Question

I’m localizing my asp.net Mvc app. The strings are placed in resource files. I’m decorating my models with the System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.DisplayAttribute attribute like for example:

public class User
{
    public virtual Guid Id { get; set; }

    [Display(ResourceType = typeof(ModelRes.User), Name = "LogonName")]
    public virtual string LogonName { get; set; }
    [Display(ResourceType = typeof(ModelRes.User), Name = "Password")]
    public virtual string Password { get; set; }
}

I have one resource file per model(class), and the User.resx looks like this:

LogonName | "Logon name"
Password  | "Password"

Now imagine that for a lot of properties, you get the idea. What I would like to do instead is this:

[CustomDisplay(typeof(ModelRes.User))]
public class User
{
    public virtual Guid Id { get; set; }

    public virtual string LogonName { get; set; }
    public virtual string Password { get; set; }
}

and still be able to use this in my (razor) view:

@Html.LabelFor(m => m.LogonName)

Any experiences with implementing something like this?

Answer 1

You will have to write a custom ModelMetadataProvider.

Then you will have to set the DisplayName property of the ModelMetadata variable using your custom attribute and property name.

Here are some examples/tutorials

ASP.NET MVC 3 Service Location, Part 7: Model Metadata

Customizing ASP.NET MVC 2 Metadata and Validation