The System.Globalization.CultureInfo class in .NET provides information about a specific culture, including the names of the culture, the writing system, the calendar used, and formatting for dates and numbers. This is particularly important for developing globalized applications that need to support multiple cultures and languages. In the context of Windows applications, understanding and using CultureInfo can help ensure that applications behave correctly in different cultural settings.

In this article, we will explore how to use the CultureInfo class in Windows applications, specifically focusing on .NET applications. We will provide practical examples of how to create and manipulate culture-specific information to support globalization.

Examples:

1. Creating a CultureInfo Object:
To create a CultureInfo object in a .NET application, you can use the following C# code:

   using System;

   using System.Globalization;



   class Program

   {

       static void Main()

       {

           // Create a CultureInfo object for French (France)

           CultureInfo cultureInfo = new CultureInfo("fr-FR");



           // Display some properties of the culture

           Console.WriteLine("Culture Name: " + cultureInfo.Name);

           Console.WriteLine("Display Name: " + cultureInfo.DisplayName);

           Console.WriteLine("Date Format: " + cultureInfo.DateTimeFormat.ShortDatePattern);

           Console.WriteLine("Number Format: " + cultureInfo.NumberFormat.CurrencySymbol);

       }

   }

2. Changing the Current Culture:
You can change the current culture of a thread to ensure that all culture-specific operations use the specified culture. This is useful when you want to change the culture for the entire application.

   using System;

   using System.Globalization;

   using System.Threading;



   class Program

   {

       static void Main()

       {

           // Set the current culture to Japanese (Japan)

           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo("ja-JP");

           Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentUICulture = new CultureInfo("ja-JP");



           // Display the current culture

           Console.WriteLine("Current Culture: " + CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name);

           Console.WriteLine("Current UI Culture: " + CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture.Name);



           // Display a date in the current culture format

           Console.WriteLine("Current Date: " + DateTime.Now.ToString("D"));

       }

   }

3. Formatting Numbers and Dates:
Using CultureInfo, you can format numbers and dates according to the conventions of a specific culture.

   using System;

   using System.Globalization;



   class Program

   {

       static void Main()

       {

           // Create a CultureInfo object for German (Germany)

           CultureInfo cultureInfo = new CultureInfo("de-DE");



           // Format a number

           double number = 12345.6789;

           string formattedNumber = number.ToString("N", cultureInfo);

           Console.WriteLine("Formatted Number: " + formattedNumber);



           // Format a date

           DateTime date = new DateTime(2023, 10, 5);

           string formattedDate = date.ToString("D", cultureInfo);

           Console.WriteLine("Formatted Date: " + formattedDate);

       }

   }