2);
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// The current UI culture is en-US
// The two CultureInfo objects are equal: True
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim uiCulture1 As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture
Dim uiCulture2 As CultureInfo = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0}", uiCulture1.Name)
Console.WriteLine("The two CultureInfo objects are equal: {0}",
uiCulture1.Equals(uiCulture2))
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
' The current UI culture is en-US
' The two CultureInfo objects are equal: True
Set the current and current UI cultures
To change the culture and UI culture of a thread, do the following:
Instantiate a CultureInfo object that represents that culture by calling a CultureInfo class constructor and passing it the name of the culture. The CultureInfo(String) constructor instantiates a CultureInfo object that reflects user overrides if the new culture is the same as the current Windows culture. The CultureInfo(String, Boolean) constructor allows you to specify whether the newly instantiated CultureInfo object reflects user overrides if the new culture is the same as the current Windows culture.
Assign the CultureInfo object to the CultureInfo.CurrentCulture or CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture property on .NET Core and .NET Framework 4.6 and later versions. (On .NET Framework 4.5.2 and earlier versions, you can assign the
CultureInfoobject to the Thread.CurrentCulture or Thread.CurrentUICulture property.)
The following example retrieves the current culture. If it is anything other than the French (France) culture, it changes the current culture to French (France). Otherwise, it changes the current culture to French (Luxembourg).
using System;
using System.Globalization;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
CultureInfo current = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}", current.Name);
CultureInfo newCulture;
if (current.Name.Equals("fr-FR"))
newCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-LU");
else
newCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = newCulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is now {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// The current culture is en-US
// The current culture is now fr-FR
Imports System.Globalization
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim current As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}", current.Name)
Dim newCulture As CultureInfo
If current.Name.Equals("fr-FR") Then
newCulture = New CultureInfo("fr-LU")
Else
newCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR")
End If
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture = newCulture
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is now {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
' The current culture is en-US
' The current culture is now fr-FR
The following example retrieves the current culture. If it is anything other the Slovenian (Slovenia) culture, it changes the current culture to Slovenian (Slovenia). Otherwise, it changes the current culture to Croatian (Croatia).
using System;
using System.Globalization;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
CultureInfo current = CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0}", current.Name);
CultureInfo newUICulture;
if (current.Name.Equals("sl-SI"))
newUICulture = new CultureInfo("hr-HR");
else
newUICulture = new CultureInfo("sl-SI");
CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = newUICulture;
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is now {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name);
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// The current UI culture is en-US
// The current UI culture is now sl-SI
Imports System.Globalization
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim current As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0}", current.Name)
Dim newUICulture As CultureInfo
If current.Name.Equals("sl-SI") Then
newUICulture = New CultureInfo("hr-HR")
Else
newUICulture = new CultureInfo("sl-SI")
End If
CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture = newUICulture
Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is now {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name)
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
' The current UI culture is en-US
' The current UI culture is now sl-SI
Get all cultures
You can retrieve an array of specific categories of cultures or of all the cultures available on the local computer by calling the GetCultures method. For example, you can retrieve custom cultures, specific cultures, or neutral cultures either alone or in combination.
The following example calls the GetCultures method twice, first with the System.Globalization.CultureTypes enumeration member to retrieve all custom cultures, and then with the System.Globalization.CultureTypes enumeration member to retrieve all replacement cultures.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
// Get all custom cultures.
CultureInfo[] custom = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.UserCustomCulture);
if (custom.Length == 0) {
Console.WriteLine("There are no user-defined custom cultures.");
}
else {
Console.WriteLine("Custom cultures:");
foreach (var culture in custom)
Console.WriteLine(" {0} -- {1}", culture.Name, culture.DisplayName);
}
Console.WriteLine();
// Get all replacement cultures.
CultureInfo[] replacements = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.ReplacementCultures);
if (replacements.Length == 0) {
Console.WriteLine("There are no replacement cultures.");
}
else {
Console.WriteLine("Replacement cultures:");
foreach (var culture in replacements)
Console.WriteLine(" {0} -- {1}", culture.Name, culture.DisplayName);
}
Console.WriteLine();
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// Custom cultures:
// x-en-US-sample -- English (United States)
// fj-FJ -- Boumaa Fijian (Viti)
//
// There are no replacement cultures.
Imports System.Globalization
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
' Get all custom cultures.
Dim custom() As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.UserCustomCulture)
If custom.Length = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("There are no user-defined custom cultures.")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Custom cultures:")
For Each culture In custom
Console.WriteLine(" {0} -- {1}", culture.Name, culture.DisplayName)
Next
End If
Console.WriteLine()
' Get all replacement cultures.
Dim replacements() As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.GetCultures(CultureTypes.ReplacementCultures)
If replacements.Length = 0 Then
Console.WriteLine("There are no replacement cultures.")
