WINDMC(1)

📦
version 2.45.1 · 5 versions
, in alpine 3.23

💌 WINDMC(1) — GNU Development Tools

okay so bestie, pull up a chair because we're talking about windmc, the icon of the binutils world, from the GNU Development Tools lineup ✨

🌸 NAME

windmc — generates Windows message resources 🎀

🦋 SYNOPSIS

windmc [options] input-file

💖 DESCRIPTION

windmc reads message definitions from an input file (.mc) and translates them into a whole little family of output files 🫶. And like, the output files can be one of four kinds, no cap:

  • "h" — a C header file that's holding all the message definitions 👑
  • "rc" — a resource file, and this one is compilable by the windres tool 💅
  • "bin" — one or more binary files containing the resource data for a specific message language 🗂️
  • "dbg" — a C include file that maps message id's to their symbolic name 🔍

The exact description of these different formats is available in documentation from Microsoft, iykyk 📚

So when windmc converts from the "mc" format to the "bin" format, "rc", "h", and optional "dbg" — it is literally acting like the Windows Message Compiler 💀 periodt.

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -a, --ascii_in — says the input file you handed over is ASCII. This is the default behaviour, so it's giving low-effort but make it official 🌈
  • -A, --ascii_out — says the messages inside the output "bin" files should be in ASCII format 🍓
  • -b, --binprefix — says the "bin" filenames have to be prefixed by the basename of the source file 🏷️
  • -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 🧚
  • -d, --decimal_values — outputs the constants in the header file in decimal. Default is using hexadecimal output 🔢
  • -e ext, --extension ext — the extension for the header file. The default is .h extension 💫
  • -F target, --target target — specify the BFD format to use for a bin file as output. This is a BFD target name, and you can use the --help option to see a list of supported targets 👀. Normally windmc will use the default format, which is the first one listed by the --help option 🎯
  • -h path, --headerdir path — the target directory of the generated header file. The 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 — instructs windmc to generate a warning if the length of any message exceeds the number specified ⚠️
  • -n, --nullterminate — terminate message text in "bin" files by zero. By default they are terminated by CR/LF 🚦
  • -o, --hresult_use — not yet implemented 🙈. Instructs "windmc" to generate an OLE2 header file, using HRESULT definitions. Status codes are used if the flag is not specified 🧾
  • -O codepage, --codepage_out codepage — sets the default codepage used to output text files. The default is ocdepage 1252 🌸
  • -r path, --rcdir path — the target directory for the generated "rc" script and the generated "bin" files that the resource compiler script includes. The default is the current directory 📂
  • -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 👑
  • -v, --verbose — enable verbose mode. she's chatty now 💬
  • -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 the switch 🗺️
  • @file — read command-line options from file. The options read are inserted in place of the original @file option. If file does not exist, or cannot be read, then the option will be treated literally, and not removed 😮

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 🔁

🌈 SEE ALSO

the Info entries for binutils 🫶

Copyright (c) 1991-2025 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" 📜

and that's the whole page, bestie — sign-off time: this was binutils-2.45.1, dated 2025-11-24, and you can literally cite it as the WINDMC(1) manual 🎀✨ mwah 💅

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