QuickRes Resource Editor

QuickRes is an application for editing BeOS resource files. It allows direct editing of data in standard binary resources (BResources), attributes, and a new resource source file format.

Main Features

Getting Started

You can start viewing resources right away -- just start up QuickRes, select "Open..." and select the "Binary.rsrc" example file. You will immediately see a list of all resources (and attributes) in the file. The columns tell you, in order:

  1. Marked if an individual item has changed from what was last saved.
  2. Type: The type code of this resource item. Standard type codes will be shown if you pull down the "New" list.
  3. ID: The resource ID of the item. If the item is not an actual resource, this column will be (attr) for an attribute or (data) for the body of the a file.
  4. Name: The name of this resource item.
  5. Data: If available, an in-place editor and viewer for this item's actual data.
  6. Size: The number of bytes in this item's data.

To edit a resource item, you have two choices. Some data types can be edited in-place -- for example, click on one of the resources of type MIMS to select it, and select the Edit/Edit In Place menu. You will see rectangles appear around the type, ID, name, and data fields, allowing you to edit them right in the list.

All editors support out-of-line editing. To use this, select the desired item and then the Edit/Edit In Window menu. A window will pop up with a full editor for the item. The exact editor will depend on the type of data you have selected -- there are currently editors for bitmap images, strings, basic data types, and a hex editor for all other types.

Creating Your Own Resources

To create your own resource file, select File/New. A blank resource list will appear, into which you can start adding resources. New resources can be created in a number of ways:

Resource File Formats

In addition to the traditional binary resource format, QuickRes supports a new resource source file format. When you create a new resource list, it will be stored by default in binary form -- you can change the format when you save the file by checking the desired format in the "Format" menu is the save dialog.

NOTE: For now, it is recommended that you stay with the binary file format. The source format's syntax may change. See a description of the Resource Definition Language for more information.

A third format offered by QuickRes is for attributes. This is used for editing the attributes of a file that is not a resource binary or definition file. In this mode, you can also edit the file's main data as if it were a single resource item. For example, you can open an existing PNG image into QuickRes and edit the image using QuickRes' bitmap editor.

Important Limitations