BeginUpdateResourceW function (winbase.h)

Article
02/09/2023

Retrieves a handle that can be used by the UpdateResource function to add, delete, or replace resources in a binary module.

Syntax

HANDLE BeginUpdateResourceW(
  [in] LPCWSTR pFileName,
  [in] BOOL    bDeleteExistingResources
);

Parameters

[in] pFileName

Type: LPCTSTR

The binary file in which to update resources. An application must be able to obtain write-access to this file; the file referenced by pFileName cannot be currently executing. If pFileName does not specify a full path, the system searches for the file in the current directory.

[in] bDeleteExistingResources

Type: BOOL

Indicates whether to delete the pFileName parameter's existing resources. If this parameter is TRUE, existing resources are deleted and the updated file includes only resources added with the UpdateResource function. If this parameter is FALSE, the updated file includes existing resources unless they are explicitly deleted or replaced by using UpdateResource.

Return value

Type: HANDLE

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle that can be used by the UpdateResource and EndUpdateResource functions. The return value is NULL if the specified file is not a PE, the file does not exist, or the file cannot be opened for writing. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

It is recommended that the resource file is not loaded before this function is called. However, if that file is already loaded, it will not cause an error to be returned.

There are some restrictions on resource updates in files that contain Resource Configuration(RC Config) data: LN files and the associated .mui files. Details on which types of resources are allowed to be updated in these files are in the Remarks section for the UpdateResource function.

This function can update resources within modules that contain both code and resources. As noted above, there are restrictions on resource updates in LN files and .mui files, both of which contain RC Config data; details of the restrictions are in the reference for the UpdateResource function.

Examples

For an example see, Updating Resources.

Note

The winbase.h header defines BeginUpdateResource as an alias that automatically selects the ANSI or Unicode version of this function based on the definition of the UNICODE preprocessor constant. Mixing usage of the encoding-neutral alias with code that is not encoding-neutral can lead to mismatches that result in compilation or runtime errors. For more information, see Conventions for Function Prototypes.

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	winbase.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Kernel32.lib
DLL	Kernel32.dll

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