How do I use resource files in a WinUI project

Question

I'm trying to use the resource system in VS, but when I try to access a resource, it can't find it. Here's my setup...

• I have a WinUI project with a library
  DemoApp
  GfxToolkit
• In the GfxToolkit library project I have a resources file
  Resources.resw

When I open the Resource Explorer I see:
GfxToolkit
[ ] Properties\Resources
[✓] Resources
In the selected Resources collection, I have a single resource:
TextureRendererVS

In code, I construct the Resource Manager with
ResourceManager = new ResourceManager("GfxToolkit.Resources", Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly());

I attempt to access the resource with
string? source = (string?)ResourceManager.GetObject("TextureRendererVS") ?? throw new Exception();

I get an error
MissingManifestResourceException: Could not find the resource "GfxToolkit.Resources.resources" among the resources

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

I tried to make a sample which could reproduce your scenario based on your description. An app with a class library.

In such scenario, if you want to get resource from other packages, you will need to accessed through the package's own top-level ResourceMap that's accessible from the ResourceManager.

So you could try the following code instead of creating a ResourceManager with a specific file:

 private void myButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
 {
     var resourceManager = new Microsoft.Windows.ApplicationModel.Resources.ResourceManager();
    
     var str = resourceManager.MainResourceMap.GetValue("TestLibrary/Resources/TextureRendererVS").ValueAsString;

     myButton.Content = str;
 }

You could get more information here: Loading strings from other packages and ResourceMap Class

Thank you.

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