Thread.CurrentUICulture Property

Definition

Namespace:

System.Threading

Assembly:

System.Threading.Thread.dll

Source:

Thread.cs

Gets or sets the current culture used by the Resource Manager to look up culture-specific resources at run time.

public:
 property System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ CurrentUICulture { System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ get(); void set(System::Globalization::CultureInfo ^ value); };

public System.Globalization.CultureInfo CurrentUICulture { get; set; }

member this.CurrentUICulture : System.Globalization.CultureInfo with get, set

Public Property CurrentUICulture As CultureInfo

Property Value

CultureInfo

An object that represents the current culture.

Exceptions

ArgumentNullException

The property is set to null.

ArgumentException

The property is set to a culture name that cannot be used to locate a resource file. Resource filenames must include only letters, numbers, hyphens or underscores.

InvalidOperationException

.NET Core and .NET 5+ only: Reading or writing the culture of a thread from another thread is not supported.

Examples

The following example determines whether the language of the current thread's UI culture is French. If it is not, it sets the UI culture of the current thread to English (United States).

using System;
using System.Globalization;
using System.Threading;

public class Example
{
   public static void Main()
   {
      // Change the current culture if the language is not French.
      CultureInfo current = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture;
      if (current.TwoLetterISOLanguageName != "fr") {
         CultureInfo newCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US");
         Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = newCulture;
         // Make current UI culture consistent with current culture.
         Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = newCulture;
      }
      Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName,
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name);
      Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName,
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name);
   }
}
// The example displays the following output:
//     The current UI culture is English (United States) [en-US]
//     The current culture is English (United States) [en-US]

open System.Globalization
open System.Threading

// Change the current culture if the language is not French.
let current = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture

if current.TwoLetterISOLanguageName <> "fr" then
    let newCulture = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture "en-US"
    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture <- newCulture
    // Make current UI culture consistent with current culture.
    Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture <- newCulture

printfn
    $"The current UI culture is {Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName} [{Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name}]"

printfn
    $"The current culture is {Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName} [{Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name}]"

// The example displays the following output:
//     The current UI culture is English (United States) [en-US]
//     The current culture is English (United States) [en-US]

Imports System.Globalization
Imports System.Threading

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      ' Change the current culture if the language is not French.
      Dim current As CultureInfo = Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture
      If current.TwoLetterISOLanguageName <> "fr" Then
         Dim newCulture As CultureInfo = CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("en-US")
         Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = newCulture
         ' Make current UI culture consistent with current culture.
         Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = newCulture
      End If
      Console.WriteLine("The current UI culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName,
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name)
      Console.WriteLine("The current culture is {0} [{1}]",
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.NativeName,
                        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture.Name)
   End Sub
End Module
' The example displays output like the following:
'     The current UI culture is English (United States) [en-US]
'     The current culture is English (United States) [en-US]

The following code example shows the threading statement that allows the user interface of a Windows Forms to display in the culture that is set in Control Panel. Additional code is needed.

#using <system.dll>
#using <System.Drawing.dll>
#using <system.windows.forms.dll>

using namespace System;
using namespace System::Threading;
using namespace System::Windows::Forms;
ref class UICulture: public Form
{
public:
   UICulture()
   {
      
      // Set the user interface to display in the
      // same culture as that set in Control Panel.
      Thread::CurrentThread->CurrentUICulture = Thread::CurrentThread->CurrentCulture;
      
      // Add additional code.
   }
};


int main()
{
   Application::Run( gcnew UICulture );
}

using System;
using System.Threading;
using System.Windows.Forms;

class UICulture : Form
{
    public UICulture()
    {
        // Set the user interface to display in the
        // same culture as that set in Control Panel.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = 
            Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture;

        // Add additional code.
    }

    static void Main()
    {
        Application.Run(new UICulture());
    }
}

open System.Threading
open System.Windows.Forms

type UICulture() =
    inherit Form()

    do
        // Set the user interface to display in the
        // same culture as that set in Control Panel.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture <- Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture

// Add additional code.

new UICulture() |> Application.Run

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Windows.Forms

Public Class UICulture : Inherits Form
    Sub New()

        ' Set the user interface to display in the
        ' same culture as that set in Control Panel.
        Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = _
            Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture

        ' Add additional code.
    End Sub

    Shared Sub Main()
        Application.Run(New UICulture())
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

The UI culture specifies the resources an application needs to support user input and output, and by default is the same as the operating system culture. See the CultureInfo class to learn about culture names and identifiers, the differences between invariant, neutral, and specific cultures, and the way culture information affects threads and application domains. See the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture property to learn how a thread's default UI culture is determined.

Important

The CurrentUICulture property doesn't work reliably when used with any thread other than the current thread. In .NET Framework, reading the property is reliable, although setting it for a thread other than the current thread is not. On .NET Core, an InvalidOperationException is thrown if a thread attempts to read or write the CurrentUICulture property on a different thread. We recommend that you use the CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture property to retrieve and set the current culture.

The CultureInfo returned by this property can be a neutral culture. Neutral cultures should not be used with formatting methods such as String.Format(IFormatProvider, String, Object[]), DateTime.ToString(String, IFormatProvider), and Convert.ToString(Char, IFormatProvider). Use the CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture method to get a specific culture, or use the CurrentCulture property.