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title Quickstart: Localization and Formatting Helper with GitHub Copilot
titleSuffix MSSQL Extension for Visual Studio Code
description Learn how GitHub Copilot helps developers build globally aware applications by handling multilingual content and region-specific formatting in SQL database code.
author croblesm
ms.author roblescarlos
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 01/19/2026
ms.service sql
ms.subservice vs-code-sql-extensions
ms.topic quickstart
ms.collection
data-tools
ce-skilling-ai-copilot
ms.custom
ignite-2025
ai-usage ai-assisted

Quickstart: Localization and formatting helper

GitHub Copilot helps developers build globally aware applications by addressing localization and formatting needs directly within SQL and ORM-based workflows. Whether you're working with multilingual content, region-specific date and number formats, or collation settings for search and sorting, GitHub Copilot provides intelligent, context-aware assistance to make your database and code ready for international users.

Get started

[!INCLUDE get-started]

Handle localization and formatting with GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot can assist with localization and formatting tasks in SQL and ORM-based workflows. It can help you design schemas that support multilingual content, format queries for regional standards, and generate code that adheres to localization best practices.

Here are common use cases and examples of what you can ask via the chat participant:

Optimize multilingual and locale-specific data

Use GitHub Copilot to help with formatting queries for regional standards, choosing the right collation settings, and designing schema elements to support multilingual content, like storing product descriptions in multiple languages.

Store product descriptions in multiple languages

Design a localized table to store product descriptions for the `SalesLT.Product` table. Ensure the table supports multiple languages, includes a relationship to `SalesLT.Product`, and allows for efficient querying.

Display dates in another format

Format a query to display dates in Japanese format:

SELECT FORMAT(GETDATE(), 'yyyy/MM/dd') AS CurrentDate;

Recommend collation settings for multilingual user input

Recommend best practices for choosing collation settings when supporting multilingual user input and search functionality in SQL Server.

Create models and queries to support multiple languages

Write Prisma models and queries to store and retrieve multilingual product descriptions for the `SalesLT.Product` table in my database. Ensure the schema supports multiple languages, maintains a foreign key relationship with `SalesLT.Product`, and allows for efficient querying of localized descriptions.

Code-first localization scenarios

These examples show how GitHub Copilot supports code-first workflows by generating ORM models and queries that store and retrieve localized data. The examples span popular ORMs like Prisma, SQLAlchemy, Entity Framework, Sequelize, and Django.

Define Entity Framework Core model for multiple languages

Using Entity Framework Core, define a model for `ProductDescriptionLocalized` that maps to multiple languages and relates to `SalesLT.Product`. Include logic to filter by language code.

Generate a localized schema for product descriptions

In Prisma, generate a schema that supports localized descriptions for `SalesLT.Product`, and write a query to retrieve the description for a given product in Spanish (`es`).

Create a table for storing product descriptions with default fallback

With Sequelize, create a localized table for storing product descriptions with `ProductID`, `LanguageCode`, and `Description`. Write a query to return the Japanese description if available, otherwise fall back to the default language.

Retrieve localized product name and description based on locale

Using SQLAlchemy, write a function that retrieves the localized name and description for a given `ProductID` based on a user-specified locale, with fallback logic to default language.

Design models to support product localization with NULL fallback

In Django ORM, design models that support product localization and write a query to retrieve all products with their name and description in French (`fr`), including any missing translations as `NULL`.

Share your experience

[!INCLUDE copilot-feedback]

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