Abstract: Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for supporting globalization in user interface automation. A resource key is provided that contains at least three data elements. A resource type data element contains data representing a resource type, a resource location data element contains data representing a location to a resource file, and a resource identifier data element contains data-representing a resource identifier. During a resource file extraction operation, the resource location data element is used to locate the resource file, and the resource type data element and the resource identifier data element are used to locate a resource within the resource file that matches the resource type and the resource identifier. A process is provided for resolving a full path name to a resource file. A process is provided for performing a post-extraction action on an extracted resource string.