Using C++ Resource Files with Eclipse

Using a resource file in Eclipse is possible. While writing a blog about how to develop Windows programs using Eclipse and C++ I ran into a problem that I needed a tool for, namely to quote C++ code in the blog. So, I wrote a little program in C++ using the techniques I was discussing, but later I decided it would be an ideal project to rewrite using a resource file (.rc). There are a few things you have to do to get it to work.

First, Eclipse doesn’t provide the slick resource file editor that you find in Visual C++. This means that to edit the .rc file you will need to use a text editor. This isn’t particularly hard to do, but I did find myself questioning whether I was gaining anything by using the resource file over just making the calls I needed in the C++ code. One thing that I can say that I don’t like is that you must use #define in the header file rather than defining constants with static const or as an enum.

Second, the .rc file has to be compiled using a special compiler and then you have to link to the .o that is generated. In order to prevent yourself from having to remember to do that each time you modify the .rc file, you must create a pre-build step. Even then, changes to the .rc file won’t compile and link unless you’ve mode changes to the C++ source code.

As with the other blog post, you can download the Eclipse project for this program. It isn’t cleaned up, but it should provide you with an example of how to compile a resource file using Eclipse and MinGW. The command to run the winres must be supplied to Eclipse via the settings window of the C/C++ Build properties.

This command is:

c:\mingw\bin\windres.exe --include-dir="${ProjDirPath}" --input="${ProjDirPath}/res.rc" --output="${ProjDirPath}/res.o" --define RESLOC="${ProjDirPath}/resources.h"

Notice that I provide the project directory path for both the input and the output. For some reason, MinGW doesn’t seem to recognize –include-dir, but I populate it anyway. I also define a macro RESLOC. You will see this used within the .rc file where we include resources.h, since winres can’t find the local directory on its path.

#define Q(x) #x
#define QUOTE(x) Q(x)
#include QUOTE(RESLOC)

#define APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS
#include "windows.h"
#undef APSTUDIO_HIDDEN_SYMBOLS

The rest is pretty much the same as you would expect for a resource file and in many cases you can copy on that has been created with Visual Studio, if you don’t want to edit it by hand.

The Eclipse Project is located at: http://www.timothyfish.com/Examples/Windows4Eclipse/BlogCodeFormat.zip

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: WestBow Press

Image
T oday, I’m writing a book review unlike any I have written before. Actually, I’m going to I’m reviewing two books and I haven’t read either one. As you may recall, some time ago, Thomas Nelson announced that they were entering the vanity press market, using the imprint WestBow Press. The first books out of that arrangement are making their way down the pipeline, two of which you can see here. The first thing I noticed when they arrived was the size of the box. I arrived home and saw the box sitting on my front step. My first thought was that they had only shipped on of them. The box is the same sized box Amazon.com uses to ship individual copies of my novels. I opened it up and found both novels stacked neatly, one on top of the other. Both books have the dimensions 6” x 9”, a fairly standard size for non-traditionally published books. Publishing a book with that dimension simplifies the process when a book will be published both as a paperback and a hardback. One of the books is p
Read more

Is Tate Publishing a Scam?

Image
T oday, I want to take one more look at Tate Publishing and Enterprises LLC. In case you missed Tuesday’s post, Tate Publishing is a subsidy press that focuses on unpublished authors. They charge a $3,990 publicist setup fee, but they do appear to have sufficient staff to justify their claim that they have allocated $27,000 for each book. Today, I want to look less at promises and more at results. In the interest of showing rather than telling, take a look at the video below: One of the services that Tate Publishing provides is that they create fifteen second spots like the one above and run them on cable networks. They promise 80,000 impressions. Or to state it another way, they promise that 80,000 people will see that commercial. Someone from Tate Publishing is welcome to correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe they charge an additional fee for these commercials. The way I would expect this to play out is that each commercial will air one time with about 80,000 people watching. T
Read more

Review: Raider Publishing

Image
A few weeks ago, I received a request from someone who had come across the popular Review: Westbow Press post. This reader requested that I look at Raider Publishing . After asking this reader a few questions via e-mail, I learned that she had used them to publish a book and was disgruntled with them. One of her complaints was that Adam Salviani was not responding to her e-mail and he was “unavailable” when she called his office in New York. This was brought on by her concern because she had not received an advance copy of her book and found that it had been published without her being informed. In her e-mail, she stated that she had been in contact with other customers and they had received the same treatment. I did what I normally do when I receive a request like this concerning a company I don’t recognize. I looked for as much third-party information as I could find on the web. Interestingly, I did that search before I realized she was disgruntled and I found relatively little to
Read more