Enum localization for multi select list - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have this enum of countries:
public enum Country
{
[Display(Description ="Netherlands", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
Netherlands = 0,
[Display(Description = "Germany", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
Germany = 1,
[Display(Description = "Belgium", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
Belgium = 2,
[Display(Description = "Luxembourg", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
Luxembourg = 3,
[Display(Description = "France", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
France = 4,
[Display(Description = "Spain", ResourceType = typeof(MyResource))]
Spain = 5
}
And this is an extension method to display the enums in a MultiSelectList:
public static MvcHtmlString MultiSelectBoxFor<TModel, TProperty>(this HtmlHelper<TModel> htmlHelper, Expression<Func<TModel, TProperty>> expression, IEnumerable<SelectListItem> selectList)
{
return htmlHelper.ListBoxFor(expression, selectList, new { #class = "chzn-select", data_placeholder = Form.MultiSelect });
}
This MultiSelectList has the 'chosen' style. See this site for more info
This all worked fine when I didn't need it to support more languages etc.
How can I make this work with localization?

Answer 1

You can implement a description attribute.
public class LocalizedDescriptionAttributre : DescriptionAttribute
{
private readonly string _resourceKey;
private readonly ResourceManager _resource;
public LocalizedDescriptionAttributre(string resourceKey, Type resourceType)
{
_resource = new ResourceManager(resourceType);
_resourceKey = resourceKey;
}
public override string Description
{
get
{
string displayName = _resource.GetString(_resourceKey);
return string.IsNullOrEmpty(displayName)
? string.Format("[[{0}]]", _resourceKey)
: displayName;
}
}
}
public static class EnumExtensions
{
public static string GetDescription(this Enum enumValue)
{
FieldInfo fi = enumValue.GetType().GetField(enumValue.ToString());
DescriptionAttribute[] attributes =
(DescriptionAttribute[])fi.GetCustomAttributes(
typeof(DescriptionAttribute),
false);
if (attributes != null &&
attributes.Length > 0)
return attributes[0].Description;
else
return enumValue.ToString();
}
}
Define it like this:
public enum Roles
{
[LocalizedDescription("Administrator", typeof(Resource))]
Administrator,
...
}
And use it like this:
var roles = from RoleType role in Enum.GetValues(typeof(RoleType))
select new
{
Id = (int)role,
Name = role.GetDescription()
};
searchModel.roles = new MultiSelectList(roles, "Id", "Name");