Resource (Windows)

<h2 id="types">Types</h2>
<p>Each resource has a type and a name, both being either numeric identifiers or strings.
</p><p>Windows has a set of predefined resource types:
</p>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Cursor_(user_interface)/bGhgwPSq">Cursor</a> and animated cursor</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Icon_(computing)/habCR8KJ">Icon</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Bitmap/Fr80ySnT">Bitmap</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Dialog_box/VgWHgrE2">Dialog box</a> template</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Typeface/It41hIjl">Font</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/HTML/sSc3fT78">HTML</a> document</li>
<li><a href="/facts/String_(computer_science)/4ChJu5WS">String</a> and message template</li>
<li>Version data</li>
<li>Manifest data</li>
<li>arbitrary (binary) data</li></ul>
<p>The programmer can also define custom data types.
</p>
<h2 id="usage">Usage</h2>
<p>The icon that Windows displays for an executable program file is the first icon resource in the file. If the file has no icon resources, a standard icon is displayed.
</p><p><a href="/facts/File_Explorer/oQW5yNnJ">File Explorer</a> displays aspects of file's version resource in the <i>Version</i> tab of a file's properties.
</p><p>To support <a href="/facts/Internationalization_and_localization/IGkl9VBM">internationalization and localization</a> a resource is associated with a <a href="/facts/Natural_language/B4gLS7Kd">natural language</a>. An application can be internationalized by associating the same identifier to resources that have the same content but localized for different languages. Via <a href="/facts/Multilingual_User_Interface/erJyvf8H">Multilingual User Interface</a>, Windows can be set up to use the resource for a selected language.
</p><p>Editors such as <a href="/facts/Resource_Hacker/A4T0yNK9">Resource Hacker</a> or Resource Tuner are available that can modify resources embedded in EXE or DLL files. These are typically used to translate all strings of an application to another language, or to modify its icons and bitmaps accordingly.
</p>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc194804.aspx">MSDN: Windows Resource Files Guide</a></li>
<li><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa380599%28v=vs.85%29.aspx">MSDN: Better Resource File Guide with reference</a></li></ul>

The Wikibook <i>Windows Programming</i> has a page on the topic of: <i>Resource Script Reference</i>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"About Resource Files". Microsoft. Retrieved 24 Feb 2014. <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa380599.aspx" target="_blank">https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa380599.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Resource Types". Microsoft. Retrieved 24 Feb 2014. <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms648009.aspx" target="_blank">https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms648009.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Windows Resource Files". Microsoft. Retrieved 24 Feb 2014. <a href="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc194804.aspx" target="_blank">https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc194804.aspx</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Resource (Windows) open-in-new

Resource (Windows)