The Alaska Resource Compiler - ARC.EXE Foundation

In GUI applications, it is a common practice to use external resources for displaying graphic information which cannot be included in PRG source files, such as bitmap images, for example. One way of supplying external resources to an application is by linking the resources to the executable file. In this way, it is guaranteed that resources are available for the program at runtime.

External resources must exist in a binary format for the linker when it binds them to an executable file. The conversion to binary format is the task of the resource compiler ARC.EXE which uses a description file for external resources (ARC file) to create a binary resource file (RES file).

Declaring resources - The ARC file

Using constants with ARC.EXE

Options for ARC.EXE