Locale, Number, and Date Formatting Hierarchy
This page shows all the places you can control locale, date formatting, and number formatting in Fluent, and how those settings work together.
Order of settings (from broadest to most specific)
Formatting starts with broad defaults and becomes more specific as you move down:
- System locale
- Fluent global report settings (for example
report.locale) - Template-wide locale settings
- Tag-level settings (for example Out/Date/Number tag properties)
If more than one level is set, the more specific level usually wins.
Where each setting is configured
| Level | What it affects | Where to set it | Related docs |
|---|---|---|---|
| System locale (OS) | The default language and regional format used by the machine running Fluent; used as the default when report.locale isn’t set. | Your operating system regional settings. | .NET: report.locale (defaults to system locale), Java: report.locale (defaults to system locale) |
Fluent global configuration (report.locale) | The default locale Fluent uses when generating reports (including number/date formatting defaults). | Engine config files and/or API settings. | .NET engine config reference, Java engine properties reference, RESTful engine properties |
| Template-wide settings | Locale behavior for a specific template in Designer. | Fluent Designer Options locale setting. | Fluent Designer Ribbon UI Reference (Options), How Do I Format a Date in a Different Language? |
| Tag-level settings | Exact formatting for a specific value in a specific tag. | Tag properties (especially Out/Date/Number tags). | Out Tag Reference, Date Tag Reference, Number Tag Reference, How Do I Format Dates and Numbers With an Out Tag? |
Quick guidance
- Set system locale and
report.localefor broad defaults. - Set template locale when one template should behave differently.
- Set tag properties when one value needs a specific format (for example currency or a custom date format).