NAME

       windmc - generates Windows message resources

SYNOPSIS

       windmc [options] input-file

DESCRIPTION

       windmc reads message definitions from an input file (.mc) and translate them into a set of
       output files.  The output files may be of four kinds:

       "h" A C header file containing the message definitions.

       "rc"
           A resource file compilable by the windres tool.

       "bin"
           One or more binary files containing the resource data for a specific message language.

       "dbg"
           A C include file that maps message id's to their symbolic name.

       The exact description of these different formats is available in documentation from
       Microsoft.

       When windmc converts from the "mc" format to the "bin" format, "rc", "h", and optional
       "dbg" it is acting like the Windows Message Compiler.

OPTIONS

       -a
       --ascii_in
           Specifies that the input file specified is ASCII. This is the default behaviour.

       -A
       --ascii_out
           Specifies that messages in the output "bin" files should be in ASCII format.

       -b
       --binprefix
           Specifies that "bin" filenames should have to be prefixed by the basename of the
           source file.

       -c
       --customflag
           Sets the customer bit in all message id's.

       -C codepage
       --codepage_in codepage
           Sets the default codepage to be used to convert input file to UTF16. The default is
           ocdepage 1252.

       -d
       --decimal_values
           Outputs the constants in the header file in decimal. Default is using hexadecimal
           output.

       -e ext
       --extension ext
           The extension for the header file. The default is .h extension.

       -F target
       --target target
           Specify the BFD format to use for a bin file as output.  This is a BFD target name;
           you can use the --help option to see a list of supported targets.  Normally windmc
           will use the default format, which is the first one listed by the --help option.

       -h path
       --headerdir path
           The target directory of the generated header file. The default is the current
           directory.

       -H
       --help
           Displays a list of command-line options and then exits.

       -m characters
       --maxlength characters
           Instructs windmc to generate a warning if the length of any message exceeds the number
           specified.

       -n
       --nullterminate
           Terminate message text in "bin" files by zero. By default they are terminated by
           CR/LF.

       -o
       --hresult_use
           Not yet implemented. Instructs "windmc" to generate an OLE2 header file, using HRESULT
           definitions. Status codes are used if the flag is not specified.

       -O codepage
       --codepage_out codepage
           Sets the default codepage to be used to output text files. The default is ocdepage
           1252.

       -r path
       --rcdir path
           The target directory for the generated "rc" script and the generated "bin" files that
           the resource compiler script includes. The default is the current directory.

       -u
       --unicode_in
           Specifies that the input file is UTF16.

       -U
       --unicode_out
           Specifies that messages in the output "bin" file should be in UTF16 format. This is
           the default behaviour.

       -v
       --verbose
           Enable verbose mode.

       -V
       --version
           Prints the version number for windmc.

       -x path
       --xdgb path
           The path of the "dbg" C include file that maps message id's to the symbolic name. No
           such file is generated without specifying the switch.

       @file
           Read command-line options from file.  The options read are inserted in place of the
           original @file option.  If file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option
           will be treated literally, and not removed.

           Options in file are separated by whitespace.  A whitespace character may be included
           in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes.  Any
           character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be
           included with a backslash.  The file may itself contain additional @file options; any
           such options will be processed recursively.

SEE ALSO

       the Info entries for binutils.

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 1991-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

       Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of
       the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free
       Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no
       Back-Cover Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free
       Documentation License".