Culture

CultureAttribute is used to specify cultures for which a test or fixture should be run. It does not change the culture setting, but merely uses it to determine whether to run the test. If the specified culture requirements are not met, the test is skipped.

This attribute is useful for providing alternative tests under different cultures, or for skipping tests that are not applicable to certain cultures.

Constructors

CultureAttribute()
CultureAttribute(string cultures)

Parameter	Type	Description
`cultures`	`string`	A comma-delimited list of culture names to include. You may specify either specific cultures like `"en-GB"` or neutral cultures like `"de"`.

Properties

Property	Type	Description	Default
`Include`	`string`	Comma-delimited list of cultures on which the test should run.	`null`
`Exclude`	`string`	Comma-delimited list of cultures on which the test should not run.	`null`
`Reason`	`string`	The reason for including or excluding the test. Displayed when the test is skipped.	`null`

Applies To

Test Methods	Test Fixtures (Classes)	Assembly
✅	✅	✅

Examples

Including Specific Cultures

[TestFixture]
public class FrenchOnlyTests
{
    [Test]
    [Culture("fr-FR")]
    public void TestForFrenchCulture()
    {
        // This test only runs when current culture is fr-FR
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name, Is.EqualTo("fr-FR"));
    }

    [Test]
    [Culture("fr-FR,fr-CA")]
    public void TestForFrenchCultures()
    {
        // This test runs when current culture is fr-FR or fr-CA
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, Is.EqualTo("fr"));
    }

    [Test]
    [Culture("fr")]
    public void TestForAnyFrenchCulture()
    {
        // Using neutral culture matches any French variant (fr-FR, fr-CA, etc.)
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, Is.EqualTo("fr"));
    }
}

Excluding Cultures

[TestFixture]
public class ExcludeCultureTests
{
    [Test]
    [Culture(Exclude = "en")]
    public void TestExcludingEnglish()
    {
        // This test runs on any culture EXCEPT English variants
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, Is.Not.EqualTo("en"));
    }

    [Test]
    [Culture(Exclude = "en,de")]
    public void TestExcludingEnglishAndGerman()
    {
        // This test is skipped when culture is English or German
        var lang = CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName;
        Assert.That(lang, Is.Not.EqualTo("en").And.Not.EqualTo("de"));
    }
}

Applying to a Fixture

[TestFixture]
[Culture("en-US,en-GB")]
public class EnglishCultureTests
{
    [Test]
    public void Test1()
    {
        // All tests in this fixture only run on en-US or en-GB
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name,
            Is.EqualTo("en-US").Or.EqualTo("en-GB"));
    }

    [Test]
    public void Test2()
    {
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.TwoLetterISOLanguageName, Is.EqualTo("en"));
    }
}

Providing a Reason

[TestFixture]
public class CultureWithReasonTests
{
    [Test]
    [Culture(Include = "ja-JP", Reason = "This test uses Japanese-specific date formatting")]
    public void TestJapaneseDateFormat()
    {
        // The reason is shown when the test is skipped
        Assert.That(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture.Name, Is.EqualTo("ja-JP"));
    }
}

Notes

When specifying a neutral culture (e.g., "fr"), the test will run on any specific culture variant (e.g., fr-FR, fr-CA, fr-BE).
If both Include and Exclude are specified, Include is evaluated first.
This attribute does not change the culture. To change the culture for a test, use SetCulture or SetUICulture instead.
Tests that are skipped due to culture requirements appear as "Skipped" in test results with the reason displayed.