Else
Console.WriteLine("Replacement cultures:")
For Each culture in replacements
Console.WriteLine(" {0} -- {1}", culture.Name, culture.DisplayName)
Next
End If
Console.WriteLine()
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
' Custom cultures:
' x-en-US-sample -- English (United States)
' fj-FJ -- Boumaa Fijian (Viti)
'
' There are no replacement cultures.
Culture and threads
When a new application thread is started, its current culture and current UI culture are defined by the current system culture, and not by the current thread culture. The following example illustrates the difference. It sets the current culture and current UI culture of an application thread to the French (France) culture (fr-FR). If the current culture is already fr-FR, the example sets it to the English (United States) culture (en-US). It displays three random numbers as currency values and then creates a new thread, which, in turn, displays three more random numbers as currency values. But as the output from the example shows, the currency values displayed by the new thread do not reflect the formatting conventions of the French (France) culture, unlike the output from the main application thread.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
static Random rnd = new Random();
public static void Main()
{
if (Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name != "fr-FR") {
// If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
}
else {
// Set culture to en-US.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
}
ThreadProc();
Thread worker = new Thread(ThreadProc);
worker.Name = "WorkerThread";
worker.Start();
}
private static void DisplayThreadInfo()
{
Console.WriteLine("\nCurrent Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name);
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name);
}
private static void DisplayValues()
{
// Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:");
for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 3; ctr++)
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10);
}
private static void ThreadProc()
{
DisplayThreadInfo();
DisplayValues();
}
}
// The example displays output similar to the following:
// Current Thread Name: ''
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
// Some currency values:
// 8,11 €
// 1,48 €
// 8,99 €
// 9,04 €
//
// Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: en-US/en-US
// Some currency values:
// $6.72
// $6.35
// $2.90
// $7.72
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Dim rnd As New Random()
Public Sub Main()
If Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name <> "fr-FR" Then
' If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Else
' Set culture to en-US.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
End If
ThreadProc()
Dim worker As New Thread(AddressOf ThreadProc)
worker.Name = "WorkerThread"
worker.Start()
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayThreadInfo()
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name)
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name)
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayValues()
' Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:")
For ctr As Integer = 0 To 3
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10)
Next
End Sub
Private Sub ThreadProc()
DisplayThreadInfo()
DisplayValues()
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output similar to the following:
' Current Thread Name: ''
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
' Some currency values:
' 8,11 €
' 1,48 €
' 8,99 €
' 9,04 €
'
' Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: en-US/en-US
' Some currency values:
' $6.72
' $6.35
' $2.90
' $7.72
In versions of .NET Framework before .NET Framework 4.5, the most common way to ensure that the main application thread shares the same culture with all other worker threads is to pass either the name of the application-wide culture or a CultureInfo object that represents the application-wide culture to a System.Threading.ParameterizedThreadStart delegate. The following example uses this approach to ensure that the currency values displayed by two threads reflect the formatting conventions of the same culture.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
static Random rnd = new Random();
public static void Main()
{
if (Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name != "fr-FR") {
// If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
}
else {
// Set culture to en-US.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
}
DisplayThreadInfo();
DisplayValues();
Thread worker = new Thread(Example.ThreadProc);
worker.Name = "WorkerThread";
worker.Start(Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture);
}
private static void DisplayThreadInfo()
{
Console.WriteLine("\nCurrent Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name);
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name);
}
private static void DisplayValues()
{
// Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:");
for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 3; ctr++)
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10);
}
private static void ThreadProc(Object obj)
{
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = (CultureInfo) obj;
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = (CultureInfo) obj;
DisplayThreadInfo();
DisplayValues();
}
}
// The example displays output similar to the following:
// Current Thread Name: ''
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
// Some currency values:
// 6,83 €
// 3,47 €
// 6,07 €
// 1,70 €
//
// Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
// Some currency values:
// 9,54 €
// 9,50 €
// 0,58 €
// 6,91 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Dim rnd As New Random()
Public Sub Main()
If Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name <> "fr-FR" Then
' If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Else
' Set culture to en-US.
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
End If
DisplayThreadInfo()
DisplayValues()
Dim worker As New Thread(AddressOf ThreadProc)
worker.Name = "WorkerThread"
worker.Start(Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture)
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayThreadInfo()
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name)
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name)
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayValues()
' Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:")
For ctr As Integer = 0 To 3
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10)
Next
End Sub
Private Sub ThreadProc(obj As Object)
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = CType(obj, CultureInfo)
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = CType(obj, CultureInfo)
DisplayThreadInfo()
DisplayValues()
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output similar to the following:
' Current Thread Name: ''
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
' Some currency values:
' 6,83 €
' 3,47 €
' 6,07 €
' 1,70 €
'
' Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
' Some currency values:
' 9,54 €
' 9,50 €
' 0,58 €
' 6,91 €
You can set the culture and UI culture of thread pool threads in a similar manner by calling the ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(WaitCallback, Object) method.
