---
title: SAIF.Resources architecture
summary: Architectural responsibilities, boundaries, and interaction patterns for SAIF.Resources.
status: draft
owner: SAIF Doc Gen
last_reviewed: 2026-07-24
library: SAIF.Resources
reference_type: package
---

# SAIF.Resources architecture

`SAIF.Resources` is a passive shared resource layer that centralizes localized strings, text-template loading, token replacement, and a small reflection-based mapping helper for downstream SAIF applications.

## Responsibilities
- Provide strongly typed resource accessors for generated `.resx` files across application, business, common, service, and UI groupings.
- Provide two resource-loading strategies: filesystem-backed and assembly-embedded.
- Apply a consistent culture fallback chain and token parsing model across resource loaders.
- Publish supported-language metadata backed by localized resource strings.
- Bundle static content assets that downstream applications can consume alongside string resources.

## Component boundaries
- `clsResourceManager`: owns text state, token parsing, token lookup, and token replacement.
- `clsFileResourceManager`: resolves templates from a configured directory path.
- `clsAssemblyResourceManager`: resolves templates from an assembly manifest resource stream.
- `mdlLanguages` and `clsLanguage`: expose supported-language constants and localized descriptions.
- `ResourceViewModelMapper`: copies matching public properties between instantiated types and can emit VB property declarations.
- Generated resource classes: expose localized string keys through strongly typed `String` properties.

## Interaction model
Consumers load a template through `clsFileResourceManager` or `clsAssemblyResourceManager`, let the shared base class tokenize the content, and then replace named tokens before using the rendered text. Other consumers call generated resource classes directly for localized strings, use `mdlLanguages.SupportedLanguages` for language metadata, or call `ResourceViewModelMapper` to project string properties onto another type.

## Architecture diagram
The following diagram shows high-level component interactions.

```mermaid
flowchart TD
    Consumer[Consuming SAIF application code] --> FileMgr[clsFileResourceManager]
    Consumer --> AssemblyMgr[clsAssemblyResourceManager]
    FileMgr --> BaseMgr[clsResourceManager]
    AssemblyMgr --> BaseMgr
    FileMgr --> Disk[Filesystem templates]
    AssemblyMgr --> Manifest[Embedded manifest resources]
    Consumer --> ResClasses[Generated resource classes]
    ResClasses --> Resx[.resx resource sets]
    Consumer --> Lang[mdlLanguages / clsLanguage]
    Lang --> CommonUI[Common_UI resources]
    Consumer --> Mapper[ResourceViewModelMapper]
```

## Sequence diagram
The following diagram shows the primary request and replacement sequence.

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
    participant Caller
    participant Loader as clsFileResourceManager/clsAssemblyResourceManager
    participant Base as clsResourceManager
    Caller->>Loader: LoadResource(name, extension, culture)
    Loader->>Loader: Resolve exact culture resource
    alt Exact culture not found
        Loader->>Loader: Retry with two-letter culture
        Loader->>Loader: Retry without culture suffix
    end
    Loader->>Base: Initialize(text)
    Base->>Base: LoadTokens()
    Caller->>Base: ReplaceToken(tokenName, replacement)
    Base-->>Caller: ReplacedText
```

## Design constraints
- The project has no `ProjectReference` dependencies and relies on .NET Framework BCL APIs plus generated resource classes.
- The culture fallback chain is implemented inside the two concrete resource managers rather than in a separate strategy abstraction.
- `ResourceViewModelMapper` only copies properties when both the name and the property type match.
- The library performs no database access, service calls, or authorization checks in its own code.

## Related documentation
- [Index](index.md)
- [Overview](overview.md)
- [Dependencies](dependencies.md)
- [Operations and processes](operations-processes.md)
- [Business rules](business-rules.md)
- [API reference](api/index.md)

## Sources
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\SAIF.BOF.ResourceFiles.vbproj`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\clsResourceManager.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\clsFileResourceManager.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\clsAssemblyResourceManager.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\clsLanguage.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\mdlLanguages.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\Mappings\ResourceViewModelMapper.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\Common\Common_UI.Designer.vb`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\Resources\core.js`
- `Resources\SAIF.Resources\Resources\user_registrationverification_es.html`