customErrors and multi-language support

[lilOlMe]

Hi there!

I'm developing a VB.NET web application.
If there is a server error the user is directed to a generic error page stating that the system's down and they need to contact us.

(For instance ASP.NET validates input data and screens it for possible <script> tags..if any are found a server error is thrown and the user is directed to this generic page)

This redirection is done through the web.config:

<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="Errors/CustomError.htm">

My website supports 3 different languages and I was wondering if there was a way to redirect the user to the appropriate htm page according to their language using the web.config file.

Thanks!

-LilOlMe

[nateraaaa]

Hi there!

I'm developing a VB.NET web application.
If there is a server error the user is directed to a generic error page stating that the system's down and they need to contact us.

(For instance ASP.NET validates input data and screens it for possible <script> tags..if any are found a server error is thrown and the user is directed to this generic page)

This redirection is done through the web.config:

<customErrors mode="On" defaultRedirect="Errors/CustomError.htm">

My website supports 3 different languages and I was wondering if there was a way to redirect the user to the appropriate htm page according to their language using the web.config file.

Thanks!

-LilOlMe

You could use the CultureInfo object to get the culture from the user's browser. Then you could create a case statement to select the appropriate htm file to display to the user.

Try something like this.

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Globalization
 
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo(Request.UserLanguages(0))
 
Select Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture
    Case "Japanese"
      Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsJapanese.htm)
    Case "French"
        Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsFrench.htm)
    Case"German"
      Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsGermanhtm)
    Case Else
        Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsEnglish.htm)    
End Select

You could change the names specified in your Response.Redirect statement to web.config values.

Web.Config
<add key="EnglishUrl" value="http://www.abc.com/CustomErrorsEnglish.htm" />

Response.Redirect(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["EnglishUrl"].ToString())

Hope this helps

Nathan

[lilOlMe]

Thank you for your reply Nathan.
It was very informative.

My problem is that my code never does the Response.Redirect.
Its handled by the Web Server automatically...the web server encounters the error, looks at the web.config file and redirects the user without ever getting to my code.

I can't see how this can help me, unless you know something I don't.

-LilOlMe

You could use the CultureInfo object to get the culture from the user's browser. Then you could create a case statement to select the appropriate htm file to display to the user.

Try something like this.

Imports System.Threading
Imports System.Globalization
 
Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture = new CultureInfo(Request.UserLanguages(0))
 
Select Thread.CurrentThread.CurrentCulture
    Case "Japanese"
      Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsJapanese.htm)
    Case "French"
        Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsFrench.htm)
    Case"German"
      Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsGermanhtm)
    Case Else
        Response.Redirect(CustomErrorsEnglish.htm)    
End Select

You could change the names specified in your Response.Redirect statement to web.config values.

Web.Config
<add key="EnglishUrl" value="http://www.abc.com/CustomErrorsEnglish.htm" />

Response.Redirect(ConfigurationSettings.AppSettings["EnglishUrl"].ToString())

Hope this helps

Nathan

[nateraaaa]

You can control where the server displays the error using try catch blocks in your code. If you apply error handling to your code you can control what is shown to the user when an error occurs. I recommend debugging to find where an error occurs then placing a try catch block around your code that fails.

try
{
your code here
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
place the code to redirect the user to a specific error page here. Make sure any variable are declared above your try block so that you can access them in your catch block.
}

Nathan

[Frinavale]

Just add an aspx file to your project and have your web.config redirect you there. The aspx page doesn't even have to show anything at all...just redirects the user to the appropriate html page depending on their language.