# Culture

> Format currency values and long dates for a country with the culture merge setting: language culture names such as de-DE, numeric format C, curl and .NET.

- **Product:** ReportingCloud
- **Section:** Documentation
- **Kind:** Topic
- **Path:** ReportingCloud > Mail Merge > Culture
- **1727 words**
- **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/culture/
- **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/culture/llms.txt
- **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/culture/llms-full.txt

---

Currency symbols and the names of days and months depend on the country and language a document is written for. ReportingCloud formats date and currency values by a culture that each merge request can set, so one template creates invoices in dollars for the United States and in euros for Germany. The culture is the `culture` property of the merge settings, and the template only says which fields are currency or date values.

The format of a field is set in the template, as [Merge Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/fields/#format-values) shows, and the culture is one of the options that [Merge Settings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/settings/llms-full.txt) lists.

### What the Culture Changes

`culture` is a string property of the `mergeSettings` object. It specifies the culture of the merge for date and currency values:

- **Currency.** A merge field formatted as currency shows the currency symbol of the culture: the euro sign (€) with `"de-DE"`, the dollar sign ($) with `"en-US"`.
- **Long date formats.** Date formats that spell out the names of days and months show them in the language of the culture.
- **Numbers in the data.** The data is read in the culture as well: with `"de-DE"`, a value such as `"1234.5"` isn't read as a number and is merged as it stands.
- **Default.** Without `culture`, the merge uses `"en-US"`, English for the United States.

The value is a language culture name, mostly a language code and a country or region code joined by a hyphen, such as `"fr-FR"` for French in France or `"de-DE"` for German in Germany.

### Format a Field as Currency

The culture only affects fields that are formatted as currency or date values in the template. The sample template has a table with a merge block named `items`, whose row holds the merge fields `id` and `price`:

![Table of a sample gallery template with the columns Id and Price and a merge block row, highlighted in red, with the fields «id» and «price»](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/price-merge-field.969d3589.webp)

To format `price` as currency in the template editor, open the **Merge Field Options** dialog of the field, check **Numeric format** and type `C`:

![Merge Field Options dialog of the field price with Numeric format checked and the format C entered](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/merge-field-numeric-format.03b2c883.webp)

The format belongs to the field and stays the same for every culture. Which currency symbol it produces is decided by the culture of the request.

### Merge With a Culture

The following body merges two prices into the template and sets the culture to German in Germany. Save it as *merge.json*:

```json
{
  "mergeData": [
    {
      "items": [
        { "id": 1, "price": 12.5 },
        { "id": 2, "price": 1250 }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "mergeSettings": { "culture": "de-DE" }
}
```

Then send it to [POST /v1/document/merge](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/reference/web-api/document/merge/post/llms-full.txt) with the template, saved in the template storage as *price\_list.tx*:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.reporting.cloud/v1/document/merge?templateName=price_list.tx&returnFormat=PDF" \
  -H "Authorization: ReportingCloud-APIKey $REPORTINGCLOUD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data-binary @merge.json \
  -o result.json

jq -r '.[0]' result.json | base64 -d > prices.pdf
```

The prices in *prices.pdf* carry the euro sign. Send the same body with `"en-US"`, or without `culture`, and they carry the dollar sign.

With the .NET SDK, the package `TXTextControl.ReportingCloud`, the culture is the `Culture` property of `MergeSettings`:

```csharp
using TXTextControl.ReportingCloud;

ReportingCloud rc = new ReportingCloud(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("REPORTINGCLOUD_API_KEY"));

MergeBody mergeBody = new MergeBody
{
    MergeData = new[] { new { items = new[] { new { id = 1, price = 12.5 } } } },
    // A string here; the .NET Framework build of the package takes a CultureInfo
    MergeSettings = new MergeSettings { Culture = "de-DE" }
};

List<byte[]> documents = rc.MergeDocument(mergeBody, "price_list.tx", ReturnFormat.PDF);
File.WriteAllBytes("prices.pdf", documents[0]);
```

In the PHP SDK, the culture is the key `culture` of the merge settings array. The Java and Ruby SDKs have no culture setting, as [Merge Settings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/settings/#set-merge-settings-in-the-sdks) lists.

### Show Dates in the Language of the Culture

Long date formats contain the names of days and months. The **Date Field Options** dialog of the template editor lists such formats, for example `dddd, d. MMMM yyyy`, which the dialog shows as "Friday, 13. October 2017":

![Date Field Options dialog with the format dddd, d. MMMM yyyy selected, shown as Friday, 13. October 2017, above a list of long and short date formats](https://docs.textcontrol.com/assets/img/reporting-cloud/date-field-options.2f5aaf11.webp)

With a culture set in the request, these names appear in its language: the culture `"de-DE"` gives German names of days and months.

### Choose a Culture Name

The culture must be one of the language culture names in Microsoft's [Table of Language Culture Names, Codes, and ISO Values](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/commerce-server/ee825488(v=cs.20)), the list Text Control gives for this setting. Its first column holds the names, for example:

| Culture name | Language and country or region |
|---|---|
| `en-US` | English, United States (the default) |
| `en-GB` | English, United Kingdom |
| `de-DE` | German, Germany |
| `de-AT` | German, Austria |
| `de-CH` | German, Switzerland |
| `fr-FR` | French, France |
| `fr-CA` | French, Canada |
| `es-ES` | Spanish, Spain |
| `it-IT` | Italian, Italy |
| `nl-NL` | Dutch, the Netherlands |

The PHP SDK checks the value against the same table and rejects a culture name that isn't in it.

### Next Steps

- [Merge Fields](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/fields/llms-full.txt): the numeric and date formats of a merge field.
- [Merge Settings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/settings/llms-full.txt): `culture` and the other options of the merge.
- [Templates and Merging](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/troubleshooting/mail-merge/llms-full.txt): what to check when dates or currencies have the wrong format.

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## Nearby

- **Previous:** [Merge Settings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/settings/llms-full.txt)
- **Next:** [Template Design](https://docs.textcontrol.com/reporting-cloud/mail-merge/template-design/llms-full.txt)