Starting with .NET Framework 4.5, you can set the culture and UI culture of all threads in an application domain more directly by assigning a CultureInfo object that represents that culture to the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties. The following example uses these properties to ensure that all threads in the default application domain share the same culture.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
static Random rnd = new Random();
public static void Main()
{
if (Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name != "fr-FR") {
// If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR");
}
else {
// Set culture to en-US.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
}
ThreadProc();
Thread worker = new Thread(Example.ThreadProc);
worker.Name = "WorkerThread";
worker.Start();
}
private static void DisplayThreadInfo()
{
Console.WriteLine("\nCurrent Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name);
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name);
}
private static void DisplayValues()
{
// Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:");
for (int ctr = 0; ctr <= 3; ctr++)
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10);
}
private static void ThreadProc()
{
DisplayThreadInfo();
DisplayValues();
}
}
// The example displays output similar to the following:
// Current Thread Name: ''
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
// Some currency values:
// 6,83 €
// 3,47 €
// 6,07 €
// 1,70 €
//
// Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
// Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
// Some currency values:
// 9,54 €
// 9,50 €
// 0,58 €
// 6,91 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Dim rnd As New Random()
Public Sub Main()
If Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name <> "fr-FR" Then
' If current culture is not fr-FR, set culture to fr-FR.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("fr-FR")
Else
' Set culture to en-US.
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
End If
ThreadProc()
Dim worker As New Thread(AddressOf ThreadProc)
worker.Name = "WorkerThread"
worker.Start()
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayThreadInfo()
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Name: '{0}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.Name)
Console.WriteLine("Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: {0}/{1}",
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name)
End Sub
Private Sub DisplayValues()
' Create new thread and display three random numbers.
Console.WriteLine("Some currency values:")
For ctr As Integer = 0 To 3
Console.WriteLine(" {0:C2}", rnd.NextDouble() * 10)
Next
End Sub
Private Sub ThreadProc()
DisplayThreadInfo()
DisplayValues()
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output similar to the following:
' Current Thread Name: ''
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
' Some currency values:
' 6,83 €
' 3,47 €
' 6,07 €
' 1,70 €
'
' Current Thread Name: 'WorkerThread'
' Current Thread Culture/UI Culture: fr-FR/fr-FR
' Some currency values:
' 9,54 €
' 9,50 €
' 0,58 €
' 6,91 €
Warning
Although the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties are static members, they define the default culture and default UI culture only for the application domain that is current at the time these property values are set. For more information, see the next section, Culture and application domains.
When you assign values to the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties, the culture and UI culture of the threads in the application domain also change if they have not explicitly been assigned a culture. However, these threads reflect the new culture settings only while they execute in the current application domain. If these threads execute in another application domain, their culture becomes the default culture defined for that application domain. As a result, we recommend that you always set the culture of the main application thread, and not rely on the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties to change it.
Culture and application domains
DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture are static properties that explicitly define a default culture only for the application domain that is current when the property value is set or retrieved. The following example sets the default culture and default UI culture in the default application domain to French (France), and then uses the AppDomainSetup class and the AppDomainInitializer delegate to set the default culture and UI culture in a new application domain to Russian (Russia). A single thread then executes two methods in each application domain. Note that the thread's culture and UI culture are not explicitly set; they are derived from the default culture and UI culture of the application domain in which the thread is executing. Note also that the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties return the default CultureInfo values of the application domain that is current when the method call is made.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Threading;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
// Set the default culture and display the current date in the current application domain.
Info info1 = new Info();
SetAppDomainCultures("fr-FR");
// Create a second application domain.
AppDomainSetup setup = new AppDomainSetup();
setup.AppDomainInitializer = SetAppDomainCultures;
setup.AppDomainInitializerArguments = new string[] { "ru-RU" };
AppDomain domain = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2", null, setup);
// Create an Info object in the new application domain.
Info info2 = (Info) domain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(typeof(Example).Assembly.FullName,
"Info");
// Execute methods in the two application domains.
info2.DisplayDate();
info2.DisplayCultures();
info1.DisplayDate();
info1.DisplayCultures();
}
public static void SetAppDomainCultures(string[] names)
{
SetAppDomainCultures(names[0]);
}
public static void SetAppDomainCultures(string name)
{
try {
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(name);
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(name);
}
// If an exception occurs, we'll just fall back to the system default.
catch (CultureNotFoundException) {
return;
}
catch (ArgumentException) {
return;
}
}
}
public class Info : MarshalByRefObject
{
public void DisplayDate()
{
Console.WriteLine("Today is {0:D}", DateTime.Now);
}
public void DisplayCultures()
{
Console.WriteLine("Application domain is {0}", AppDomain.CurrentDomain.Id);
Console.WriteLine("Default Culture: {0}", CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture);
Console.WriteLine("Default UI Culture: {0}", CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture);
}
}
// The example displays the following output:
// Today is 14 октября 2011 г.
