Ranorex winforms localization issues

Question

I'm trying to write a common test module for a localized application.

1. The first issue I'm having is the fact that MenuItems do not support controlname attributes. Currently my menu items are located via text or accessiblename attribute. Is there a way to support controlname attribute?
2. I've tried to make text and accessiblename attribute point to a variable and then bind the variable to some external dictionary. As I understand the external data sources are treated as rows which contain various data items for a single variable. I don't see a way to use external data sources that treat first column as variable name and second column as variable value. Is there a way to achieve such functionality?
3. I've thought about a way to extend RanorexXPath to accept functions. Then I could write something like ...menuitem[text=localizationService.Translate("#ADMINISTRATION") and have Ranorex find the menu item based on the result of localizationService.Translate function. Is there a way to do this?
4. Finally I've somewhat managed to get the result I need by using global variables and module variables. What I did was create a module that uses localizationService to fill module variables with correct data. Next I bind the module variables to global parameters and use the data in subsequent test. This is quite error prone and difficult to implement for large number of variables. Is there a way to access and set global variables directly from code (without the need to use binding)?

If any of the 4. points is possible please let me know.

Answer 1

The recomendation from Ranorex support team:

In general only the whole menu is a control in WinForms. The elements within that control (MenuItems) can only be recognized via MSAA. The problem is that the "Name" attribute of the MenuItems is not accessible. As workaround I would suggest to use the attribute "AccessibleDescription" in your application in order to automate the menu. This attribute can also be used for language independent names.