.NET Tutorial

Externalizing Multiple Strings

In this lesson, you will use the Batch Externalization feature to externalize multiple strings at once.

At this point in the tutorial you have narrowed your issues list down to 12 Embedded Strings. Rather than externalizing the remaining strings one at a time, you can use the Batch Externalization feature to externalize them all at once.

  1. Select all of the remaining Embedded Strings in the Scan Results table. To do this, select an embedded string then use the shortcut Control + A. Alternatively, you can click on the top embedded string, scroll down to the bottom of the list of embedded strings, then hold down the Shift key and click on the bottom Embedded String row in the table. All of the Embedded Strings should now be selected.

  2. Prior to performing the next step be sure to save any altered source files.

    Right-click over the table and select Fix Code=>Externalize Selected Scan Results or click the Batch Externalization button .

  3. The Globalyzer Externalize Strings dialog appears:

    The Externalize Strings dialog contains a multitude of different features:

    • Like in the Scan Results view, clicking on an issue in the Externalize Strings dialog will highlight the text of the file it is contained in.

    • The dialog also presents the options to ignore specific issues via the Ignore button.

    • You can also choose to internationalize one of the listed strings. This removes the Ignore comment if the issue was previously ignored, and sets the status of the issue to Active. Otherwise, no action is performed.

    • Finally, you can Edit any of the strings that you are going to externalize. Clicking the Edit button will bring up an Edit Entry dialog. Within the dialog, the New key field allows you to change the key value for selected issue. You can also edit the string itself with the New value field.

      The Edit Entry dialogue:

  4. Within the Globalyzer Externalize Strings dialog, click Next.

    You will now see the Externalize Strings Messages section of the dialog. This dialogue will show you which source files are going to be modified.

  5. Click Next again.

    You will now see the Externalize Strings Preview section of the dialog. This section presents a final idea of what will be changed during externalization. It also presents a final opportunity to reject any changes you do not wish to make. If you do not wish to externalize a selected issue, uncheck the checkbox to the issue's left. For this tutorial, leave all issues checked.

  6. Click Finish.

    Globalyzer now externalizes all of the remaining strings. To confirm this open the Console view next to the Scan Results view. The Console should contain messages such as what is displayed below:

    Just as in single string externalization, Globalyzer will rescan the affected source files.

    Note: Before performing Batch Externalizations, be sure to check that each string is fully selected in the source file (by double-clicking on the row in the Scan Results table) and that it is a string that will require translation. If necessary, you can select the text that you want to externalize directly in the source file and then select Fix Code=>Externalize String or click the Externalize Single String button .

    If you need to make a change to the text first, remember that you can do so with the Edit option from within the Globalyzer Externalize Strings dialog.

    Note: If a string is several lines long, Globalyzer will display an error and will not include the string in the batch externalization process. To externalize these long strings, use Single String Externalization, but be sure to check that the entire string is selected in the source file before clicking the Externalize selected String button.

In the next lesson, we will show how to externalize HTML Tag Attribute strings that are detected by Globalyzer using a General Pattern.