STRINGTABLE Statement

Syntax:

  STRINGTABLE  [load-option] [mem-option] [codepage]
  BEGIN
  string-id string-definition
      .
      .
      .
  END

The STRINGTABLE statement creates one or more string resources for an application. A string resource is a null-terminated character string that has a unique string identifier. A string resource can be loaded from the executable file when needed by using the WinLoadString or with DosGetResource with the RT_STRING resource type. RT_STRING resources are bundled together in groups of 16, with any missing IDs replaced with zero length strings. Each group, or bundle, is assigned a unique sequential identifier. The resource string identifier is not necessarily the same as the identifier specified when using DosGetResource. The formula for calculating the identifier of the resource bundle, for use in DosGetResource, is as follows:

bundle ID = (id / 16) +1

Thus, bundle 1 contains strings 0 to 15, bundle 2 contains strings 16 to 31, and so on. Once the address of the bundle has been returned by DosGetResource (using the calculated identifier), the buffer can be parsed to locate the particular string within the bundle. The number of the string is calculated by the formula:

string = id % 16

The buffer returned consists of the CodePage of the strings in the first USHORT, followed by the 16 strings in the bundle. The first BYTE of each string is the length of the string (including the null terminator), followed by the string and the terminator. A zero length string is represented by two bytes: 01 (string length) followed by the null terminator.

You can provide any number of STRINGTABLE statements in a resource script file. The compiler treats all the strings from the various STRINGTABLE statements as if they belonged to a single statement. This means that no two strings in a resource script file can have the same string identifier.

load-option

Specifies when the system loads the resource from the executable file into memory. This value must be one of the following:

PRELOAD

System loads the resource when the application starts.
LOADONCALL
System loads the resource when the application calls the WinLoadString function. This is the default option.
mem-option
Specifies how the system manages the resource when it is in memory. This value must be one or more of the following:

FIXED

System keeps the resource at a fixed memory location.
MOVEABLE
System moves the resource as necessary to compact memory.
DISCARDABLE
System discards the resource if it is no longer needed.
The default setting is MOVEABLE and DISCARDABLE.
code-page
Specifies a code page value. See CODEPAGE Statement for a list of valid code page values.
string-id
Specifies the character-string identifier. This value must be a signed integer in the range -32768 through 32767, an unsigned integer in the range of 1 through 65535, or a simple expression that evaluates to a value in these ranges. The value can be specified in decimal or hexadecimal notation. Each string identifier in a resource script file must be unique.
string-definition
Specifies a character string. This field must contain zero or more characters enclosed in double quotation marks. Character values must be in the range 1 through 255. If a double quotation mark is required in the string, you must include the double quotation mark twice.

Comments

You can continue a string on multiple lines by terminating the line with a backslash (\) or by terminating the line with a double quotation mark (") and then starting the next line with a double quotation mark.

Example

This example creates two string resources whose string identifiers are 1 and 2.

#define IDS_HELLO    1#define IDS_GOODBYE  2

STRINGTABLE
BEGIN
    IDS_HELLO   "Hello"
    IDS_GOODBYE "Goodbye"
END

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