// Application domain is 2
// Default Culture: ru-RU
// Default UI Culture: ru-RU
// Today is vendredi 14 octobre 2011
// Application domain is 1
// Default Culture: fr-FR
// Default UI Culture: fr-FR
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Threading
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
' Set the default culture and display the current date in the current application domain.
Dim info1 As New Info()
SetAppDomainCultures("fr-FR")
' Create a second application domain.
Dim setup As New AppDomainSetup()
setup.AppDomainInitializer = AddressOf SetAppDomainCultures
setup.AppDomainInitializerArguments = { "ru-RU" }
Dim domain As AppDomain = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2", Nothing, setup)
' Create an Info object in the new application domain.
Dim info2 As Info = CType(domain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(GetType(Example).Assembly.FullName,
"Info"), Info)
' Execute methods in the two application domains.
info2.DisplayDate()
info2.DisplayCultures()
info1.DisplayDate()
info1.DisplayCultures()
End Sub
Public Sub SetAppDomainCultures(names() As String)
SetAppDomainCultures(names(0))
End Sub
Public Sub SetAppDomainCultures(name As String)
Try
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(name)
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture(name)
' If an exception occurs, we'll just fall back to the system default.
Catch e As CultureNotFoundException
Return
Catch e As ArgumentException
Return
End Try
End Sub
End Module
Public Class Info : Inherits MarshalByRefObject
Public Sub DisplayDate()
Console.WriteLine("Today is {0:D}", Date.Now)
End Sub
Public Sub DisplayCultures()
Console.WriteLine("Application domain is {0}", AppDomain.CurrentDomain.Id)
Console.WriteLine("Default Culture: {0}", CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture)
Console.WriteLine("Default UI Culture: {0}", CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture)
End Sub
End Class
' The example displays the following output:
' Today is 14 октября 2011 г.
' Application domain is 2
' Default Culture: ru-RU
' Default UI Culture: ru-RU
' Today is vendredi 14 octobre 2011
' Application domain is 1
' Default Culture: fr-FR
' Default UI Culture: fr-FR
For more information about cultures and application domains, see the "Application Domains and Threads" section in the Application Domains topic.
Culture and task-based asynchronous operations
The task-based asynchronous programming pattern uses Task and Task<TResult> objects to asynchronously execute delegates on thread pool threads. The specific thread on which a particular task runs is not known in advance, but is determined only at runtime.
For apps that target .NET Framework 4.6 or a later version, culture is part of an asynchronous operation's context. In other words, starting with apps that target .NET Framework 4.6, asynchronous operations by default inherit the values of the CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties of the thread from which they are launched. If the current culture or current UI culture differs from the system culture, the current culture crosses thread boundaries and becomes the current culture of the thread pool thread that is executing an asynchronous operation.
The following example provides a simple illustration. It uses the TargetFrameworkAttribute attribute to target .NET Framework 4.6. The example defines a Func<TResult> delegate, formatDelegate, that returns some numbers formatted as currency values. The example changes the current system culture to either French (France) or, if French (France) is already the current culture, English (United States). It then:
Invokes the delegate directly so that it runs synchronously on the main app thread.
Creates a task that executes the delegate asynchronously on a thread pool thread.
Creates a task that executes the delegate synchronously on the main app thread by calling the Task.RunSynchronously method.
