FindResourceW function (libloaderapi.h)

Article
07/27/2022

Determines the location of a resource with the specified type and name in the specified module.

To specify a language, use the FindResourceEx function.

Syntax

HRSRC FindResourceW(
  [in, optional] HMODULE hModule,
  [in]           LPCWSTR lpName,
  [in]           LPCWSTR lpType
);

Parameters

[in, optional] hModule

Type: HMODULE

A handle to the module whose portable executable file or an accompanying MUI file contains the resource. If this parameter is NULL, the function searches the module used to create the current process.

[in] lpName

Type: LPCTSTR

The name of the resource. Alternately, rather than a pointer, this parameter can be MAKEINTRESOURCE(ID), where ID is the integer identifier of the resource. For more information, see the Remarks section below.

[in] lpType

Type: LPCTSTR

The resource type. Alternately, rather than a pointer, this parameter can be MAKEINTRESOURCE(ID), where ID is the integer identifier of the given

resource type. For standard resource types, see Resource Types. For more information, see the Remarks section below.

Return value

Type: HRSRC

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the specified resource's information block. To obtain a handle to the resource, pass this handle to the LoadResource function.

If the function fails, the return value is NULL. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

If IS_INTRESOURCE is TRUE for x = lpName or lpType, x specifies the integer identifier of the name or type of the given resource. Otherwise, those parameters are long pointers to null-terminated strings. If the first character of the string is a pound sign (#), the remaining characters represent a decimal number that specifies the integer identifier of the resource's name or type. For example, the string "#258" represents the integer identifier 258.

To reduce the amount of memory required for a resource, an application should refer to it by integer identifier instead of by name.

An application can use FindResource to find any type of resource, but this function should be used only if the application must access the binary resource data by making subsequent calls to LoadResource and then to LockResource.

To use a resource immediately, an application should use one of the following resource-specific functions to find the resource and convert the data into a more usable form.

Function	Action
FormatMessage	Loads and formats a message-table entry.
LoadAccelerators	Loads an accelerator table.
LoadBitmap	Loads a bitmap resource.
LoadCursor	Loads a cursor resource.
LoadIcon	Loads an icon resource.
LoadMenu	Loads a menu resource.
LoadString	Loads a string-table entry.

For example, an application can use the LoadIcon function to load an icon for display on the screen. However, the application should use FindResource and LoadResource if it is loading the icon to copy its data to another application.

String resources are stored in sections of up to 16 strings per section. The strings in each section are stored as a sequence of counted (not necessarily null-terminated) Unicode strings. The LoadString function will extract the string resource from its corresponding section.

Examples

For an example, see Updating Resources.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	libloaderapi.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Kernel32.lib
DLL	Kernel32.dll

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