Win32 RC Files

Win32 Files (RC/EXE/DLL)

The following Win32 file types can be localized/translated with RC-WinTrans:

FILE EXTENSION	DESCRIPTION
RC, RC2, DLG	Windows resource script files.
EXE	Executable program.
DLL	Windows Dynamic Link Library.
OCX	ActiveX control component (application file).
PROPERTIES	Java properties files.
SHL	InstallShield stringtable files.
INI	Windows INI files.

Win32 RC files are read and written by RC-WinTrans as ANSI files, i.e., each character is represented as one byte in the file. To support alphabets other than the standard ASCII set, RC-WinTrans automatically computes the code page number that refers to the language of the target file.

The symbol for an RC file in the RC-WinTrans' Projects Overview tab is similar to the one known from Microsoft Visual Studio. The main resources are grouped as shown in the figure below.

Figure: Tree view display of a Win32 RC file in RC-WinTrans' Projects Overview tab.

NOTES:

1.	When developing/creating RC files it is recommended that each item be given a unique ID within its local context (not using IDC_STATIC or -1, for example). This is particularly important for later use of translations after the source Win32 RC file has changed. RC-WinTrans does handle non-unique items during changes made to a source file, but a loss of data that has already been translated is possible if RC-WinTrans cannot identify an item as unique.
2.	RC-WinTrans supports the localization of ActiveX controls (binary DLGINIT property data) embedded in dialog box resources.
3.	RC-WinTrans supports the localization of single-language Win32 RC and EXE/DLL files only. This means that an RC or EXE/DLL file should contain the resources of one language only. "Neutral" resources (resources that do not belong to a language ID) may be included.
4.	(RC-WinTrans) VBA developers: The RC file converter is implemented (coded) as a standard COM object and is controlled by RC-WinTrans using VBA (macros file: "SystemMacros"; module: "ConvRC").