As the output from the example shows, when the current culture is changed to French (France), the current culture of the thread from which tasks are invoked asynchronously becomes the current culture for that asynchronous operation.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
[assembly:TargetFramework(".NETFramework,Version=v4.6")]
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
decimal[] values = { 163025412.32m, 18905365.59m };
string formatString = "C2";
Func<String> formatDelegate = () => { string output = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
foreach (var value in values)
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString));
output += Environment.NewLine;
return output;
};
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
// Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
if (CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
// Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:");
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate());
// Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:");
var t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate);
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result);
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:");
var t2 = new Task<String>(formatDelegate);
t2.RunSynchronously();
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result);
}
}
// The example displays the following output:
// The example is running on thread 1
// The current culture is en-US
// Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
//
// Executing the delegate synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
//
// Executing a task asynchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 3.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
//
// Executing a task synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.Versioning
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
<Assembly:TargetFramework(".NETFramework,Version=v4.6")>
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim values() As Decimal = { 163025412.32d, 18905365.59d }
Dim formatString As String = "C2"
Dim formatDelegate As Func(Of String) = Function()
Dim output As String = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
output += Environment.NewLine
For Each value In values
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString))
Next
output += Environment.NewLine
Return output
End Function
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
' Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
If CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US")
Else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR")
End If
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
Console.WriteLine()
' Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:")
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate())
' Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:")
Dim t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate)
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result)
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:")
Dim t2 = New Task(Of String)(formatDelegate)
t2.RunSynchronously()
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result)
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
' The example is running on thread 1
' The current culture is en-US
' Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
'
' Executing the delegate synchronously:
' Formatting Imports the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
'
' Executing a task asynchronously:
' Formatting Imports the fr-FR culture on thread 3.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
'
' Executing a task synchronously:
' Formatting Imports the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
For apps that target versions of .NET Framework prior to .NET Framework 4.6, or for apps that do not target a particular version of .NET Framework, the culture of the calling thread is not part of a task's context. Instead, unless one is explicitly defined, the culture of new threads by default is the system culture. The following example, which is identical to the previous example except that it lacks the TargetFrameworkAttribute attribute, illustrates this. Because the system culture of the system on which the example executed was English (United States), the culture of the task that executes asynchronously on a thread pool thread is en-US rather than fr-FR.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
decimal[] values = { 163025412.32m, 18905365.59m };
string formatString = "C2";
Func<String> formatDelegate = () => { string output = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
foreach (var value in values)
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString));
output += Environment.NewLine;
return output;
};
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
// Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
if (CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
// Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:");
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate());
// Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:");
var t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate);
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result);
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:");
var t2 = new Task<String>(formatDelegate);
t2.RunSynchronously();
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result);
}
}
// The example displays the following output:
// The example is running on thread 1
// The current culture is en-US
// Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
//
// Executing the delegate synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
//
// Executing a task asynchronously:
// Formatting using the en-US culture on thread 3.
// $163,025,412.32 $18,905,365.59
//
// Executing a task synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.Versioning
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim values() As Decimal = { 163025412.32d, 18905365.59d }
Dim formatString As String = "C2"
Dim formatDelegate As Func(Of String) = Function()
Dim output As String = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
output += Environment.NewLine
For Each value In values
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString))
Next
output += Environment.NewLine
Return output
End Function
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
' Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
If CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US")
Else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR")
End If
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
Console.WriteLine()
' Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:")
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate())
' Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:")
Dim t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate)
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result)
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:")
Dim t2 = New Task(Of String)(formatDelegate)
t2.RunSynchronously()
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result)
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
' The example is running on thread 1
' The current culture is en-US
' Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
'
' Executing the delegate synchronously:
' Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
'
' Executing a task asynchronously:
' Formatting using the en-US culture on thread 3.
' $163,025,412.32 $18,905,365.59
'
' Executing a task synchronously:
' Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
For apps that target versions of .NET Framework from .NET Framework 4.5 and later but prior to .NET Framework 4.6, you can use the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture properties to ensure that the culture of the calling thread is used in asynchronous tasks that execute on thread pool threads. The following example is identical to the previous example, except that it uses the DefaultThreadCurrentCulture property to ensure that thread pool threads have the same culture as the main app thread.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
decimal[] values = { 163025412.32m, 18905365.59m };
string formatString = "C2";
Func<String> formatDelegate = () => { string output = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
foreach (var value in values)
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString));
output += Environment.NewLine;
return output;
};
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
// Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
if (CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture;
// Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:");
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate());
// Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:");
var t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate);
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result);
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:");
var t2 = new Task<String>(formatDelegate);
t2.RunSynchronously();
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result);
}
}
// The example displays the following output:
// The example is running on thread 1
// The current culture is en-US
// Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
//
// Executing the delegate synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
//
// Executing a task asynchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 3.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
//
// Executing a task synchronously:
// Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
// 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.Versioning
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim values() As Decimal = { 163025412.32d, 18905365.59d }
Dim formatString As String = "C2"
Dim formatDelegate As Func(Of String) = Function()
Dim output As String = String.Format("Formatting using the {0} culture on thread {1}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
output += Environment.NewLine
For Each value In values
output += String.Format("{0} ", value.ToString(formatString))
Next
output += Environment.NewLine
Return output
End Function
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
' Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
If CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US")
Else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR")
End If
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
CultureInfo.DefaultThreadCurrentCulture = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture
Console.WriteLine()
' Execute the delegate synchronously.
Console.WriteLine("Executing the delegate synchronously:")
Console.WriteLine(formatDelegate())
' Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously:")
Dim t1 = Task.Run(formatDelegate)
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result)
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously:")
Dim t2 = New Task(Of String)(formatDelegate)
t2.RunSynchronously()
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result)
End Sub
End Module
' The example displays the following output:
' The example is running on thread 1
' The current culture is en-US
' Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
'
' Executing the delegate synchronously:
' Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
'
' Executing a task asynchronously:
' Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 3.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
'
' Executing a task synchronously:
' Formatting using the fr-FR culture on thread 1.
' 163 025 412,32 € 18 905 365,59 €
DefaultThreadCurrentCulture and DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture are per-app domain properties; that is, they establish a default culture for all threads not explicitly assigned a culture in a specific application domain. However, for apps that target .NET Framework 4.6 or later, the culture of the calling thread remains part of an asynchronous task's context even if the task crosses app domain boundaries.
