Unrecognized Resource File

[Michael8]

Hello:

I am having problems with a resource file on a computer that has the Visual Studio 2008 Shell, with IVF 11.1.038. It doesn't seem to be recognizing the resource file (*.rc) as a resource file, and so is not including it in the compile.

When I open the "Property Pages"for a resource file on a computer where things seem to be working properly, under "Configuration Properties", there's "General" and "Resources". On this computer where things are not working, there's only "General" and "Custom Build Step" (the same as for a generic text file).

So, during the build process, it is not attempting to build the *.rc file. The program does link (so I guess it doesn't need the .res file for linking), but doesn't run (becuase it can't initialize the dialog box, due to the lack of a valid .res file).

Thanks for your help.
Michael

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Some other program on your system changed the association of the .rc file type - I've seen this before.

Open a Windows Explorer file menu and go to the list of file types. In XP, this is Tools > Folder Options > File Types. Find the entry for type RC - you will probably see it listed as "Text File". Delete the entry for RC. Then click New, enter type RC and click Advanced. Under "Associated File Type", select "Resource Script" and click OK and then Close. That should take care of it.

[Michael8]

Hello:

Thanks for your quick response.

Yes, that appears to be the problem (though I'm not sure how it came up). We're using Vista and I know hot to get to the "Set Associations" window. From there, I don't see a way to delete the .rc association (nor a button for adding it back afterwards). There is only a button for "Change Program...". I used this to change the program to "Microsoft Visual Studio 2008", but things stillaren't working.

I noticed in the Set Associations window, that the middle column ("Description") has "RC File" in it on the computer that's not working. On the computer that is working, it says Resource Script. So something is still not set right. Perhaps we need to reinstall the VS 2008 shell, but I was hoping to avoid that.

Thanks.
Michael

[Steven_L_Intel1]

How annoying. Yes, I can see that Microsoft removed this function in Vista (and Win7). Luckily, someone has filled the gap. See this article at annoyances.org - Method 3. It may be sufficient to just change the name to "Resource Script".

[Michael8]

Thanks. I'm checking with the Admin. here to see if we can get that tool installed.

Do you think it would be a more sure-fire solution to just re-install IVF with the Visual Studion 2008 Shell?

Thanks
Michael

[Steven_L_Intel1]

My experience is that a reinstall won't help. You need to remove the bad entry and reinstall or repair. But you could try a "repair" of VS Shell, if that is available (I am not sure that it is.)

[Michael8]

Our administrator was able to resolve the problem by manually deleting the .rc entry from everywhere in the registry to make sure it didn't exist anymore. This included HKCR\.rc, HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.rc, and HKLM\Software\Classes\.rc.

After that, werebooted the machine. (I'm not positive if this was necessary.) Then things worked well. We didn't need to re-associate the .rc with Visual Studio, as we had noticed on other machines with the VS2008 Shell, that they had no association for .rc files, and things worked well.

Thanks for your help.
Michael

[Steven_L_Intel1]

Glad to hear it.