Code to read and write a res file with just cursors in it

Question

Does anyone have any code to read and write a res file with just cursors in the res file that they can share?

I have tried on multiple occasions over a multitude of days to get Colin Wilsons XN resource units to compile and function in Delphi 2009 without much success.

To get his code to compile I have had to replace PChar with PAnsiChar in a few places as well as use CharInSet. Non-the-less I am having a terrible time.

Delphi does not have a good modern resource editor so I am attempting to create one.

To start I was trying to just read a resfile containing only cursors and build a treeview with cursor groups and cursors. Once I get that working I'd like to be able to edit and save the res file... and to be able to add a cursor to the res file from a cursor file.

I think if I can just get his code to read and write I can accomplish this. I am willing to redistribute the source code.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

A resource file is simple to create. I'm not sure why you need a visual editor for it.

In MyCursor.rc:

MYCURSOR1 Cursor MyCursor.cur

In your Delphi project file or main form file:

{$R MyCursor.rc MyCursor.res}

In code:

const
  crMyCursor = 1;

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin
  Screen.Cursor[crMyCursor] := LoadImage(hInstance, 'MYCURSOR1', IMAGE_CURSOR,
                                         0, 0, LR_DEFAULTSIZE);
  Cursor := crMyCursor;
end;

No resource editor needed.

Once in a while, using the above $R compiler directive, you can get an error message related to an invalid 16-bit resource, even though you're sure it's not. You can resolve that by compiling the resource script yourself from the command line:

brcc32 MyCursor.rc MyCursor.res

Then change the line in your Delphi source to

{$R MyCursor.res}

The rest works the same exact way as the code above demonstrates.