The following example shows that the calling thread's culture remains the current culture of a task-based asynchronous operation even if the method that the task is executing crosses application domain boundaries. It defines a class, DataRetriever, with a single method, GetFormattedNumber, that returns a random double-precision floating-point number between 1 and 1,000 formatted as a currency value. A first task is run that simply instantiates a DataRetriever instance and calls its GetFormattedNumber method. A second task reports its current application domain, creates a new application domain, instantiates a DataRetriever instance in the new application domain, and calls its GetFormattedNumber method. As the output from the example shows, the current culture has remained the same in the calling thread, the first task, and the second task both when it was executing in the main application domain and the second application domain.
using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Runtime.Versioning;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
[assembly:TargetFramework(".NETFramework,Version=v4.6")]
public class Example
{
public static void Main()
{
string formatString = "C2";
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
// Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
if (CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name == "fr-FR")
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US");
else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.\n",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);
// Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously in the main appdomain:");
var t1 = Task.Run(() => { DataRetriever d = new DataRetriever();
return d.GetFormattedNumber(formatString);
});
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result);
Console.WriteLine();
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously in two appdomains:");
var t2 = Task.Run(() => { Console.WriteLine("Thread {0} is running in app domain '{1}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName);
AppDomain domain = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2");
DataRetriever d = (DataRetriever) domain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(typeof(Example).Assembly.FullName,
"DataRetriever");
return d.GetFormattedNumber(formatString);
});
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result);
}
}
public class DataRetriever : MarshalByRefObject
{
public string GetFormattedNumber(String format)
{
Thread thread = Thread.CurrentThread;
Console.WriteLine("Current culture is {0}", thread.CurrentCulture);
Console.WriteLine("Thread {0} is running in app domain '{1}'",
thread.ManagedThreadId,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName);
Random rnd = new Random();
Double value = rnd.NextDouble() * 1000;
return value.ToString(format);
}
}
// The example displays output like the following:
// The example is running on thread 1
// The current culture is en-US
// Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
//
// Executing a task asynchronously in a single appdomain:
// Current culture is fr-FR
// Thread 3 is running in app domain 'AsyncCulture4.exe'
// 93,48 €
//
// Executing a task synchronously in two appdomains:
// Thread 4 is running in app domain 'AsyncCulture4.exe'
// Current culture is fr-FR
// Thread 4 is running in app domain 'Domain2'
// 288,66 €
Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Runtime.Versioning
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Threading.Tasks
<Assembly:TargetFramework(".NETFramework,Version=v4.6")>
Module Example
Public Sub Main()
Dim formatString As String = "C2"
Console.WriteLine("The example is running on thread {0}",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId)
' Make the current culture different from the system culture.
Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0}",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
If CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name = "fr-FR" Then
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("en-US")
Else
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("fr-FR")
End If
Console.WriteLine("Changed the current culture to {0}.",
CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name)
Console.WriteLine()
' Call an async delegate to format the values using one format string.
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task asynchronously in the main appdomain:")
Dim t1 = Task.Run(Function()
Dim d As New DataRetriever()
Return d.GetFormattedNumber(formatString)
End Function)
Console.WriteLine(t1.Result)
Console.WriteLine()
Console.WriteLine("Executing a task synchronously in two appdomains:")
Dim t2 = Task.Run(Function()
Console.WriteLine("Thread {0} is running in app domain '{1}'",
Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName)
Dim domain As AppDomain = AppDomain.CreateDomain("Domain2")
Dim d As DataRetriever = CType(domain.CreateInstanceAndUnwrap(GetType(Example).Assembly.FullName,
"DataRetriever"), DataRetriever)
Return d.GetFormattedNumber(formatString)
End Function)
Console.WriteLine(t2.Result)
End Sub
End Module
Public Class DataRetriever : Inherits MarshalByRefObject
Public Function GetFormattedNumber(format As String) As String
Dim thread As Thread = Thread.CurrentThread
Console.WriteLine("Current culture is {0}", thread.CurrentCulture)
Console.WriteLine("Thread {0} is running in app domain '{1}'",
thread.ManagedThreadId,
AppDomain.CurrentDomain.FriendlyName)
Dim rnd As New Random()
Dim value As Double = rnd.NextDouble() * 1000
Return value.ToString(format)
End Function
End Class
' The example displays output like the following:
' The example is running on thread 1
' The current culture is en-US
' Changed the current culture to fr-FR.
