WINDMC(1)

📦 version 2.47, in arch rolling

💅 WINDMC(1) — like, the windmc manual page, bestie

okay so welcome to windmc, a page from the GNU Development Tools collection ✨ grab a snack, this one's actually pretty chill.

🌸 NAME 🌸

windmc — the girlie that generates Windows message resources. that's it, that's the job 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

windmc [options] input-file

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so here's the vibe: windmc reads message definitions out of an input file (.mc, iykyk) and translates them into a whole little set of output files. and those output files? there are four kinds, and they're all serving something different 👑

  • "h" — a C header file holding the message definitions. classic.
  • "rc" — a resource file that's compilable by the windres tool. teamwork makes the dream work 🫶
  • "bin" — one or more binary files with the resource data for a specific message language. one per language, main character energy per file 💅
  • "dbg" — a C include file that maps message id's to their symbolic name. lowkey the most useful one ngl.

the exact description of these different formats lives in documentation from Microsoft — not here, so don't come for me 🙈

and when windmc converts from the "mc" format to the "bin" format, "rc", "h", and the optional "dbg", it's literally acting like the Windows Message Compiler. no cap.

💖 OPTIONS 💖

  • -a, --ascii_in — says the input file you gave it is ASCII. this is the default behaviour, so if you do nothing, you already ate ⭐
  • -A, --ascii_out — says the messages inside the output "bin" files should be in ASCII format.
  • -b, --binprefix — says the "bin" filenames should be prefixed by the basename of the source file. cute little name tag 🎀
  • -c, --customflag — sets the customer bit in all message id's.
  • -C codepage, --codepage_in codepage — sets the default codepage used to convert the input file to UTF16. the default is ocdepage 1252 (yes, that's exactly how it's spelled in the docs, i'm not touching it 💀).
  • -d, --decimal_values — outputs the constants in the header file in decimal. default is hexadecimal output, so this is you choosing chaos (base-10 chaos).
  • -e ext, --extension ext — the extension for the header file. default is the .h extension.
  • -F target, --target target — specify the BFD format to use for a bin file as output. this is a BFD target name; you can use the --help option to see a list of supported targets. normally windmc uses the default format, which is the first one listed by the --help option 👀
  • -h path, --headerdir path — the target directory for the generated header file. default is the current directory.
  • -H, --help — displays a list of command-line options and then exits. the classic "help me help you" move 🫶
  • -m characters, --maxlength characters — tells windmc to generate a warning if the length of any message exceeds the number you specified. a gentle "bestie, that's too long" 💀
  • -n, --nullterminate — terminates message text in "bin" files with zero. by default they're terminated by CR/LF.
  • -o, --hresult_use — not yet implemented, so don't get excited 🙈. it instructs "windmc" to generate an OLE2 header file using HRESULT definitions. status codes are used if the flag isn't specified.
  • -O codepage, --codepage_out codepage — sets the default codepage used to output text files. the default is ocdepage 1252 (again — literally what the page says, keeping it 💅).
  • -r path, --rcdir path — the target directory for the generated "rc" script and the generated "bin" files that the resource compiler script includes. default is the current directory. yes, both, they move together like a duo 👑
  • -u, --unicode_in — says the input file is UTF16.
  • -U, --unicode_out — says the messages in the output "bin" file should be in UTF16 format. this is the default behaviour, so you're already slaying ✨
  • -v, --verbose — enable verbose mode. she will tell you everything.
  • -V, --version — prints the version number for windmc.
  • -x path, --xdgb path — the path of the "dbg" C include file that maps message id's to the symbolic name. no such file is generated without specifying this switch — so if you want it, you have to ask for it, periodt.
  • @ file — read command-line options from file. the options read get inserted in place of the original @file option. if file doesn't exist, or can't be read, then the option is treated literally and not removed. no silent disappearing acts here 🙅

options in file are separated by whitespace. a whitespace character may be included in an option by surrounding the entire option in either single or double quotes. any character (including a backslash) may be included by prefixing the character to be included with a backslash. the file may itself contain additional @file options; any such options will be processed recursively. it's files all the way down 🌀

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

the Info entries for binutils. that's where the real lore lives, iykyk 📚

Copyright (c) 1991-2026 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License". read it, it's giving legally iconic 📜✨

okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially informed 🧚💜 this little number came to you from binutils-2.47, dated 2026-08-31 — mwah, go compile something cute 💅🎀

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