Dialog Resources

The Microsoft Dialog Editor is only capable of creating and editing dialog resources.  As a result, it creates dialog file scripts (.DLG), rather than a resource script file.  However, it is a simple task to edit the dialog file to create a Resource Script (.RC) file.  We'll discuss this step later in this tutorial.

To begin, bring up the dialog editor by clicking Start, Run, and then type DLGEDIT in the text box, or double-click the programs icon/filename in Windows Explorer.  DLGEDIT.EXE is shipped only with PB/Win, and is found in the PBWIN BIN folder.

Select "File | New" from the menu.  This will create a blank dialog window inside of the dialog editor.  Next, add some controls to the dialog.

Once the dialog design is complete, save the project.  At this point, you will notice that DLGEDIT prompts for the name of a .RES file.  Along with the .RES file that DLGEDIT saves, you'll find that it also saves a .DLG file with the same file name.

Note that the .RES file created by DLGEDIT.EXE is in 16-bit format, and is therefore not compatible with 32-bit PowerBASIC.  However, this .RES file should not be discarded as this file can be loaded back into the Dialog Editor to edit the dialog file at a later date.

The next step in this process is to create a .RC file from the .DLG file, so that we can create a .RES file that is compatible.

 

See Also

What is a Resource File?

Resource Editors

Resource Compiling

Resource Scripts