'
' Executing a task asynchronously in a single appdomain:
' Current culture is fr-FR
' Thread 3 is running in app domain 'AsyncCulture4.exe'
' 93,48 €
'
' Executing a task synchronously in two appdomains:
' Thread 4 is running in app domain 'AsyncCulture4.exe'
' Current culture is fr-FR
' Thread 4 is running in app domain 'Domain2'
' 288,66 €
CultureInfo object serialization
When a CultureInfo object is serialized, all that is actually stored is Name and UseUserOverride. It is successfully deserialized only in an environment where that Name has the same meaning. The following three examples show why this is not always the case:
If the CultureTypes property value is CultureTypes.InstalledWin32Cultures, and if that culture was first introduced in a particular version of the Windows operating system, it is not possible to deserialize it on an earlier version of Windows. For example, if a culture was introduced in Windows 10, it cannot be deserialized on Windows 8.
If the CultureTypes value is CultureTypes.UserCustomCulture, and the computer on which it is deserialized does not have this user custom culture installed, it is not possible to deserialize it.
If the CultureTypes value is CultureTypes.ReplacementCultures, and the computer on which it is deserialized does not have this replacement culture, it deserializes to the same name, but not all of the same characteristics. For example, if
en-USis a replacement culture on computer A, but not on computer B, and if a CultureInfo object referring to this culture is serialized on computer A and deserialized on computer B, then none of the custom characteristics of the culture are transmitted. The culture deserializes successfully, but with a different meaning.
Control Panel overrides
The user might choose to override some of the values associated with the current culture of Windows through the regional and language options portion of Control Panel. For example, the user might choose to display the date in a different format or to use a currency other than the default for the culture. In general, your applications should honor these user overrides.
If UseUserOverride is true and the specified culture matches the current culture of Windows, the CultureInfo uses those overrides, including user settings for the properties of the DateTimeFormatInfo instance returned by the DateTimeFormat property, and the properties of the NumberFormatInfo instance returned by the NumberFormat property. If the user settings are incompatible with the culture associated with the CultureInfo, for example, if the selected calendar is not one of the OptionalCalendars, the results of the methods and the values of the properties are undefined.
Alternate sort orders
Some cultures support more than one sort order. For example:
The Spanish (Spain) culture has two sort orders: the default international sort order, and the traditional sort order. When you instantiate a CultureInfo object with the
es-ESculture name, the international sort order is used. When you instantiate a CultureInfo object with thees-ES-tradnlculture name, the traditional sort order is used.The
zh-CN(Chinese (Simplified, PRC)) culture supports two sort orders: by pronunciation (the default) and by stroke count. When you instantiate a CultureInfo object with thezh-CNculture name, the default sort order is used. When you instantiate a CultureInfo object with a local identifier of 0x00020804, strings are sorted by stroke count.
The following table lists the cultures that support alternate sort orders and the identifiers for the default and alternate sort orders.
| Culture name | Culture | Default sort name and identifier | Alternate sort name and identifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| es-ES | Spanish (Spain) | International: 0x00000C0A | Traditional: 0x0000040A |
| zh-TW | Chinese (Taiwan) | Stroke Count: 0x00000404 | Bopomofo: 0x00030404 |
| zh-CN | Chinese (PRC) | Pronunciation: 0x00000804 | Stroke Count: 0x00020804 |
| zh-HK | Chinese (Hong Kong SAR) | Stroke Count: 0x00000c04 | Stroke Count: 0x00020c04 |
| zh-SG | Chinese (Singapore) | Pronunciation: 0x00001004 | Stroke Count: 0x00021004 |
| zh-MO | Chinese (Macao SAR) | Pronunciation: 0x00001404 | Stroke Count: 0x00021404 |
| ja-JP | Japanese (Japan) | Default: 0x00000411 | Unicode: 0x00010411 |
| ko-KR | Korean (Korea) | Default: 0x00000412 | Korean Xwansung - Unicode: 0x00010412 |
| de-DE | German (Germany) | Dictionary: 0x00000407 | Phone Book Sort DIN: 0x00010407 |
| hu-HU | Hungarian (Hungary) | Default: 0x0000040e | Technical Sort: 0x0001040e |
| ka-GE | Georgian (Georgia) | Traditional: 0x00000437 | Modern Sort: 0x00010437 |
The current culture and UWP apps
In Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, the CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties are read-write, just as they are in .NET Framework and .NET Core apps. However, UWP apps recognize a single culture. The CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties map to the first value in the Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.Core.ResourceManager.DefaultContext.Languages collection.
In .NET Framework and .NET Core apps, the current culture is a per-thread setting, and the CurrentCulture and CurrentUICulture properties reflect the culture and UI culture of the current thread only. In UWP apps, the current culture maps to the Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.Core.ResourceManager.DefaultContext.Languages collection, which is a global setting. Setting the CurrentCulture or CurrentUICulture property changes the culture of the entire app; culture cannot be set on a per-thread basis.
