Introduction to the resource file interface in Resource Files

Resource files contain data in numbered resources. A resource file has the following format:

The resource file is generated from text input using the resource compiler. The index can be used to efficiently find a resource given its numeric id. There can be from 1 to 4095 resources in a resource file. Each resource contains binary data whose length is determined by subtracting the start position of the resource from the start of the next resource (or from the start of the index, for the last resource in the file).

Functions for handling resources in a resource file are encapsulated in the RResourceFile class. This class provides functions for

opening and closing the file
reading resources
support for using multiple resource files

Generally, the process for reading a resource is to read it into a buffer of sufficient length, analyse it piece by piece and put its data into C++ classes and then, if appropriate, release the buffer.

The TResourceReader class should be used to simplify the process of resource data analysis.