Windows resource file: Java parsing library

Windows resource file (.res) are binary bundles of "resources". Resource has some sort of ID (numerical or string), type (predefined or user-defined), and raw value. Resource files can be seen standalone (as .res file), or embedded inside PE executable (.exe, .dll) files.

Typical use cases include:

  • providing information about the application (such as title, copyrights, etc)
  • embedding icon(s) to be displayed in file managers into .exe
  • adding non-code data into the binary, such as menus, dialog forms, cursor images, fonts, various misc bitmaps, and locale-aware strings

Windows provides special API to access "resources" from a binary.

Normally, resources files are created with rc compiler: it takes a .rc file (so called "resource-definition script") + all the raw resource binary files for input, and outputs .res file. That .res file can be linked into an .exe / .dll afterwards using a linker.

Internally, resource file is just a sequence of individual resource definitions. RC tool ensures that first resource (#0) is always empty.

File extension

res

KS implementation details

License: CC0-1.0

References

This page hosts a formal specification of Windows resource file using Kaitai Struct. This specification can be automatically translated into a variety of programming languages to get a parsing library.

Usage

Runtime library

All parsing code for Java generated by Kaitai Struct depends on the Java runtime library. You have to install it before you can parse data.

The Java runtime library is published in the Maven Central Repository. Refer to the artifact page for instructions how to add it into your project with the build tool that you use.

Code

Parse a local file and get structure in memory:

WindowsResourceFile data = WindowsResourceFile.fromFile("path/to/local/file.res");

Or parse structure from a byte array:

byte[] someArray = new byte[] { ... };
WindowsResourceFile data = new WindowsResourceFile(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(someArray));

After that, one can get various attributes from the structure by invoking getter methods like:

data.resources() // => get resources

Java source code to parse Windows resource file

WindowsResourceFile.java

// This is a generated file! Please edit source .ksy file and use kaitai-struct-compiler to rebuild

import io.kaitai.struct.ByteBufferKaitaiStream;
import io.kaitai.struct.KaitaiStruct;
import io.kaitai.struct.KaitaiStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;


/**
 * Windows resource file (.res) are binary bundles of
 * "resources". Resource has some sort of ID (numerical or string),
 * type (predefined or user-defined), and raw value. Resource files can
 * be seen standalone (as .res file), or embedded inside PE executable
 * (.exe, .dll) files.
 * 
 * Typical use cases include:
 * 
 * * providing information about the application (such as title, copyrights, etc)
 * * embedding icon(s) to be displayed in file managers into .exe
 * * adding non-code data into the binary, such as menus, dialog forms,
 *   cursor images, fonts, various misc bitmaps, and locale-aware
 *   strings
 * 
 * Windows provides special API to access "resources" from a binary.
 * 
 * Normally, resources files are created with `rc` compiler: it takes a
 * .rc file (so called "resource-definition script") + all the raw
 * resource binary files for input, and outputs .res file. That .res
 * file can be linked into an .exe / .dll afterwards using a linker.
 * 
 * Internally, resource file is just a sequence of individual resource
 * definitions. RC tool ensures that first resource (#0) is always
 * empty.
 */
public class WindowsResourceFile extends KaitaiStruct {
    public static WindowsResourceFile fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
        return new WindowsResourceFile(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
    }

    public WindowsResourceFile(KaitaiStream _io) {
        this(_io, null, null);
    }

    public WindowsResourceFile(KaitaiStream _io, KaitaiStruct _parent) {
        this(_io, _parent, null);
    }

    public WindowsResourceFile(KaitaiStream _io, KaitaiStruct _parent, WindowsResourceFile _root) {
        super(_io);
        this._parent = _parent;
        this._root = _root == null ? this : _root;
        _read();
    }
    private void _read() {
        this.resources = new ArrayList<Resource>();
        {
            int i = 0;
            while (!this._io.isEof()) {
                this.resources.add(new Resource(this._io, this, _root));
                i++;
            }
        }
    }

    /**
     * Each resource has a `type` and a `name`, which can be used to
     * identify it, and a `value`. Both `type` and `name` can be a
     * number or a string.
     * @see <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/menurc/resourceheader">Source</a>
     */
    public static class Resource extends KaitaiStruct {
        public static Resource fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
            return new Resource(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
        }

        public enum PredefTypes {
            CURSOR(1),
            BITMAP(2),
            ICON(3),
            MENU(4),
            DIALOG(5),
            STRING(6),
            FONTDIR(7),
            FONT(8),
            ACCELERATOR(9),
            RCDATA(10),
            MESSAGETABLE(11),
            GROUP_CURSOR(12),
            GROUP_ICON(14),
            VERSION(16),
            DLGINCLUDE(17),
            PLUGPLAY(19),
            VXD(20),
            ANICURSOR(21),
            ANIICON(22),
            HTML(23),
            MANIFEST(24);

            private final long id;
            PredefTypes(long id) { this.id = id; }
            public long id() { return id; }
            private static final Map<Long, PredefTypes> byId = new HashMap<Long, PredefTypes>(21);
            static {
                for (PredefTypes e : PredefTypes.values())
                    byId.put(e.id(), e);
            }
            public static PredefTypes byId(long id) { return byId.get(id); }
        }

        public Resource(KaitaiStream _io) {
            this(_io, null, null);
        }

        public Resource(KaitaiStream _io, WindowsResourceFile _parent) {
            this(_io, _parent, null);
        }

        public Resource(KaitaiStream _io, WindowsResourceFile _parent, WindowsResourceFile _root) {
            super(_io);
            this._parent = _parent;
            this._root = _root;
            _read();
        }
        private void _read() {
            this.valueSize = this._io.readU4le();
            this.headerSize = this._io.readU4le();
            this.type = new UnicodeOrId(this._io, this, _root);
            this.name = new UnicodeOrId(this._io, this, _root);
            this.padding1 = this._io.readBytes(KaitaiStream.mod((4 - _io().pos()), 4));
            this.formatVersion = this._io.readU4le();
            this.flags = this._io.readU2le();
            this.language = this._io.readU2le();
            this.valueVersion = this._io.readU4le();
            this.characteristics = this._io.readU4le();
            this.value = this._io.readBytes(valueSize());
            this.padding2 = this._io.readBytes(KaitaiStream.mod((4 - _io().pos()), 4));
        }
        private PredefTypes typeAsPredef;