Constructors
| CultureInfo(Int32) |
Initializes a new instance of the CultureInfo class based on the culture specified by the culture identifier. |
| CultureInfo(Int32, Boolean) |
Initializes a new instance of the CultureInfo class based on the culture specified by the culture identifier and on a value that specifies whether to use the user-selected culture settings from Windows. |
| CultureInfo(String) |
Initializes a new instance of the CultureInfo class based on the culture specified by name. |
| CultureInfo(String, Boolean) |
Initializes a new instance of the CultureInfo class based on the culture specified by name and on a value that specifies whether to use the user-selected culture settings from Windows. |
Properties
| Calendar |
Gets the default calendar used by the culture. |
| CompareInfo |
Gets the CompareInfo that defines how to compare strings for the culture. |
| CultureTypes |
Gets the culture types that pertain to the current CultureInfo object. |
| CurrentCulture |
Gets or sets the CultureInfo object that represents the culture used by the current thread and task-based asynchronous operations. |
| CurrentUICulture |
Gets or sets the CultureInfo object that represents the current user interface culture used by the Resource Manager to look up culture-specific resources at run time. |
| DateTimeFormat |
Gets or sets a DateTimeFormatInfo that defines the culturally appropriate format of displaying dates and times. |
| DefaultThreadCurrentCulture |
Gets or sets the default culture for threads in the current application domain. |
| DefaultThreadCurrentUICulture |
Gets or sets the default UI culture for threads in the current application domain. |
| DisplayName |
Gets the full localized culture name. |
| EnglishName |
Gets the culture name in the format languagefull [country/regionfull] in English. |
| IetfLanguageTag |
Deprecated. Gets the RFC 4646 standard identification for a language. |
| InstalledUICulture |
Gets the CultureInfo that represents the culture installed with the operating system. |
| InvariantCulture |
Gets the CultureInfo object that is culture-independent (invariant). |
| IsNeutralCulture |
Gets a value indicating whether the current CultureInfo represents a neutral culture. |
| IsReadOnly |
Gets a value indicating whether the current CultureInfo is read-only. |
| KeyboardLayoutId |
Gets the active input locale identifier. |
| LCID |
Gets the culture identifier for the current CultureInfo. |
| Name |
Gets the culture name in the format languagecode2-country/regioncode2. |
| NativeName |
Gets the culture name, consisting of the language, the country/region, and the optional script, that the culture is set to display. |
| NumberFormat |
Gets or sets a NumberFormatInfo that defines the culturally appropriate format of displaying numbers, currency, and percentage. |
| OptionalCalendars |
Gets the list of calendars that can be used by the culture. |
| Parent |
Gets the CultureInfo that represents the parent culture of the current CultureInfo. |
| TextInfo |
Gets the TextInfo that defines the writing system associated with the culture. |
| ThreeLetterISOLanguageName |
Gets the ISO 639-2 three-letter code for the language of the current CultureInfo. |
| ThreeLetterWindowsLanguageName |
Gets the three-letter code for the language as defined in the Windows API. |
| TwoLetterISOLanguageName |
Gets the ISO 639-1 two-letter or ISO 639-3 three-letter code for the language of the current CultureInfo. |
| UseUserOverride |
Gets a value indicating whether the current CultureInfo object uses the user-selected culture settings. |
Methods
| ClearCachedData() |
Refreshes cached culture-related information. |
| Clone() |
Creates a copy of the current CultureInfo. |
| CreateSpecificCulture(String) |
Creates a CultureInfo that represents the specific culture that is associated with the specified name. |
| Equals(Object) |
Determines whether the specified object is the same culture as the current CultureInfo. |
| GetConsoleFallbackUICulture() |
Gets an alternate user interface culture suitable for console applications when the default graphic user interface culture is unsuitable. |
| GetCultureInfo(Int32) |
Retrieves a cached, read-only instance of a culture by using the specified culture identifier. |
| GetCultureInfo(String) |
Retrieves a cached, read-only instance of a culture using the specified culture name. |
| GetCultureInfo(String, Boolean) |
Retrieves a cached, read-only instance of a culture. |
| GetCultureInfo(String, String) |
Retrieves a cached, read-only instance of a culture. Parameters specify a culture that is initialized with the TextInfo and CompareInfo objects specified by another culture. |
| GetCultureInfoByIetfLanguageTag(String) |
Deprecated. Retrieves a read-only CultureInfo object having linguistic characteristics that are identified by the specified RFC 4646 language tag. |
| GetCultures(CultureTypes) |
Gets the list of supported cultures filtered by the specified CultureTypes parameter. |
| GetFormat(Type) |
Gets an object that defines how to format the specified type. |
| GetHashCode() |
Serves as a hash function for the current CultureInfo, suitable for hashing algorithms and data structures, such as a hash table. |
| GetType() |
Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object) |
| MemberwiseClone() |
Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object) |
| ReadOnly(CultureInfo) |
Returns a read-only wrapper around the specified CultureInfo object. |
| ToString() |
Returns a string containing the name of the current CultureInfo in the format languagecode2-country/regioncode2. |