Localize labels, messages, and tooltips on a custom page
[This topic is pre-release documentation and is subject to change.]
This article outlines how to add localized content to a custom page by uploading web resource RESX files for each language into your solution.
This article shows you how to use Power Fx to set the content of a control on a custom page. You can use similar steps for tooltips and any messages that use a text control on the custom page.
Localizing labels on a custom page
Providing localized content on a custom page in a model-driven app is vital when building apps that support global users or a multilingual organization. Translation can be done by uploading text files in a .resx format as a web resource. The files contain the translated text that you want to use for labels on your custom pages.
The process has the following steps:
- Enable languages for your environment.
- Add localized RESX web resource files into your solution.
- Add the localized files to your custom page.
- Manage localized web resources.
- Add the localized strings to your controls.
- Run your app with localized content.
Enable languages for your environment
To add languages for a custom page, you need to first enable the languages you want to support in the model-driven app where your custom page will run. Make sure you have enabled languages from the Power Platform admin center. More information: Enable the language
After completing the steps to enable languages in the environment, create a RESX file for each language in the proper format for the strings you want localized on your custom page for your model-driven app.
After you have the created the RESX files with the localized strings, add them into your solution as a web resource. There are two ways to accomplish this task, the first is to open your solution in make.powerapps.com and select the option to add a web resource to your solution in your environment or you can add a web resource while working on a custom page. More information: RESX web resources
Adding a web resource while working on a custom page is covered later in this article in the section Add localized files to your custom page.
Localized content will be based on the user or organizational locale for the application the custom page is running. The language for your application is based on user or admin defined language preferences in the user app settings or admin settings in the Power Platform admin center. If neither has been set, the base language set when the environment was created is used.
Note
Content shown in a Power Apps Control Framework (PCF) control will localize to the applications locale language without additional changes needed on the custom page. More Information Localizing PCF Controls
Add localized RESX Web resource files to your solution
- Go to make.powerapps.com, select the Solutions area, and then open the solution you want.
- On the command bar, select New > More > Web Resource. This opens a panel to add your RESX web resource file.
All files added to your solution need to follow a specific format that includes {filename}.LanguageID.resx, where the language ID is the numeric value for that language. This format is necessary because the framework relies on the naming convention to identify which resource file should be used to associate the appropriate localized string to a label control.
Important
The RESX {filename} must be the same for all your files.
For example, all localized string files have the name CustomPageLoc.LanguageID.resx, which means for English it is CustomPageLoc.1033.resx, for French CustomPageLoc.1036.resx, and for Arabic CustomPageLoc.1025.resx. The display name for every file added must also be the same name.
In the example below all files have CPLoc as the display name. The display name must be the same to ensure all localized content is used properly on a custom page for each language. We recommend that you add the corresponding name for the language in the Description field to help identify the content when you view the files in the custom page designer. Also, you'll need to add the same language's RESX file that you're working in. For example, if you are authoring in English, be sure to add the English RESX file.
After you have added your web resource to your solution, make sure to publish the changes. Publishing ensures the file is available to add to your custom page. Here's an example of the web resource RESX files that have been added to a solution and are now available to add to a custom page.
Add localized files to your custom page
Add localized files to your custom page when you're creating or editing a page.
To add a language to your page, select the Resources icon on the left to open the Resources pane.
Select Add resource in either one of two places.
A dialog opens that lists all the available web resources in your solution. To find your files quickly, you can use the search at the top of the dialog to search for the Display name that displays all your localized RESX files. You only need to select and add the file that matches the language that you are using to author your page. In this example, the English file is the only file you need to add.
Note
It isn't necessary to add every file-you only need to add one. The solution and platform maps the uploaded languages based on the display name to the language web resource files that you added to your solution. When you add multiple files, a dialog is displayed with an error message, which states that files have already been loaded to your page.
If you don't see the RESX web resource with the language you want to add in the dialog, you'll need to add the file to your solution using the steps described earlier in this article.
After selecting Add, the panel closes, and the web resource is listed in the Resources pane.
Manage localized web resources
After a web resource language has been added to your page, you can manage the file by selecting the ... ellipses next to the file. A flyout opens where you can refresh the web resource if it has been updated. You can also remove the resource from your page. You'll need to refresh the RESX resources on your page if the display name has changed or any of the string keys have been updated in the RESX file that's been published to your solution. Note that updating the translations in the RESX file and publishing the solution doesn't require the RESX on your page to be refreshed.
Add the localized string to your label controls
To add localized content to your label control, select the label and set the function to the resource using the Power Fx text function of the control. To do this, select the label control, and then select the Text function.
Using the text function, set the value to the web resource and the value you want that is in your web resource RESX file. After setting the expression, the content will appear in the preview for the page.
Save and publish your changes to the page.
Note
Make sure you also save and publish your changes to the app. Saving and publishing both the page and app are needed to ensure your localized labels render with the appropriate strings at runtime.
Important
When you add form controls, make sure you localize the labels. They do not automatically pull localized labels when you bind the control to a Microsoft Dataverse table. Currently, you'll need to add strings for the labels to your resx files, unlock the form control, and then set the displayName property to your localized string using the same expression for your custom labels, text, tooltips, etc.
Run your app with the localized content
After publishing your page and your app, select Play in the app designer to open the app in a separate browser tab.
Select your custom page on the site map.
The labels for your controls display the localized content. Test each language added to your app and pages by selecting Personalization Settings under Settings (gear icon) at the top of the app.
Then, on the Languages tab, set the User Interface Language to the language you would like to test.
Right-to-left support for custom pages
With localized content, there are several languages that require a right-to-left orientation for content rendered on your page. Right-To-Left (RTL) is fully supported for languages like Arabic and Hebrew and the page will change at runtime automatically for these languages.
Important
Right-to-left orientation for icons, shapes, and images aren't currently supported in custom pages. If you add an icon, shape, or image it may not behave as expected, so please be careful when using these types of controls on your custom page.
To review RTL when building a custom page, you will need to go to the page settings, select upcoming features, search for RTL, and enable the setting. Setting this option shows an RTL or LTR button in the preview window where you can switch between orientation without having to run your app. If you would like to see your custom page running RTL, you can add &flags=isRTL=true to the end of the URL in your browser when running your app to test RTL for your page.
Known limitation for exporting solutions with resx files
Resx files don't automatically get added when you export your solution and import it into a new environment. This is a known limitation and will require you to upload your resx files into your new environment. So, if you have a developer environment, and you export your solution and import into a production environment, you'll need to add your resx localization files into your production environment solution.
See also
Create or edit model-driven app web resources to extend an app
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