PowerShell 2.0: One Cmdlet at a Time #106 Import-LocalizedData

Continuing the series looking at new cmdlets available in PowerShell 2.0. This time we look at the Import-LocalizedData cmdlet.

What can I do with it?

Enable text in scripts displayed to users to be presented in their own language. The cmdlet uses the automatic variable $PSUICulture to determine the language to use and alternate text is stored within .psd1 files in subdirectories of the folder that the script is stored.

Example:

In a script called RegionalTest.ps1 use the ConvertFrom-StringData cmdlet to create a series of text messages to display to the user. Import-LocalizedData will retrieve the value of the $PSUICulture automatic variable, get the contents of the RegionalTest.psd1 file in the es-ES directory (assume the user is Spanish) and store the data within the variable designated by the BindingVariable parameter. Then display the Welcome text.

$UserMessages = Data {
    # culture="en-US"
    ConvertFrom-StringData @'
    Welcome = Welcome to the application
    Error1 = You have entered an incorrect username
    Error2 = You have entered an incorrect password
'@
    }

Import-LocalizedData -BindingVariable $UserMessages

$UserMessages.Welcome

The contents of the RegionalTest.psd1 file for Spanish would look like (apologies for any bad translation!)

ConvertFrom-StringData @'
    Welcome = Recepción al uso
    Error1 = Usted ha incorporado un username incorrecto
    Error2 = Usted ha incorporado una contraseña incorrecta
'@

and be stored in the es-ES folder below C:\Scripts where RegionalTest.ps1 lives

When run on the Spanish user’s machine the Spanish text would be displayed rather than the original English.

How could I have done this in PowerShell 1.0?

Script Internationalisation features were introduced in PowerShell 2.0 and not supported in version 1.0 – more info here.

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