If you are programming for users that use a version of Excel in a language other than yours, or who set their user preferences to a language other than yours, there are a number of issues that you should consider. This is particularly true if you wish to support users in more than one language.
The links below list all the internationalization topics in the User Guide. You can also refer to Global resource functions for a list of the functions which retrieve strings from the resource file.
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Levels of support | What do I need to do to support users with languages other than my own? |
| Choice of languages | How do I decide which language my add-in should use at run-time? |
| Ensuring stable behavior | What do I have to do to ensure that my add-in will behave as expected in languages other than my own? |
| String substitutions | Techniques for substituting strings at run-time, so that the selected language is used. |
| Types of string | The various types of string that may need to be localized, and techniques for localizing them. |
| Deployment | Where to store resources; how to allow other developers to add support in their own languages. |
| Conversion of an existing project | How to convert an existing single-language add-in to support multiple langauges. |
The following sample projects contain examples of all the techniques discussed in these topics.
| Sample | Description |
|---|---|
| International | Demonstrates how to get and use Excel's international settings |
| Localized (Single DLL) | Demonstrates how to support multiple languages in a single XLL |
| Localized (Multiple DLL) | Demonstrates how to support multiple languages using one DLL per language |