C# – Why can’t I use resources as ErrorMessage with DataAnnotations

Here is my solution. I've added resourceName and resourceType properties to attribute, like microsoft has done in DataAnnotations.

public class CustomAttribute : Attribute
{

    public CustomAttribute(Type resourceType, string resourceName)
    {
            Message = ResourceHelper.GetResourceLookup(resourceType, resourceName);
    }

    public string Message { get; set; }
}

public class ResourceHelper
{
    public static  string GetResourceLookup(Type resourceType, string resourceName)
    {
        if ((resourceType != null) && (resourceName != null))
        {
            PropertyInfo property = resourceType.GetProperty(resourceName, BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.Static);
            if (property == null)
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("Resource Type Does Not Have Property"));
            }
            if (property.PropertyType != typeof(string))
            {
                throw new InvalidOperationException(string.Format("Resource Property is Not String Type"));
            }
            return (string)property.GetValue(null, null);
        }
        return null; 
    }
}

If you use MVC 3 and .NET 4, you can use the new Display attribute in the System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations namespace. This attribute replaces the DisplayName attribute and provides much more functionality, including localization support.

In your case, you would use it like this:

public class MyModel
{
    [Required]
    [Display(Name = "labelForName", ResourceType = typeof(Resources.Resources))]
    public string name{ get; set; }
}

As a side note, this attribute will not work with resources inside App_GlobalResources or App_LocalResources. This has to do with the custom tool (GlobalResourceProxyGenerator) these resources use. Instead make sure your resource file is set to 'Embedded resource' and use the 'ResXFileCodeGenerator' custom tool.

(As a further side note, you shouldn't be using App_GlobalResources or App_LocalResources with MVC. You can read more about why this is the case here)