        /**
         * Numeric type IDs in range of [0..0xff] are reserved for
         * system usage in Windows, and there are some predefined,
         * well-known values in that range. This instance allows to get
         * it as enum value, if applicable.
         */
        public PredefTypes typeAsPredef() {
            if (this.typeAsPredef != null)
                return this.typeAsPredef;
            if ( ((!(type().isString())) && (type().asNumeric() <= 255)) ) {
                this.typeAsPredef = PredefTypes.byId(type().asNumeric());
            }
            return this.typeAsPredef;
        }
        private long valueSize;
        private long headerSize;
        private UnicodeOrId type;
        private UnicodeOrId name;
        private byte[] padding1;
        private long formatVersion;
        private int flags;
        private int language;
        private long valueVersion;
        private long characteristics;
        private byte[] value;
        private byte[] padding2;
        private WindowsResourceFile _root;
        private WindowsResourceFile _parent;

        /**
         * Size of resource value that follows the header
         */
        public long valueSize() { return valueSize; }

        /**
         * Size of this header (i.e. every field except `value` and an
         * optional padding after it)
         */
        public long headerSize() { return headerSize; }
        public UnicodeOrId type() { return type; }
        public UnicodeOrId name() { return name; }
        public byte[] padding1() { return padding1; }
        public long formatVersion() { return formatVersion; }
        public int flags() { return flags; }
        public int language() { return language; }

        /**
         * Version for value, as specified by a user.
         */
        public long valueVersion() { return valueVersion; }

        /**
         * Extra 4 bytes that can be used by user for any purpose.
         */
        public long characteristics() { return characteristics; }
        public byte[] value() { return value; }
        public byte[] padding2() { return padding2; }
        public WindowsResourceFile _root() { return _root; }
        public WindowsResourceFile _parent() { return _parent; }
    }

    /**
     * Resources use a special serialization of names and types: they
     * can be either a number or a string.
     * 
     * Use `is_string` to check which kind we've got here, and then use
     * `as_numeric` or `as_string` to get relevant value.
     */
    public static class UnicodeOrId extends KaitaiStruct {
        public static UnicodeOrId fromFile(String fileName) throws IOException {
            return new UnicodeOrId(new ByteBufferKaitaiStream(fileName));
        }

        public UnicodeOrId(KaitaiStream _io) {
            this(_io, null, null);
        }

        public UnicodeOrId(KaitaiStream _io, WindowsResourceFile.Resource _parent) {
            this(_io, _parent, null);
        }

        public UnicodeOrId(KaitaiStream _io, WindowsResourceFile.Resource _parent, WindowsResourceFile _root) {
            super(_io);
            this._parent = _parent;
            this._root = _root;
            _read();
        }
        private void _read() {
            if (savePos1() >= 0) {
                this.first = this._io.readU2le();
            }
            if (!(isString())) {
                this.asNumeric = this._io.readU2le();
            }
            if (isString()) {
                this.rest = new ArrayList<Integer>();
                {
                    int _it;
                    int i = 0;
                    do {
                        _it = this._io.readU2le();
                        this.rest.add(_it);
                        i++;
                    } while (!(_it == 0));
                }
            }
            if ( ((isString()) && (savePos2() >= 0)) ) {
                this.noop = this._io.readBytes(0);
            }
        }
        private Integer savePos1;
        public Integer savePos1() {
            if (this.savePos1 != null)
                return this.savePos1;
            int _tmp = (int) (_io().pos());
            this.savePos1 = _tmp;
            return this.savePos1;
        }
        private Integer savePos2;
        public Integer savePos2() {
            if (this.savePos2 != null)
                return this.savePos2;
            int _tmp = (int) (_io().pos());
            this.savePos2 = _tmp;
            return this.savePos2;
        }
        private Boolean isString;
        public Boolean isString() {
            if (this.isString != null)
                return this.isString;
            boolean _tmp = (boolean) (first() != 65535);
            this.isString = _tmp;
            return this.isString;
        }
        private String asString;
        public String asString() {
            if (this.asString != null)
                return this.asString;
            if (isString()) {
                long _pos = this._io.pos();
                this._io.seek(savePos1());
                this.asString = new String(this._io.readBytes(((savePos2() - savePos1()) - 2)), Charset.forName("UTF-16LE"));
                this._io.seek(_pos);
            }
            return this.asString;
        }
        private Integer first;
        private Integer asNumeric;
        private ArrayList<Integer> rest;
        private byte[] noop;
        private WindowsResourceFile _root;
        private WindowsResourceFile.Resource _parent;
        public Integer first() { return first; }
        public Integer asNumeric() { return asNumeric; }
        public ArrayList<Integer> rest() { return rest; }
        public byte[] noop() { return noop; }
        public WindowsResourceFile _root() { return _root; }
        public WindowsResourceFile.Resource _parent() { return _parent; }
    }
    private ArrayList<Resource> resources;
    private WindowsResourceFile _root;
    private KaitaiStruct _parent;
    public ArrayList<Resource> resources() { return resources; }
    public WindowsResourceFile _root() { return _root; }
    public KaitaiStruct _parent() { return _parent; }
}