Error in opening .rc file: "resource.h" not found

Joseph M. Newcomer 21

Sadly, all the answers I found basically deal with weird cases caused by people who don't know what is going on. I was a Microsoft MVP for 15 years in C/C++, and I know what is going on.

My project was totally destroyed by Git, and I have been trying to salvage what I can. I now have a project that compiles and runs just fine, but when I try to open the .rc file, I get an error that "resource.h" cannot be found. Yet it builds and runs just fine, which it could not do if this file were missing.

Furthermore, it is clear from this screenshot that both SineWave.rc and ressource.h appear in the same directory:

One of the features of "Properties" that used to be shown was the actual full file path. This no longer appears to be available in VS. So why does it build, but an attempt to open the .rc file fails? No condescending answers, please. I have done everything I can think of to see what is going wrong and have not come up with a solution.

Viorel 112.5K Reputation points

2022-09-25T14:01:31.813+00:00

Did you already receive this kind of advice: create a new similar project, then investigate the usage of .rc and resource.h in files and in .vcxproj? Maybe something is missing in your project file.

By the way, maybe it is not a good idea to work directly on OneDrive.
Joseph M. Newcomer 21 Reputation points

2022-09-26T14:32:31.3+00:00

This is the third time I've built a new project and moved everything into it. But I did not check the .vcxproj file.
Are you saying that a Microsoft product should not be used with a Microsoft product? That their products are incompatible? I guess I missed how that is possible.
Tianyu Sun-MSFT 27,431 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2022-09-27T06:48:49.637+00:00

Hi @Joseph M. Newcomer ,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I guess the path is correct and set, the files exist, and there is no more configurations to set, so maybe it’s caused by the cache or old configurations which were set somewhere? Since you created a new solution and moved everything into it, I don’t think there is any cache, just note that .vs folder is generated automatically and you don’t need to move this folder to your new solution. If you re-add your .rc file will it work(backup and remove the .rc file and resource.h file, right-click project > Add > Existing Item)?