Question

We use resx files to localize our web applications. We usually create local resx files (that map to a specific page) when only one page uses a certain phrase, and a global resx file when more than one page needs the phrase.
But the good thing about global resx files is that they are a class, and you can call the phrases like you call properties of a class:

Resource.UI.iNotFound

So I was thinking – why have local resx files at all? why not use one global resx file for the whole application, and that way avoid runtime errors from calling non-existent phrases?

I’m sure there’s a good answer for that, I just don’t know what it is….

Answer 1

I kept on looking for guidelines, and found this in MSDN:

Choosing Between Global and Local Resource Files

You can use any combination of global and local resource files in the Web application. Generally, you add resources to a global resource file when you want to share the resources between pages. Resources in global resource files are also strongly typed for when you want to access the files programmatically.

However, global resource files can become large, if you store all localized resources in them. Global resource files can also be more difficult to manage, if more than one developer is working on different pages but in a single resource file.

Local resource files make it easier to manage resources for a single ASP.NET Web page. But you cannot share resources between pages. Additionally, you might create lots of local resource files, if you have many pages that must be localized into many languages. If sites are large with many folders and languages, local resources can quickly expand the number of assemblies in the application domain.

When you make a change to a default resource file, either local or global, ASP.NET recompiles the resources and restarts the ASP.NET application. This can affect the overall performance of your site. If you add satellite resource files, it does not cause a recompilation of resources, but the ASP.NET application will restart.

So it seems that it’s really up to the programming team to weigh the pros and cons of each method and choose what’s good for them.